Publishing papers: initial observations as an author and a referee

Three basic rules for referees

I've published 9 papers in peer-reviewed dental journals in the last 2 years and have refereed half a dozen papers regarding dental materials, adhesives, resin-based composites, adhesive cements, adhesion, marginal adaptation... Since there's no 'school' or 'course' for referees that I'm aware of, I've started developing my own style. Judging from other people's reviews of my papers, this seems to be the case with most referees out there. I know that the following are very basic rules, but sometimes, even such basic rules are not followed.

Though editors put a lot of effort in finding the right referees for a particular paper, it's possible that a paper ends up in wrong hands, with someone whose field of expertise has almost nothing to do with the subject of the paper. I've noticed very 'interesting' remarks regarding one of my papers indicating that the referee wasn't an expert in the field he/she was referring to. Obviuosly, nowadays a lot of studies are multidisciplinary and this makes it even more difficult for editors to find competent referees. A potential referee may be an expert regarding only a part of a particular study. It's only fair to comment on that part and indicate this to the editor so that a competent person is invited to comment on the other part(s).

So, rule No.1: accept an invitation to review a paper only if you're an expert in the field or at least a part of it and indicate this to the editor. Decline review if the subject of the paper is not your area of expertise.

Another thing I've noticed with people refereeing my papers is that this process sometimes takes ages. Though some journals have taken steps to ensure speedy review within 3-6 weeks, with some journals this may take even more than 6 months. This is simply unacceptable. Being in a referee's position myself, I've realised that even 3 weeks is more than enough to complete a review. Of course, I'm well aware of the fact that referees are very busy and have many, many other things to do. But so are the authors and referees should respect that. It's unfair to keep someone's paper 'under review' for more than a month.

So, rule No.2: accept an invitation to review a paper only if you can complete the review in less than 3 weeks.

Also, I've noticed that there are people who just don't care about the paper they're reviewing. They tend to write and overall impression of the paper without going into specific details. This is not helpful even if the paper is good and especially if it needs to be improved. It's almost like they just skimmed through the paper. On the other hand, there are people who write extensive reviews and I find these extremely helpful.

So, rule No.3: be fully committed to reviewing a paper. Go into minute details when writing a review.

Keywords: dental materials, research, publishing papers, review process.

Dentistry jobs: directories of clinical, academic, corporate and others jobs related to dentistry

Sometimes I have this impression that looking for the right job online is like looking for a needle in a haystack. That's why I've started building a directory of job directories.

Jobs related to dentistry, including dental materials, of course...

• www.findaphd.com
• www.phds.org
• www.scholarshipnet.info
• www.clinicalacademicjobs.org
• www.jobs.ac.uk
• www.prospects.ac.uk
• www.job-search-engine.com
• www.vacancies.ac.uk
• www.higheredjobs.com
• BDJ Jobs
• www.jobs4medical.co.uk
• www.dentaljobs.net
• www.dentafind.com
• dentistry.academickeys.com
• www.academicjobseu.com
• www.academicjobs.co.uk
• NIDCR
• IADR career center
• LinkedIn jobs

Santini Miletic Research Group: new website

The new website of the Santini Miletic Research Group is up and running. Please visit us at http://www.santinimiletic.com/

In addition to the short CVs of group members, there is a list of selected papers published recently in international peer-reviewed journals. There is also information on research facilities available to the Group and various methods of knowledge transfer.

Up-coming event

British Society for Dental Research Conference, Glasgow, Sept 1-4, 2009.

The keynote speakers are Professor Angus Walls, Professor of Restorative Dentistry, School of Dental Sciences, Newcastle University and Professor Iain McInnes, Professor of Experimental Medicine, Division of Immunology, Infection and Inflammation, Faculty of Medicine, University of Glasgow.

Professor Angus Walls' lecture - "The ageing population, opportunity or threat?"
Professor McInnes' lecture - "Immune complexity to novel therapy - promises for a new decade?"

The following symposia are scheduled:

- Non-shrink resin composites: Dream or reality?
Aim: This symposium examine current developments of resin-based restoratives, indicating the advantages and disadvantages of resin types routinely and review the most recent advancements in resin technology.
Speakers:
Professor Ric van Noort, University of Sheffield: Opening remarks
Dr Rainer Guggenberger, 3M/ESPE: The chemistry of new resin systems
Dr N Silikas University of Manchester: Measurement of shrinkage and contraction stress
Professor Tim Watson Kings College London: Quality of adhesion
Professor Trevor Burke University of Birmingham: Early thoughts of clinical experience

- Novel biomaterials - can the microenvironment be improved ?

- Childsmile a Scottish oral health programme for Scottish children: collaborations and innovative evaluations

- The oral microbiota and the link with systemic disease

A total of 228 studies will be presented at the conference and the complete programme can be downloaded from HERE.

The Santini Miletic Research Group will present a study entitled "The ratio of carbon-carbon double bonds in different BisGMA/HEMA mixtures". The poster will be uploaded to this blog after the conference.

IADR introduces official social networking platforms

Official IADR communities have been created on Facebook, LinkedIn and Flickr to enhance communication between IADR members. Anyone can join. It's free. Click on each logo below for more.

One-step self-etch adhesive, Adhese One F

A new one-step self-etch adhesive, Adhese One F, manufactured by Ivoclar Vivadent has been sent to the Santini Miletic Research Group for scientific evaluation. The adhesive is based on previously developed Adhese One with the inclusion of potassium fluoride which is reported to act as a fluoride releasing agent. The manufacturer's internal data state that there is a cumulative fluoride release over a 6 day period.

Micro-Raman spectroscopic studies will be conducted to evaluate the ratio of carbon-carbon double bonds (RDB) of Adhese One F under different curing conditions. Furthermore, the adhesive-dentine interface will be characterised in terms of dentine demineralisation and adhesive penetration and the RDB across this interface.

A previous study has shown significantly lower RDB values for Adhese One in both the adhesive and the hybrid layer compared to Excite (etch-and-rinse) and Adhese (2-step self-etch). In another study, Adhese One produced a thinner hybrid layer compared to G Bond (1-step self-etch), Filtek Silorane adhesive system (2-step self-etch) and Excite

Santini A, Miletic V. Quantitative micro-Raman assessment of dentine demineralization, adhesive penetration, and degree of conversion of three dentine bonding systems. Eur J Oral Sci 2008;116(2):177-83. Abstract Full text available upon request.

Santini A, Miletic V. Comparison of the hybrid layer formed by Silorane adhesive, one-step self-etch and etch and rinse systems using confocal micro-Raman spectroscopy and SEM. J Dent 2008;36(9):683-91. Abstract Full text available upon request.

Poll for dentists and dental therapists

What type of adhesive system do you use in your practice?

Please, select one or more answers from the poll in the sidebar.

Adhesive systems are classified according to the number of clinical application steps and adhesion strategy. This is one of the most widely accepted classifications in both clinical practice and scientific literature.

Feel free to leave a comment about your experience with any particular adhesive system.

In clinical practice, I'm using a two-step etch-and-rinse system. In PhD research, I've studied the degree of conversion and elution of unreacted monomers from a wide range of adhesive systems. Some of these results have been published in scientific dental journals and some are in press and will be published soon.

Though one-step (all-in-one) self-etch systems are currently marketed, results from many in vivo and in vitro studies suggest that these systems often have inferior properties compared to two-step self-etch and etch-and-rinse systems.