Preparing manuscript
All manuscript should be written in American English. The journal does not offer translation services. Manuscripts which are not adequately prepared will be returned to Authors. The journal accepts only original papers and all kinds of reviews (narrative review, systematic review, systematic review and meta-analysis, etc.). Preliminary reports and pilot studies should be submitted as research letters, and original papers can be submitted as research letters. The journal does not accept case reports and case series. Apart from the abovementioned articles, the journal publishes commissioned content, i.e., editorial material; the submissions are allowed by invitation only.
Abstract
Abstract in English needs to be submitted with the manuscript.
Abstracts of original papers must consist of 5 separate parts introduced by separate subheadings in the following order: Background, Objectives, Material and methods, Results, Conclusions. Abstracts of original papers should contain from 200 to 300 words. All abbreviations used in the text should be explained in the article.
Abstracts of reviews are unstructured and should contain from 150 to 250 words. All abbreviations used in the text should be explained in the article.
Graphical abstract
Beginning with the 1/2023 issue, the journal Dental and Medical Problems requires also visual abstracts (also known as graphical abstracts) when submitting the paper. Such abstract is a single, concise, pictorial and visual summary of the main findings of the article. It should be a figure that is specially designed for the purpose, which captures the content of the article for readers at a single glance. Authors must provide an original image that clearly represents the work described in the paper. Graphical abstracts should be submitted as a separate file in the submission system as Figure 0. For ease of browsing, the graphical abstract should have a clear start and end, preferably "reading" from top to bottom or left to right. Try to reduce distracting and cluttering elements as much as possible. No additional text, outline or synopsis should be included. Any text or label must be part of the image file. Please do not use unnecessary white space or a heading “graphical abstract” within the image file. The text within the graphical abstract should be used sparingly. The graphical abstract for a paper should not include data items of any type; all the content should be in a graphical form.
Allowed data formats: for VECTOR graphics (charts, diagrams, etc.) – pdf, eps, ai, cdr (if the graphic was created using MS Office programs, source files of a given program are very helpful: doc, docx, ppt, pptx, xls, xlsx); for BITMAP graphics (photos, screenshots) – tif, jpg, png, bmp (min. 1200 pixels of the base in the drawing with the width of one column and 2400 for the width of two columns). The minimal resolution of tif, jpg and png files is 300 dpi. Regarding text within the graphical abstract, its size should be 12–16 points (smaller fonts will not be legible online).
The editorial office of Dental and Medical Problems does not offer graphical or DTP services – the authors have to provide graphical abstracts in a finished form. Neither one of the figures from the manuscript (e.g., a graph or diagram) nor a PRISMA diagram can simultaneously serve as a graphical abstract.
More on how to prepare visual abstract (with examples): https://www.elsevier.com/authors/tools-and-resources/visual-abstract
More on how to prepare graphical abstract, more examples and an online tool to prepare it: https://mindthegraph.com/blog/create-effective-graphical-abstract/
Key words
Abstract should be followed by 3–5 key words written in English, and recommended by the "Index Medicus Subject Headings": MeSH (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/meshhome.html).
Highlights
The "Highlights" section is required for original papers and reviews.
The section provides a concise summary of the most significant findings and relevance of the article. It aims to help readers quickly understand the key aspects of the study and enhance the visibility of the article in scientific databases. It should be placed in the main body of the manuscript, before "Introduction". Below are the guidelines for preparing the section:
1. A total of 3–5 one-sentence bullet points with key information.
2. Maximum of 20–25 words per bullet point (avoid complex sentences).
3. Use specific, scientific or technical terms.
4. Use active verbs, e.g., 'highlight', 'identify', 'demonstrate', 'suggest', 'explore' (e.g., "Explore the implications for therapeutic development.")
