Instructions for author
ABOUT THE JOURNAL
Aims and scope
The Portuguese Journal of Stomatology, Dental Medicine and Maxillofacial Surgery (Revista Portuguesa de Estomatologia, Medicina Dentária e Cirurgia Maxilofacial) is an international open access journal which is published quarterly, and considers for publication systematic reviews, original research papers, clinical case reports and clinical innovation reports of scientific interest to clinicians, researchers and community directly or indirectly related with oral health.
Peer-review process
All papers are peer-reviewed by independent external reviewers, determining their acceptance for publication. Portuguese Journal of Stomatology, Dental Medicine and Maxillofacial Surgery uses a double-blind peer review system. Both authors and reviewers are anonymous. Reviewers do not know the names of the authors, and the authors do not know who has revised their manuscript.
After the submission by corresponding author, the editorial office performs preliminary checks on submitted manuscripts. The manuscripts that do not fit in the submission guidelines, editorial policies, and ethical standards of the journal will be rejected prior to peer review process, while poorly prepared manuscripts may be sent to the corresponding author for proper revision and resubmission. If considered in compliance with submission guidelines, editorial policies and ethical standards, the submission is assessed by the Editor-in-Chief who decides whether to proceed with peer review, depending if the work is scientifically sound and if fits in the journal scope, and may assign a suitable Associate Editor as handling Editor who will guide the peer-review process. The handling editor sends invitations to independent external experts for review. Potential reviewers consider the invitation against their own expertise, conflicts of interest and availability. They will accept or decline, being possible to suggest alternative reviewers. Each submission must be reviewed by at least two experts in the field taking into account originality, scientific soundness, study design, sources of bias, among others. A detailed review is submitted to the journal with a recommendation to accept or reject it, or with a request for revision before it is reconsidered. If the reviewers differ widely, the handling editor may invite an additional reviewer before suggest a decision. The submission is then sent to the editor-in-chief who will make the final decision. The authors are requested to answer in a point-by-point process to the reviewers in case any concern is expressed by the later. All articles, except for Editorials, are externally peer reviewed before a final decision is made about acceptance for publication.
Editorial and Journal Policies
Papers considered for publication must contain original material, not published, in full or in part (including tables and figures), and not submitted or accepted for publication in other journals. Before sending the manuscripts, authors must obtain all permissions needed for publication of the presented material. Note that, to comply with regulations governing authors’ rights, the reproduction of images, figures or graphs from other publications must have prior authorization of the respective authors. These should be included in the references.
The opinions expressed are of the exclusive responsibility of the authors and may not express the opinion of editors and editorial board members.
All papers published in the journal are Open Access without Article Processing Charges.
Open Access Policy
All papers published in the Portuguese Journal of Stomatology, Dental Medicine and Maxillofacial Surgery are fully open access: immediately and permanently freely available to read, download and share. Permitted third party use is defined by the following Creative Commons user license : Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND). The published articles remain property of the Portuguese Journal of Stomatology, Dental Medicine and Maxillofacial Surgery, and may be reproduced, in whole or in part, with recognition of authorship, in accordance with the CC BY-NC-ND license.
A complete version of the work and all supplemental materials in a suitable standard electronic format are deposited immediately upon initial publication in the journal website (https://revista.spemd.pt) that is an online repository supported by the scholarly society SPEMD - Sociedade Portuguesa de Estomatologia e Medicina Dentária.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to, copying or reusing text, ideas, images or data from other sources without a clear attribution and goes against the principle of academic publication. All manuscripts are submitted to plagiarism detection software (Crossref Similarity Check, developed by iThenticate) and in case of doubts, the COPE guidelines will be followed. If, at any stage of the submission, publication or post-publication process, plagiarism is detected, the manuscript can be rejected, corrected or withdrawn, as the case may be. Plagiarism is not allowed in the Portuguese Journal of Stomatology, Dental Medicine and Maxillofacial Surgery.
MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION
The main text should be written in Portuguese or English. If written in English, a signed declaration from a professional language editor/translator or one of the authors, assuming the responsibility for the English language quality, must be submitted.
Submissions may only be made online at http://www.editorialmanager.com/rpemd and should include the following elements:
1. Presentation letter
The presentation letter should be signed by all authors and addressed to the Journal’s Editor-in-Chief, stating that the paper is not published or submitted to be published in other journal and that it will not be submitted elsewhere until the final decision on this submission is taken. It should also state that all authors have read and agreed with the submitted version and that, in case of acceptance, the copyright of the paper will be transferred to the Journal.
The presentation letter should also include the manuscript’s title, and a justification whenever the number of authors exceeds six.
2. Cover page
This document should only contain information about the authors and the title of the manuscript. The authors’ information must only be provided in this independent document, and not included in the document with the manuscript body, in order to guarantee authors’ anonymity during the peer-review process.
2.1. Title
The title of the manuscript should be short (maximum 15 words) and clearly define the subject in question and study design. It should be presented in both Portuguese and English, and abbreviation terms should be avoid.
2.2. Authors
The name (first name, middle name, surname), and affiliation (University, Faculty, Research unit) of each author should be written in the same way and order to be published (ex: João P. António1, Pedro Silva2, Nuno Pereira1; 1- Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Medicina Dentária, Lisbon, Portugal; 2- Universidade do Porto, Faculdade de Medicina Dentária, Porto, Portugal). The email and address (zip code, city, country) of each author should be given. The ORCID number of all authors should be provided.
According to the “Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals,” the authorship implies a substantial contribution to the manuscript. Thus, each author’s contribution to the paper submitted should be indicated in the cover page, using the CRediT – Contributor Roles Taxonomy: Conceptualization; Data curation; Formal analysis; Funding acquisition; Investigation; Methodology; Project administration; Resources; Software; Supervision; Validation; Visualization; Writing - original draft; Writing - review & editing. Authorship statements should be formatted with the names of authors first in bold and CRediT role(s) following.
e.g.: John Doe: Validation, Formal analysis, Data curation, Writing – original draft, Visualization, Funding acquisition. Pedro Silva: Methodology, Validation, Data curation, Writing - review & editing. Peter Doe: Methodology, Investigation, Resources, Writing - review & editing. Samuel Choi: Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, Resources, Supervision, Project administration, Writing - review & editing. The corresponding author’s name, address, phone number, and email address must also be included. Every correspondence between the Journal and the authors will be made exclusively through the platform or by email.3. Abstract and Keywords
Abstracts should be submitted in both English and Portuguese, each with a maximum limit of 250 words. Abbreviations should not be used.
The abstracts of original research reports and systematic reviews should contain the main objectives, materials and methods, results, and main conclusions. An appropriate heading must precede each section of the structured abstract, namely: Objectives; Methods; Results; Conclusions.
The abstracts of clinical case reports should be unstructured and summarize the problem and the treatment offered.
The abstracts of clinical innovation reports should be unstructured and present the objective, methods, and a brief description of the main topic discussed.
Keywords (3-10) should be specifically related with the manuscript and submitted in both Portuguese and English to allow indexing of the paper according to the terminology used in the Medical Index Medical Subject Headings.
4. Manuscript
4.1. Presentation:
This document should not have any reference to the author’s identity in order to avoid their identification during the reviewing process. All text, including the body of the article, references, figure captions, and tables with captions, should be in Arial font, size 12, double-spaced, and justified. All pages should be numbered, starting at number 1. Margins should be 2.5 cm throughout the document. A page break must be included between each section.
