Guidelines for papers
The following guidelines will help authors to correctly prepare and submit papers to the British Dental Journal. They are general instructions that apply to all types of paper in the BDJ; additional specific guidlines for the different paper categories and guidelines for statistics can be found by clicking on the links at the bottom of the page.
Please read this information carefully before submitting any papers to the BDJ.
Important preliminary information
The BDJ accepts manuscripts either on-line or via the mail. Please see the appropriate section below. It is a condition of acceptance of manuscripts that they are the work solely of the author or authors stated and that they have not been previously published elsewhere (either in print or electronic format) nor are they under consideration by any other periodical.
Criteria for acceptance: Manuscripts and general items should meet the following criteria: they should be original, clearly written, relevant to dentistry, reader-orientated (in other words written to appeal to the readership of dentists) and designed to inform, add to discussion or debate, or entertain. Research papers should also have appropriate study methods, valid data and conclusions that are supported by the data.
Authorship: The main author (named as the corresponding author on the manuscript) should be prepared to communicate with the editorial office and with all other authors (where appropriate) regarding the submission and preparation of the paper (assuming acceptance). All authors of research papers should have some involvement in at least one of the following: intellectual content of the paper by involvement in the design of the study, the collection of data and/or the analysis and interpretation of data the drafting and editing of the manuscript the statistical analysis of the manuscript substantial involvement in obtaining funding, administrative and/or technical support or supervision of the study.
Manuscript submission
Electronic submission: Authors are encouraged to submit manuscripts online at www.mts-bdj.nature.com. If you are new to this system, click on 'New authors should register for an account' first. For guidance click on 'Author Instructions' or email manuscripts@nature.com.
Paper submission: Authors who are unable to submit online should send their manuscript on disk or as an email attachment to Kate Maynard, Assistant Editor, BDJ Editorial, NPG, 4-6 Crinan Street, London N1 9XW; k.maynard@nature.com
Acknowledgement of receipt is sent for all articles, letters or comment, with a reference number for future correspondence.
Peer Review: All papers undergo initial screening for suitability for the BDJ by the Editors. Suitable papers are then peer reviewed by two or more referees. Additional specialist advice may be sought if necessary, for example from a statistician, before a final decision is made by the Editor-in-Chief. For more information see The peer review process.
Manuscript format
Manuscripts should be word processed and double-spaced with a margin of at least 4 cm on the left-hand side. The pages should be numbered consecutively at the top of each sheet. Page 1 of the manuscript should give only the title of the article, the authors' names, qualifications and address/es.
Length of contributions: Ideally contributions should be no more than 3000 words, including tables and figures. Tables count as 100-500 words depending on size and figures represent the same.
Titles must be descriptive and concise. Research articles must have a structured abstract; Practice articles (including Case Reports), Education, Opinion and General articles should be introduced with a short abstract. See the links at the bottom of the page for specific guidelines for the different BDJ paper categories.
Abstracts should be able to stand alone. Do not insert references in the abstract and use few abbreviations. Abstracts may be up to 200 words in length, depending on the paper's complexity.
Data or Tables may be submitted in Excel format or included at the end of the Word document.
Illustrations: If possible, please submit these online following the guidelines above, or send one hard copy of each illustration if submitting via mail. Please do not send originals at this point as the BDJ cannot guarantee safe return. Following the peer review process, if your paper is accepted for publication we may require the original photographs/slides to be submitted for professional scanning. Please note: the text and tables should be sent in Word, figures/images should be in TIFF, JPEG or EPS format in either greyscale or colour. Please ensure that photographs are not embedded in Word or PowerPoint but are individual files at a high resolution of 300 pixels per inch. NB: If a person is recognisable from a photograph, written consent of the patient to publication must be obtained by the author and a copy sent to the BDJ.
Units used in manuscripts must conform to the Système Internationale d'Unités (SI).