5. Avoid abbreviations and technical jargon unless commonly understood.
6. Used keywords should be easily understood by search engines.
7. If the study has direct clinical applications, at least one point should highlight it.
Main text
Manuscripts should be submitted in the following formats: doc, docx, rtf. The total number of words in review papers should not exceed 6,000 words, and in original papers 5,000 words. The main text in original papers must consist of 5 separate parts in the following order: Introduction with objectives, Material and methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusions. References to literature, figures and tables should be placed in the order of their citation in the text. The Author(s) should not use italics, bold or underlined words in the texts. Please use only generic names of drugs. Laboratory values should be expressed using the International System of Units (SI). The Author(s) should provide short title that does not exceeds 45 characters and spaces. The Author(s) should disclose all financial and material support. The conclusions should not be presented as a list with bullet points.
The journal “Dental and Medical Problems” accepts research letters.
Research letters
A research letter is a brief, but scientifically important study, which is basically a shorter form of original paper. This type of article is optimal for presenting new, early, or sometimes preliminary research findings, including interesting observations from ongoing research with significant implications that justify concise and rapid communication. All pilot studies and preliminary reports have to be submitted as research letters.
The manuscript structure (graphical abstract; structured text abstract: Introduction – Material and methods – Results – Discussion – Conclusions) remains the same as in an original paper. However, a research letter contains a maximum of 2,000 words, and at most 2 tables or figures, or 1 table and 1 figure (2 display items allowed). The number of authors is up to 8, and the number of references is up to 25.
Research letters are peer-reviewed and subjected to a stringent editorial review as well. They are also indexed in all databases, including PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus, and the number of points assigned for such publications is identical as for original and review papers.
It is important to note that research letters are priority papers in our journal and the waiting time for publication is shorter. We can publish up to 2 research letters in an issue. Research letters are allowed with no invitation, so submissions from all interested researchers are welcome.
Ethical considerations
Manuscripts must comply with the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICJME). Manuscripts not conforming to the principles of the World Medical Association (WMA) Declaration of Helsinki should not be accepted for publication.
Papers describing animal experiments can be accepted for publication only if the experiment conforms with the legal requirements binding in Poland as well as with the European Communities Council Directive 86/609/EEC as of November 24, 1986 or the National Research Council Committee for the Update of the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. Authors must provide a full description of the anesthetics and surgical procedures applied in their experiment.
All clinical trials must be registered in appropriate internation databases, e.g., ClinicalTrials.gov or EU Clinical Trials Register. It is obligatory and the registatrion number should be provided in the manuscript body, in section Material and methods, and in Declarations.
Authors of systematic reviews are encouraged to register the protocols of their studies in an international database, like PROSPERO.
All manuscripts must follow the international standards of reporting research, available at https://www.equator-network.org/.
Binding reporting standards:
CONSORT – for clinical trials
(https://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/consort/);
PRISMA 2020 – for systematic reviews and meta-analyses
(http://prisma-statement.org/PRISMAStatement/Checklist.aspx);
SQUIRE – for formal, planned studies, designed to assess the nature and effectiveness of interventions meant to improve the quality and safety of healthcare
(www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/squire/);
STROBE – for observational studies in epidemiology
(https://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/strobe/);
ARRIVE – for in vivo animal research
(www.nc3rs.org.uk/arrive-guidelines);
MOOSE – for meta-analyses of observational studies
(www.elsevier.com/__data/promis_misc/ISSM_MOOSE_Checklist.pdf);
STARD – for diagnostic accuracy studies
(https://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/stard/);
STREGA – for gene–disease association studies
(www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/strobe-strega/);
SRQR – for qualitative research
AGREE – for clinical practice guidelines
SAMPL – basic statistical reporting for articles published in biomedical journals
(https://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/sampl/)
Statistical analysis guidelines
References
It is the responsibility of the authors to ensure the accuracy of all references according to AMA citation style. References should be limited only to the most recent positions and directly connected to the presented topic. References should be identified by Arabic numerals in superscript and numbered consecutively in the order in which they are first mentioned in the manuscript. Abbreviations for journal names should be cited according to Index Medicus. If a journal is not listed in Index Medicus, its full name should be given. If the cited work is available online, the DOI numer should be given, and in the case of lack thereof - URL with access date.