4.2. Body of the article according to the type of work:
a) Systematic review articles – The Portuguese Journal of Stomatology, Dentistry and Maxillofacial Surgery publishes mainly review articles that have been submitted as systematic reviews, with or without a meta-analysis. Authors are advised to comply with the PRISMA guidelines or the appropriate extension in order to optimize the quality of reporting and allows for an efficient peer review process. This type of article should present the literature research methodology and critical appraisal with a complete and accurate record of the obtained literature, organized by topics, should be presented. The text should be divided into sections with headings and subheadings that help a simpler comprehension of the article, as follows:
Introduction – Should include the rationale for the review in the context of existing knowledge and an explicit statement of the objective(s) or question(s) the review addresses.
Methods – Should include the eligibility criteria, information sources, search and selection strategy, data items and collection process, effect measures, synthesis methods, critical appraisal with bias assessment, and methods used to assess certainty for an outcome.
Results – Should include a clear and concise description of the results, in the order in which the outcomes were described in the previous section. Data should not be repeated between the text, tables and graphs presented. Statistically significant results should be accompanied by their probability value (p).
Discussion – Should include a discussion of the results, relating them to the context of other evidence. The limitations of the evidence included and of the review process should be identified. Implications of the results for the practice, policies, and future research should be addressed
Conclusions – Should include a concise list of the main conclusions to be drawn from the systematic review. The conclusions should be consistent with the objectives and supported by the results.
b) Original research articles – It should be organized into Introduction, Material and Methods, Results, Discussion, and Conclusions, according to the following:
Introduction – Should include an explanation of the problem, a short summary of the relevant literature, and the identification of shortcomings and trends in the available studies. The Introduction should end with a clear description of the paper´s purpose, stating the working hypothesis.
Material and Methods – Should include a short summary of the experimental design, a complete description of the materials used (name, manufacturer, lot number, and expiration date), and a detailed explanation of what was assessed and how, describing the variables studied, the method for recruiting the sample, the sample size, the control group used, the examiners’ calibration method, and the equipment used in the measurements. The tests used in statistical analysis and statistical significance level set should be mentioned at the end of this section.
Results – Should include a clear and concise description of the results, in the order in which the tests were described in the previous section. Data should not be repeated between the text, tables, and graphs presented. Statistically significant results should be accompanied by their probability value (p).
Discussion – Should include a discussion of the results, relating them to the previously presented hypotheses and the most relevant literature available. The limitations of the work should be identified and target areas for future studies may be suggested.
Conclusions – Should include a concise list of the main conclusions to be drawn from the study. The conclusions should be consistent with the objectives and supported by the results.
c) Clinical case reports - It should be organized as follows:
Introduction – Should include a brief review of the literature relevant to the problem in question and references to the various methods of treatment available.
Case report – Should include a description of the patient (age, gender, etc.), pathology encountered, and possible medical or dental history. The different treatment methods available should be briefly described, and the method used should be justified and fully described. The results of the treatment and length of follow-up should be presented.
Discussion and Conclusions – Should include remarks on the advantages and disadvantages presented by the method of treatment followed, as well as contraindications, if any.
d) Clinical innovation – Description of an original device design, implementation of an innovative approach to a clinical procedure, or development of a digital health solution. These articles should organized into Introduction (including background and objectives), Methods (how the intervention was designed, implemented, and evaluated), Results (what actually happened, qualitative or quantitative or both), Discussion (limitations, reflection on what was learned), and Conclusions (what can be useful for others, or what needs further research).
4.3. Bibliography:
References in the text, tables, and captions should be identified by Arabic numerals placed in parentheses and superscript. The numbering should correspond to the order of citation in the text. All references must be cited in the text, and all references cited in the text must appear on the list of references. Reference to abstracts, Internet sites, or any other unpublished material should be avoided. The references should be presented according to the “Standards for the submission of manuscripts to be published in biomedical journals” of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (Vancouver Group). Journal titles should be abbreviated according to the treatment given in Index Medicus. The Digital Object Identifier (DOI) must be included whenever available.