References must be in the Vancouver style. They should be numbered in the order in which they appear in the text, and these numbers should be inserted as superscripts each time the author is cited (Smith3-5 reported similar findings). Other references to the paper should be given in the same way after punctuation (Other studies have shown this to be true.4,5 Jones et al.6 demonstrated...) At the end of the article the full list of references should give the names and initials of all authors unless there are more than six, in which case only the first three should be given followed by et al. The authors' names are followed by the title of the article; the title of the journal abbreviated according to the style of Index Medicus and Index to Dental Literature; the year of publication; the volume number; and the first and last page numbers in full. Titles of books should be followed by the place of publication, the publisher, and the year.
Examples of reference styles
Reference to an article
1. Field J V, Balfour-Paul A, Wright D W. Perimandibular space infections. Br Dent J 1981; 150: 255-258.
Reference to a book
4. Hargreaves I A, Craig J W. The management of traumatised anterior teeth of children. 2nd ed. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone, 1981.
Reference to a book chapter
7. Harding S R, Fryer J I. Recurrent oral ulceration in Greenland natives. In Casselli G (ed) Coeliac diseases. 3rd ed. pp 307-324. London: Stoma Press, 1982.
Reference to a report
2. Committee on Mercury Hazards in Dentistry. Code of practice for dental mercury hygiene. London: Department of Health and Social Security, 1979, publication no. DHSS 79-F3 72.
The author is responsible for the accuracy of the reference list at the end of the article.
Acknowledgements should be grouped in a paragraph at the end of the text and before the references. Permission and approval of the wording must be obtained from the person thanked. Where the research project was supported by industry, this should be acknowledged in the covering letter to the Editor on submission of the manuscript.
Declaration of interests: Please ensure that you declare any possible conflicts of interest in your paper. This includes matters such as: funding from an organisation or company directly for the research; funding you have received (or payment in kind) for any work you have been involved in from an organisation or company that could be linked to the research; consultation or advisory positions you may hold in an organisation or company involved in the research or an organisation involved in similar research; any other situation that could be construed as a conflict of interest.
Saving files with Microsoft Office 2007: Microsoft Office 2007 saves files in an XML format by default (file extensions .docx, .pptx and xlsx). Files saved in this format cannot be accepted for publication. Please save Word documents using the file extension .doc. Instructions to do this are as follows:
- Select the Office button in the upper left corner of the Word 2007 window and choose "Save As"
- Select "Word 97-2003 Document"
- Enter a file name and select "Save"
These instructions also apply for the new versions of Excel and PowerPoint. Equations in Word must be created using Equation Editor 3.0. Equations created using the new equation editor in Word 2007 and saved as a "Word 97-2003 Document" (.doc) are converted to graphics and can no longer be edited. To insert or change an equation with the previous equation editor:
- Select "Object" on the "Text" section of the "Insert" tab
- In the drop-down menu select "Equation Editor 3.0"
Do not use the "Equation" button in the "Symbols" section of the "Insert" tab.
General points
Confidentiality: The existence and content of all manuscripts under review is kept confidential within the offices of the BDJ. All referees are requested to respect that confidentiality. Following acceptance all information relating to a paper will be kept confidential within the BDJ offices. Just prior to publication the content of a paper or article may be used for a press release produced by the BDA's Press Office. In such instances it is customary (but not guaranteed) that the author(s) of the paper will be contacted. Authors of papers should not contact the media prior to publication without first contacting the BDA Press Office (telephone 020 7563 4580).
Ethics: Articles involving clinical research should conform to the guidelines issued in the Declaration of Helsinki where applicable, and in general should have received ethical committee approval. For further review of the subject see the British Medical Journal, 1991, volume 302, pages 338-341.
Copyright: All authors assign copyright of their articles to the British Dental Journal upon acceptance. Single copies of papers can be made for personal use free of charge. Multiple copies can be made only after permission has been granted by Nature Publishing Group Permissions Department, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hants RG21 6XS. (Tel: 01256 329242. Fax: 01256 810526).
The Editor reserves the right to edit manuscripts for clarity of expression and to conform to acceptable style and the limits of space available. Proofs are supplied for the correction of misprints only — materials should only be added or removed at this stage in exceptional circumstances.