The limits with regard to the total number of references:
- original paper – 75
- review paper – 200
Declarations
All manuscripts must contain the following sections under the heading 'Declarations':
- Trial registration (for observational studies and randomized controlled trials);
- Ethics approval (from the institutional Research Ethics Committee) and consent to participate;
- Data availability (see below for details);
- Consent for publication (refers to the publication of the participants' identifiable details, which can include photographs and/or case history within the text);
- Use of AI and AI-assisted technologies (by AI and AI-assisted technologies we mean services that use artificial intelligence to generate text and/or multimedia material, etc.).
If any of the sections are not relevant to your manuscript, please include the heading and write 'Not applicable' for that section.
Research data availability
The Authors of original papers provide in their articles the original data generated in the research process, and report any secondary data reuse that supports their results and analyses. However, Authors are not required to submit their entire dataset if only a portion of the data was used in the reported study.
If they wish to share the rest of the data (both raw and processed, if the latter includes elaborated tables or figures that cannot be published as part of the article) necessary to replicate all the study findings reported in the article, they need to use an appropriate repository.
Accordingly, Authors should not upload in the Editorial System any supplementary files with relevant data. Such files can be deposited in a repository when submitting the paper to the journal. It is not permitted to deposit the dataset after the manuscript has been accepted for publication.
How to share the data?
Authors may choose to use a repository of their own preference or the one recommended by the editorial office of Dent Med Probl. Repositories may be either subject-specific (for specific types of data) or cross-disciplinary (for multiple data types). However, the chosen repository must assign a digital object identifier (DOI) to the deposited dataset, as DOIs are persistent identifiers and are more stable than simple uniform resource locators (URLs); therefore, we require data to be shared in a repository, not on a simple website. Data repositories improve discoverability and accessibility, ensure long-term preservation, and lead to increased attention for the research.
We recommend the free-of-charge Zenodo repository (https://zenodo.org). Neither Dent Med Probl nor the publisher of the journal (Wroclaw Medical University) have any financial or organizational affiliation with the Zenodo repository. The recommendation to utilize this particular entity is made solely on the basis of its reliability and cost-free nature.
Other free-of-charge repositories frequently used for data sharing include:
- https://figshare.com
- https://dataverse.harvard.edu
- https://data.mendeley.com
- https://osf.io
- https://www.scidb.cn/en
Data availability statement
- Authors who wish to share their supplementary files are required to provide the following information in their data availability statement:
The datasets supporting the findings of the current study are openly available in [repository name] at [DOI].
Please be informed that the link provided by Authors is checked by Editors to ensure its validity and the deposited content.
- In case the datasets are not shared publicly, the statement should be as follows:
The datasets supporting the findings of the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
- If no new data was generated while conducting the research, the statement should be as follows:
Not applicable.
The statement should occur in the main text of the manuscript, in the final section Declarations, after Conclusions.
Dent Med Probl does not permit references to “data not shown”.
Any resources available in the public domain should be cited in the reference list or referred to in the main text of the manuscript with an appropriate URL (e.g., statistics programs).
IMPORTANT!
Authors' data (names, affiliations, contributions), information about competing interests and funding sources as well as acknowledgements should be provided ONLY via the Editorial System. They must be removed from the manuscript body to ensure blind peer-review.
Acknowledgments should list people who have considerably contributed to the paper preparation (e.g., helped with the acquisition of data, made corrections or linguistic edits, etc.). If there are no acknowledgements, Authors should state that none are declared.
All Authors are required to disclose information about the sources of funding of their manuscript as well as about the contribution of research institutions, associations and other entities ('Funding sources'). If there are no funding sources, Authors should state that none are declared.
All Authors must disclose any financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence (bias) their work ('Conflict of interest'). Examples of financial conflicts include:
- employment;
- consultancies;
- stock ownership;
- honoraria;
- paid expert testimony;
- patents or patent applications;
- travel grants.