Example of the format to follow in references to articles published in journals: Neves CN, Costa J, Nepomuceno L, Madeira A, Portugal J, Bettencourt A, et al. Microhardness and flexural strength after chemical aging of chlorhexidine delivery systems based on acrylic resin. Rev Port Estomatol Med Dent Cir Maxilofac. 2019;60:10410. doi: 10.24873/j.rpemd.2019.10.458
Example of the format to follow in references to chapters in books: Marshall SJ. Dental amalgam – Structures and properties. In: Anusavice KJ editor. Phillips’ Science of Dental Materials. 10th ed. Philadelphia: WB Saunders Company, 1996. p. 36185.
4.4. Tables:
All tables must be mentioned in the text and then presented on a separate sheet at the end of the document. Tables should be formatted with double space, numbered with Arabic numerals according to the order of citation in the text, and accompanied by a title and subtitle. Each table in the manuscript should be able to stand alone and be interpreted without consulting the text of the manuscript.
4.5. Figure captions:
Figure captions should be included on a separate sheet at the end of the document. Captions should be self-explanatory and numbered according to the accompanying technical illustration. Symbols, arrows, numbers, or letters used to label parts of a figure should be clearly identified and explained in the caption. The internal scale and method of staining in photomicrographs should be identified.
5. Figures
Do not place the figures in the manuscript within the body of the article. All figures should be provided in separate files in JPEG or TIFF format at 300 dpi. Whenever possible, figures should be provided with a 4:3 aspect ratio. For your reference, each figure saved with the correct definition should be at least 700 MB. Composite figures should be avoid whenever possible.
All figures should be cited in the text and numbered in the respective order. Whenever letters, numbers, and symbols are used, their size and proportion should be clear enough to be legible. If a figure has been published previously, the original source must be identified and included in the list of references. To comply with authors’ rights regulations, the reproduction of pictures, figures, or graphics from other publications must have prior authorization from the copyright holders, author/editor. The signed authorization should be uploaded in the submission process. Permission is required independently of the ownership, except for public documents.
6. Acknowledgments
Only persons and/or institutions that have allowed the execution or provided input to the work should be acknowledged. Funding sources, if any, should be mentioned in this section. Acknowledgment should be submitted in a separate file, so the identity of the authors is not revealed to the reviewers.
7. Supplementary files (appendices)
In certain cases, and after consideration, all materials that are too large, like tables or tools for data recovery, can be placed at the Journal’s site for consultation, being referred to as supplementary material. (These documents should not have any reference to the author’s identity in order to avoid their identification during the reviewing process.)
Ethical Responsabilities
Protection of human and animal subjects.
When describing experiments that have been carried out on human beings, it must be mentioned that the procedures followed are in accordance with the ethical guidelines of the committee responsible for human research (institutional or regional) and with the World Medical Association and the Helsinki Declaration. When experiments on animals are described, the text must mention whether the rules of an institution or international research council or a national regulatory law on the care and use of laboratory animals have been followed. An approval from an ethics committee, or an institutional review board, must be obtained and mentioned in the manuscript body.
Confidentiality of data.
The authors are responsible for following the protocols established by their respective health centers to access data from medical records to write a paper for research/disclosure purposes for the community and, thus, must declare that they have complied with this requirement.
Right to privacy and informed consent.
The author must ensure that the requirement of having informed all the patients enrolled in the study has been met and that they have a document signed by the patients after receiving sufficient information, where their written informed consent to participate in the study was given. The authors must mention, in the “Methods” section, that the procedures used in patients and controls were performed after the signed informed consent form was obtained. The author is also responsible for ensuring the right of privacy of the patients by protecting their identity, both in the text of the article and in the images. No names, initials, or hospital medical record numbers may be used (or any other type of data irrelevant to the investigation that could identify the patient) either in the text or in the photographs, unless this information is essential for scientific purposes, in which case it may be included in the article, provided that the patient, or their parent or guardian, gave written informed consent for its publication. The authors are responsible for obtaining the patients’ written informed consent authorizing the publication, reproduction, and circulation of their information on paper support and on public access Internet.
