Article Types
1) Articles
See below details of our 6 "back half" article types, all of which should be submitted directly via the online submission portal. The majority of these are sent out for peer review, though in exceptional cases a General or Opinion article can be accepted without peer review at the Editor-in-Chief's discretion. Proofs are sent to authors for each of these 6 article types.
Research
These are scientific papers with a focus on clinical research to enable researchers and scientists to communicate their findings to the rest of the community. Some papers will also be featured in our 'Research Insights' section.
Research articles are published in full on the BDJ website (some may be chosen to be published in print, but this is at the Editor-in-Chief’s discretion). The title, authors, key points and abstract will be published in the Research section of the printed journal.
Review
This section includes Systematic Reviews, Literature Reviews, and commissioned Expert Reviews. Systematic and Literature Reviews should assess the quality of included studies. Expert Reviews are intended to provide as definitive a view as possible on a field within dentistry, including any recent breakthroughs or advances.
Clinical
Our clinical papers are articles and reports on the latest developments and information relevant for those in dental practice. This section also includes our 'How to' papers which are designed to provide the reader with practical advice to follow or at the least to inform them and 'Refresher guide to' papers which outline a particular topic/area studied at dental school or in postgraduate courses.
Please note, longer case reports/case series accompanied by discussion may be submitted as 'Clinical' articles, but only if they report on a case that will have a significant impact on day-to-day clinical practice or a particularly unusual and interesting case that will attract the interest of the journal's general readership. Please ensure written consent to publication has been obtained from the patient(s) for any patient-identifiable data/images, and indicate this within the main text. See below for guidance on submitting individual, shorter case reports.
Education
These papers are any type of paper, article or report that is relevant to the vital subject of dental education, whether it is undergraduate, postgraduate, specialist or lifelong learning.
General
General articles cover all the topics that don't quite fit into the other categories. These include clinical guidelines and historical papers.
Opinion
Our opinion papers express the views and opinions of people that are open to debate and discussion. This section will keep you aware of what people are thinking in dentistry today, and introduce differing views for debate.
2) BDJ Perspectives
This section provides a space for learned opinion, commentary and assimilation of information concerning current topics affecting all stakeholders in the dental/oral healthcare profession, as well as additional clinical content and research insights. Please note proofs are not sent to authors for these article types (unless specifically requested).
Perspective
These pieces are commissioned for BDJ Perspectives by invitation only and should be submitted via the online submission portal using the 'Perspective' manuscript type.
Case reports
Please ensure these pieces are under 500 words long and submit via our online submission portal using the 'Case Report' manuscript type. Individual, shorter case reports are published within this section (please note content may be edited for space). We permit a maximum of 4 authors (unless there are exceptional circumstances in which instance, explanation will be required and permission will need to be sought from the EiC). If you wish, we can accommodate up to two small images; please submit images with 300 dpi resolution as separate TIFF, JPEG or EPD files. Please ensure written consent to publication has been obtained from the patient(s) for any patient-identifiable data/images, and indicate this within the main text.
Please note, case reports will only be considered if they report on a case that will have a significant impact on day-to-day clinical practice or a particularly unusual and interesting case that will attract the interest of the journal's general readership. Case reports will not be considered for publication when of little relevance or usefulness to readers beyond the setting of the case reported.
Research Insights
These pieces are commissioned by invitation only and should be submitted via email. We are always looking for new contributors to our Research Insights section! Should you be interested in writing a Research Summary (a 400-word summary of a recently published BDJ Research paper selected by us), please email heather.bradbury@nature.com and state your interest to join our writers' list. You will then be contacted in due course with all the relevant information to submit the summary via email.
3) Upfront content
This section provides a space for editorial, correspondence and news content. Please note proofs are not sent to authors for these article types (unless specifically requested).
Letters
Letters should be submitted directly via the online submission portal. Priority is given to letters under 500 words long, and content may be edited for space. Our letters section provides the space for individual news, views and opinion. We permit a maximum of 4 authors (unless there are exceptional circumstances in which instance, explanation will be required and permission will need to be sought from the EiC).
Authorship: the BDJ's normal procedure is to credit the author(s) of a letter by their name and location (no qualifications). Specific institutional or organisational affiliations or qualifications are included solely at the discretion of the Editor-in-Chief, when deemed necessary to add context to the letter.
Book reviews
These should be sent via email to heather.bradbury@nature.com. Our book reviews provide readers with a thorough insight into the latest books in dentistry. Most reviews for the BDJ are commissioned, although the BDJ does occasionally accept reviews submitted without prior agreement. These should be approximately 400 words in length.
Obituaries
To honour members of the dental community, we publish obituaries. All obituaries should be 400 words in length. Content is down to the individual author; however, approval of the family should be given prior to publication. Please send these via email to heather.bradbury@nature.com.