If there is no conflict of interest, Authors should state that none exists.
Tables
Tables should be placed in separate files. References to Tables should be written in Arabic numerals and placed according to the sequence of citing them in the manuscript. Allowed formats: xls, xlsx, doc, docx.
Figures
Figures should be placed in separate files. References to Figures should be written in Arabic numerals and placed according to the sequence of citing them in the manuscript. Allowed formats: tiff, cdr, eps, jpg, png (minimum resolution 300 dpi). Descriptions of Figures should be placed in the main text.
Authorship
The authorship should be based on the following criteria:
- Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work;
- Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content;
- Final approval of the version to be published.
Authors should meet all three (3) above criteria. If a large, multi-center group conducted the research, the group should identify the individuals who accept direct responsibility for the manuscript. The Author submitting a multi-author manuscript should establish the order of authorship, provide all individual authors of the particular group, as well as provide the group's name. All those designated as authors should meet all criteria for authorship, and all who meet the criteria should be identified as authors. The contribution of each Author must be documented to the extent to take the public responsibility for appropriate portions, the content and the conflict of interests. Authors who do not meet all three criteria of authorship should be acknowledged (prior to their written consent).
All Authors who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors and their authorship should be disclosed in accordance with the following list: A – research concept and design; B – collection and/or assembly of data; C – data analysis and interpretation; D – writing the article; E – critical revision of the article; F – final approval of article.
Changes to authorship following the online publication of the manuscript are not permitted.
AI and AI-assisted technologies
The use of artificial intelligence (AI) and AI-assisted technologies in manuscript writing:
- AI-assisted technologies should not be listed as an author or co-author, or be cited as an author;
- Authorship implies responsibilities and tasks that can only be attributed to and performed by humans;
- Authors should disclose in their manuscript the use of AI and AI-assisted technologies;
- A statement of the use of AI and AI-assisted technologies will appear within the manuscript.
Definitions of editorial material (the submissions are allowed by invitation only)
Editorial – an article that expresses the Editors’ and the Editorial Board Members’ opinions on a subject of particular interest at the present time.
Perspective – an article that is meant to provide a forum for Authors to discuss new ideas and experimental approaches from a personal viewpoint; it may contain opinions, yet it should remain balanced.
Comment – an article that is written in an accessible style and is of immediate interest to a broad readership; it should focus on policy, science and society or purely scientific issues.
Research Highlights – usually commissioned from recognized experts in a particular field; they intend to highlight one or more exciting, recently published research articles or clinical trials and to place the new findings into the context of the current literature.
Statement – a type of editorial material that expresses the position of a society, association, academy, scientific team, or group of researchers regarding various scientific or clinical issues/problems.
Clinical/Scientific guidelines – recommendations on how to diagnose and treat a medical condition/s or how to handle defined scientific issue/procedure, including binding reporting standards.
Formatting guidelines for editorial material:
- a title of up to 20 words;
- up to 6 Authors (for editorials, the number is limited to 3, and for clinical/scientific guidelines, the number is extended to 20);
- the competing (financial and non-financial) interests statement required;
- Authors’ affiliations and contributions required;
- received/reviewed/accepted/published dates included;
- no abstract; instead, a one-sentence highlight allowed as a kind of summary or the main conclusion;
- the main text of up to 1,500 words;
- the number of references not exceeding 20;
- 2 display items allowed (table/figure/photo) – not required, though encouraged;
- display item legends limited to 1 sentence and the list of abbreviations used, if applicable;
- all articles checked with an anti-plagiarism program;
- all articles subjected to 1 peer review.
ORCID
Authors submitting their manuscripts to Wroclaw University Press journals are obliged to use a unique ORCID number (Open Researcher and Contributor ID). It is a popular digital tool allowing the identification of the Author and their research work in scientific communication. You can register for an ORCID number for free at: https://orcid.org/.