Conflict of interests
There is a conflict of interests when an author has/had financial or personal relationships that could have inappropriately biased or influenced their actions. The potential conflict of interests exists regardless of whether the interested parties consider that these relationships may or may not have influenced their scientific judgment. At the time of writing or submitting the article, the authors must report any financial or personal relationships that they may have had or may have with persons or institutions that could give rise to a conflict of interests regarding the article submitted for publication. What is declared will appear in the paper.
Authorship
Only those who have intellectually contributed to the development of the work should appear in the list of authors, and they should fulfil the authorship criteria recommendations from the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). The type of participation in the work (some of which are expressed below) by each author must be stated in the Cover Letter. Having helped collect data or having taken part in some technique is not by itself a sufficient criterion to appear as an author.
In general, to appear as an author, the following requirements should be met:
1. To have participated in the conception and design, data acquisition, analysis, and interpretation of the data of the work that has resulted in the article in question.
2. To have participated in the drafting of the manuscript or its revisions.
3. To have approved the version that will finally be published.
In the case of collective authorship, the name of the writers, or those responsible for the work, should be presented first, followed by “and the Group...”, when all members of the group are considered coauthors of the work. If it is desired to include the name of the group despite not all members being considered coauthors, the authors responsible should be mentioned first, followed by “on behalf of the Group.” In any case, the names and the institutions of the members of the group should be included in an Appendix at the end of the manuscript. The authors should be stated both on the cover page and in the Add/Edit/Remove Author section. All authors must declare that they have read and approved the manuscript and that the requirements for authorship have been met. The Journal declines any responsibility for possible conflicts arising from the authorship of works published in the Journal.
Obtainment of permissions
A statement that the content of the article is original and has not been published previously nor has been submitted for consideration to any other publication, either in full or in part, must be given. The authors must be aware that not revealing that the material submitted for publication has been fully or partially published is a severe breach of scientific ethics. Similarly, authors who reproduce previously published material in their article (text, tables, or figures) are responsible for obtaining the appropriate permissions to reproduce that material in the Journal. The authors must have obtained written authorization from the author and from the publisher that has published this material and submit a copy of them along with the article to the Journal. Permission to publish from the institution that has financed the research is also required.
Redundant or duplicate publication
The Portuguese Journal of Stomatology, Dental Medicine and Maxillofacial Surgery does not accept previously published material and will not consider any manuscripts for publication that are simultaneously submitted to other journals or redundant or duplicate publications, i.e., articles that substantially overlap another article already published, printed, or available in electronic media. In the Cover Letter, the authors must mention any previous submissions or publications of the same work, either in full or in part, that could be considered a redundant or duplicate publication. The literature references of these previous publications must be quoted and included in the new manuscript. These restrictions do not apply to published abstracts of papers, presentations, or conferences, presented at national or international scientific meetings.
Revisions and adjustments
Whenever an article’s acceptance is on hold due to the need for authors’ adjustments, the requested revisions should be done by authors within 15 days for minor changes or 60 days for major changes. After linguistic revision and the article’s graphical production, the final proof will be sent to the corresponding author for approval. The necessary adjustments should be communicated within the scheduled deadline, as established by the editorial council for the Journal timeline compliance. Failing to respond within the scheduled deadline will be understood as acceptance of the final presented version.
CHECHLIST OF THE DOCUMENTS TO SUBMIT
• Presentation letter (mandatory)
• Cover page (mandatory)
• Abstract and Keywords (mandatory)
• Manuscript (mandatory)
• Figures
• Acknowledgments
• Supplementary files (appendices)
• Consent for data publishing (authorization from the copyright holders, author/editor of the pictures, figures, or graphics from other publications used in the submitted manuscript)