What is the purpose of launching the World Journal of Stomatology?

Abstract

Congratulations to the publisher, members of the editorial board of the journal, all the authors and readers for launching the World Journal of Stomatology (WJS) as a new member of the World series journal family! Significant scientific advances and important breakthroughs need to be published to impact dental care and reach an audience of researchers and clinicians who can create more effective dental treatments for their patients. There is a need to share scientific information, methodologies, therapies, and hypotheses related to stomatology, through an open-access format, to reach the widest possible audience. The WJS was created to fulfill the role of disseminating the most significant, innovative and transformational cutting edge research in dentistry. The WJS is a peer-reviewed open-access periodical centered in stomatology, with a multidisciplinary coverage that will publish high-impact articles in all areas of the dental clinical specialties, applied science, epidemiology, trauma and dental care, dental materials, oral biology and microbiology. The WJS is not scared of controversy or challenges to existing doctrine, since they are supported by high-quality science or unequivocal clinical outcomes. The WJS will avoid publishing confirmatory and low-impact articles. The WJS will only publish articles directly relevant to stomatology and dentistry because this is what our readers expect. If you need to share any exciting dental research discoveries and reach the widest possible audience, you will find in the WJS the most helpful resource to publish your papers!

Key Words: Stomatology, Peer-reviewed, Open-access, Journal

INTRODUCTION

I am Peter Murray, a professor, a pathologist, and a regenerative dental researcher from Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, United States (Figure 1) and the Editor-in-Chief of the World Journal of Stomatology (World J Stomatol, WJS, online ISSN 2218-6263, DOI: 10.5321). It is my honor to introduce the WJS as a new forum for disseminating high-impact research, which may help to solve the problems faced by everyone providing and having dental treatments. Congratulations to the publisher, members of editorial board of the journal, all the authors and readers for this memorable event! I am very pleased to announce that the first issue of the WJS was initiated on December 20, 2010 and officially published on December 31, 2011. The WJS Editorial Board has now been established and consists of 60 distinguished experts from 22 countries. What is the purpose of launching the WJS? What is the scope and how are the columns designed? These are some of the subjects I would like to address in the following paragraphs.

Figure 1 Editor-in-Chief of the World Journal of Stomatology. Peter E Murray, BSc (Hons), PhD, Professor, Department of Endodontics, Nova Southeastern University, 3200 S. University Dr., Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States.

HISTORY AND FUTURE OF DENTAL RESEARCH

Only those of us involved in dental research are aware of its turbulent history. New treatments and dental materials have been proposed, discredited, accepted, discredited again, and then have become controversial issues. Dentists have been fighting the “Amalgam Wars” since the 1840s[1]. Although amalgam fillings are long-lasting, they contain mercury, which frightens many dentists and patients about its potential health hazards[2]. In 2010, the United States Food and Drug Administration began reviewing the scientific evidence that the mercury in dental amalgam can cause neurological and other health problems[3]. Restrictions on dental amalgam, which has been used in hundreds of millions of people over the past 150 years, are opposed by the American Dental Association, which says decisions about use of the substance should remain between patients and their dentists[4]. Given the track record of dental amalgam, a consensus about its advantages and safety may never be reached, but it does demonstrate the need for researchers to create a robust scientific and clinical evidence base to be used by dentists for treatment planning, both to protect patients from hazards and benefit their quality of life.

Oral diseases are expensive to treat and they can have a painful widespread burden among the general population. The alleviation of the effects of dental decay would be a major boost to everyone’s quality of life. The United States Centers for Disease Control listed water fluoridation as one of the ten great public health achievements of the 20th century[5]. The addition of fluoride to the public water supply began in 1945 to reduce tooth decay[6]. Fluoridated water operates on tooth surfaces: in the mouth it creates low levels of fluoride in saliva, which reduces the rate at which tooth enamel demineralizes and increases the rate at which it remineralizes in the early stages of cavities[7]. Many dental organizations around the worldwide have endorsed its safety and effectiveness. However, water fluoridation is not agreeable to everyone because it removes an individual’s right not to drink water containing fluoride. Opposition to it has been based on ethical, legal, safety, and efficacy grounds[8]. The oral health burden, particularly among vulnerable populations who are young, old, or unable to afford access to dental care, is an issue that is too important to be left to advocacy groups and lawyers. We must create supporting scientific and clinical research data and disseminate it effectively to a wider audience for them to understand that we are working for the welfare of the public, even if they do not always appreciate it.

Looking to the future, we have 96% of dentists believing that stem cell therapies will be used to replace or regenerate teeth[9]. You may be resistant to change and the use of stem cells, nevertheless, research is underway to create therapies that will give patients bioengineered teeth instead of dentures or dental implants[10]. Regenerating patients to a fully functional and naturally healthy state with stem cell therapies will be a challenge for us all. Regardless of the sizeable obstacles and challenges that lie ahead: I am optimistic for the future of dentistry; we have the smartest and most caring people of any profession among us. Radical changes at an unprecedented rate are ahead of us and now, more than at any previous time in our professional history, we need the subjectivity and wide audience provided by the WJS.

OPEN ACCESS MODEL

The biggest advantage of the open access model is that it provides free, full-text articles in PDF and other formats for experts and the public without registration, eliminating the obstacles that traditional journals possess which usually delays the speed of the propagation and communication of scientific research results. The open access model has been proven to be a true approach that may achieve the ultimate goal of the journals, i.e., the maximization of the value to the readers, authors and society.

The role of academic journals is to exhibit the scientific levels of a country, a university, a center, a department, and even a scientist, and build an important bridge for communication between scientists and the public. As we all know, the significance of the publication of scientific articles lies not only in disseminating and communicating innovative scientific achievements and academic views, as well as promoting the application of scientific achievements, but also in formally recognizing the “priority” and “copyright” of innovative achievements published, as well as evaluating research performance and academic levels. So, to realize these desired attributes of the WJS and create a well-recognized journal, the personal benefits should be maximized. This maximization refers to the pursuit of the maximum benefits in a well-considered optimal manner without violation of the laws, ethical rules and/or the benefits of others, by the following principles: (1) Maximization of the benefits of editorial board members: The primary task of editorial board members is to give a peer review of an unpublished scientific article via online office system to evaluate its innovativeness, scientific and practical values and determine whether it should be published or not. During peer review, editorial board members can also obtain cutting-edge information in that field at first hand. As leaders in their field, they have priority to be invited to write articles and publish commentary articles. We will put peer reviewers’ names and affiliations along with the article they reviewed in the journal to acknowledge their contribution; (2) Maximization of the benefits of authors: Since the WJS is an open-access journal, readers around the world can immediately download and read, free of charge, high-quality, peer-reviewed articles from WJS official website, thereby realizing the goals and significance of the communication between authors and peers as well as public reading; (3) Maximization of the benefits of readers: Readers can read or use, free of charge, high-quality peer-reviewed articles without any limits and cite the arguments, viewpoints, concepts, theories, methods, results, conclusion or facts and data of pertinent literature. Also it is possible to validate the innovativeness, scientific and practical values of their own research achievements, thus ensuring that their articles have novel arguments or viewpoints, solid evidence and correct conclusions; and (4) Maximization of the benefits of employees: It is an iron law that a first-class journal is unable to exist without first-class editors, and only first-class editors can create a first-class academic journal. We insist on strengthening our team cultivation and construction so that every employee, in an open, fair and transparent environment, could contribute their wisdom to edit and publish high-quality articles, thereby realizing the maximization of the personal benefits of editorial board members, authors and readers, and yielding the greatest social and economic benefits.

SCOPE

The word “stomatology” refers to the branch of medicine and dentistry relating to the mouth and oral disease. The WJS will, only publish articles directly relevant to stomatology and dentistry because this is what our readers expect. The WJS is not scared of controversy or challenges to existing doctrine, provided they are supported by high-quality science or unequivocal clinical outcomes. The WJS will avoid publishing confirmatory and low impact articles.

The major task of the WJS is to rapidly report new theories, methods and techniques for prevention, diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation and nursing in the field of stomatology. The WJS covers topics concerning oral and craniofacial sciences, oral and craniofacial development/growth, dental tissue regeneration, craniofacial bone and cartilage research, oral and maxillofacial genetic diseases, developmental abnormalities and soft tissue defects, pulpal and periapical diseases, periodontal diseases and oral mucosal diseases, salivary gland diseases, oral and maxillofacial vascular/nervous diseases, jaw bone diseases, taste abnormalities, oral and maxillofacial pain, occlusion and temporomandibular diseases, repair and treatment of tooth defects, loss and dento-maxillofacial deformities, oral and maxillofacial biomechanics and biomaterials, new techniques for diagnosis/treatment of oral and maxillofacial diseases; and stomatology-related traditional medicine, integrated Chinese and Western medicine, evidence-based medicine, epidemiology and nursing. The journal also publishes original articles and reviews reporting the results of stomatology-related applied and basic research in fields such as immunology, physiopathology, cell biology, pharmacology, medical genetics, and pharmacology of Chinese herbs.

CONTENTS OF PEER REVIEW

In order to guarantee the quality of articles published in the journal, the WJS usually invites three experts to comment on the submitted papers. The contents of peer review include: (1) whether the contents of the manuscript are of great importance and novelty; (2) whether the experiment is complete and described clearly; (3) whether the discussion and conclusion are justified; (4) whether the citations of references are necessary and reasonable; and (5) whether the presentation and use of tables and figures are correct and complete.

COLUMNS

The columns in the issues of the WJS will include: (1) Editorial: To introduce and comment on the substantial advance and its importance in the fast-developing areas; (2) Frontier: To review the most representative achievements and comment on the current research status in the important fields, and propose directions for the future research; (3) Topic Highlight: This column consists of three formats, including (A) 10 invited review articles on a hot topic, (B) a commentary on common issues of this hot topic, and (C) a commentary on the 10 individual articles; (4) Observation: To update the development of old and new questions, highlight unsolved problems, and provide strategies on how to solve the questions; (5) Guidelines for Clinical Practice: To provide guidelines for clinical diagnosis and treatment; (6) Review: To systemically review the most representative progress and unsolved problems in the major scientific disciplines, comment on the current research status, and make suggestions on the future work; (7) Original Articles: To originally report the innovative and valuable findings in stomatology; (8) Brief Articles: To briefly report the novel and innovative findings in stomatology; (9) Case Report: To report a rare or typical case; (10) Letters to the Editor: To discuss and make reply to the contributions published in the WJS, or to introduce and comment on a controversial issue of general interest; (11) Book Reviews: To introduce and comment on quality monographs of stomatology; and (12) Guidelines: To introduce consensuses and guidelines reached by international and national academic authorities worldwide on the research in stomatology.

So, if you want to share a new dental research discovery, or have helpful opinions or advice to share with your peers, the WJS is a place you can feel at home!