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Guidelines for Authors

This page details the requirements for authors wishing to submit papers to Primary Dental Care. First-time contributors are strongly advised to read these guidelines carefully before submitting their paper. A checklist is also available for easy reference, which can be found by scrolling down or clicking here.

The Journal requirements conform to the ‘Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals’, (the Vancouver style), details of which can be found online at www.icmje.org.

  A brief guide to the Vancouver style

Authors should also be aware of The Royal College of Surgeons of England’s house style guide, details of which can be found at www.rcseng.ac.uk/publications/annals/collegestyleguide.html.

Submission

Articles (including correspondence) should be typed in double spacing, with a 4 cm left margin, on A4 page size. Pages should be numbered consecutively, beginning with the title page, in the lower right-hand corner of each page. Manuscripts should be submitted as an electronic file in Microsoft Word or text (.txt) format, and attached to an e-mail.

Co-author consent and covering letter

For all submissions, a covering letter should be included containing the following information:

• A statement to the effect that all co-authors consent to publication.
• The name, address, telephone number and e-mail address of the corresponding author
• Details of what each author contributed to the paper (see http://www.nature.com/bdj/journal/v203/n3/full/bdj.2007.689.html for more details of this policy).
• Details of any prior or duplicate publication, or submission for publication, of any part of the work; or alternatively, a statement that there has been no such prior publication or submission.

It is preferable, when submitting manuscripts, that all co-authors be copied into the original email. Note that there is no requirement for authors to be members of the Faculty, or even to be dental practitioners.

Ethical approval and research governance

All research papers submitted to Primary Dental Care must include a statement regarding ethical approval, even if, in the opinion of the author(s), such approval was not required. This must be included in the paper itself (not just in the covering letter). In normal circumstances, statements on this topic should either:

• Give details of the names of the ethics committee(s) from which ethical approval was sought and given, or
• Provide a full justification, where ethical approval was not sought, as to why this action was not taken.

Authors must also state what research governance procedures, if any, were followed.

Permissions

Where authors quote directly from copyright material or use copyright protected illustrations, written permission from the copyright owners (and authors, if necessary) must be submitted. All uses must be acknowledged.

Questionnaires

If a questionnaire has been used in a study, authors must submit a copy of the questionnaire either as a figure or, if the questionnaire is large, as an annex to the paper. In the latter case, the questionnaire may be published as an appendix on the FGDP(UK) website if the paper is accepted.

Conflict of Interest

Conflict of interest exists when an author (or the author’s institution) has financial or personal relationships with other persons or organisations that inappropriately influence (bias) his or her actions. Financial relationships such as employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony and patents are the most easily identifiable conflicts of interest and the most likely to undermine the credibility of the Journal and the authors. Authors must fully disclose sources of funding and all financial or personal relationships that could be viewed as presenting a potential conflict of interest. Such information will be held in confidence while the paper is under review and will not influence the editorial decision, but if the article is accepted for publication, a disclosure statement will appear with the article.

Manuscript presentation

Use of English

Papers should be as concise as possible, with spelling conforming to the Concise Oxford English Dictionary. The editor reserves the right to edit papers in the interest of the Journal’s standards of style. Details of the Journal’s house style can be obtained from the editorial office.

Title page

The title page should carry:

1. The title of the article, which should be concise but informative.
2. First name, middle initial and last name of each author, with degrees, job title and town of residence.
3. Name and address of the author to whom proofs and other correspondence should be sent.
4. A ‘running title’ for page headlines, which may be the same as the main title but must not exceed 40 letters and spaces. This page will be removed when the paper is sent blind to referees. The following page should contain the title of the paper only.

Abstract and keywords

The third page should carry an abstract. Original papers should have a structured abstract of no more than 250 words; Clinical reports/case studies and ‘In Our Opinion’ articles should have unstructured abstracts of no more than 150 words. The abstract should:

• State the purposes of the study or investigation (Aims)
• Describe basic procedures (Methods)
• Illustrate main findings (Results), and
• State principal conclusions, emphasising new and important aspects of the study (Conclusions).

Beneath the abstract, provide 3-10 keywords or short phrases that will assist indexers in cross-indexing the article, and may be published with the abstract. Use terms from the medical subject headings (MeSH) list of Index Medicus where possible.

Text

Original research papers should not normally exceed 4000 words, with no more than six tables or illustrations. They should conform to the conventional format for scientific papers (see above), with the headings Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, References and Acknowledgements. Clinical reports/case studies should not exceed 2000 words, with no more than eight illustrations, and should be divided into Introduction, Case history, Discussion and References. Correspondence should not exceed 1000 words. Original research papers will be published in a two-column format, whereas reviews, case studies, clinical audits and so on will be published in three columns.

Statistics

If statistical analysis is required (many original papers from general dental practice may not require it), describe statistical methods with enough detail to enable a knowledgeable reader with access to the original data to verify the results. All data should be carefully checked before submission.

References

References must be in the Vancouver style. A guide to the style is available at www.fgdp.org/pdf/vancouver.pdf. When citing electronic material please include the date on which you accessed (‘cited’) the website/page. Note that it is not acceptable to use ‘personal communications’ and ‘unpublished data’ as references, although these can be mentioned at the appropriate point in the text.

Tables and illustrations

Each tables and illustrations should be submitted on a separate page of the document. Graphs need not be submitted as finished artwork, as long as a rough sketch is provided, but the corresponding data must be submitted along with the paper. Tables should be simple and should not duplicate information in the text of the article. Photographs/illustrations can be submitted electronically, providing they are of good quality and have been saved as high-resolution images. Each photograph/ illustration should be supplied as a separate file (not embedded within a text file) and attached to the e-mail when submitting the paper. Print reproduction file formats are JPEG, TIFF or EPS. If not sent electronically, photographs should be in the form of first-generation, unmounted, glossy prints. Original radiographs should not be sent but photographic prints should be made. Colour illustrations can be published although there may be a charge to the author. Submit one set of original slides (35 mm transparencies) and two sets of prints made from them (colour or black and white). Do not send glass-mounted slides. Authors are advised to keep copies of all illustrations in case damage or loss occurs in transit. Do not write directly on the back of photographs, other than with a soft pencil. It is better to write, in pencil, on a sticky label and fix this to the back. The label should show the number, names of author(s) and the correct alignment. Do not use paper clips. All photographs, charts and diagrams are to be referred to as ‘Figures’ and should be numbered consecutively in the order to which they are referred in the text. Tables should be numbered separately. Type legends for illustrations on a separate sheet, double spaced, with the number corresponding to that on the label.

Units of measurement

All measurements should be in metric or SI units.

Abbreviations and symbols

Use only standard abbreviations and avoid abbreviations in the title and abstract. The full term for which an abbreviation stands should precede its first use in the text unless it is a standard unit of measurement.

Proprietary names

Where it is necessary to use proprietary names, a list of names and addresses of manufacturers should be given.

Offprints

On publication, the corresponding author will receive a PDF copy of the article as it appeared in Primary Dental Care, from which each author may make copies.

Circulation

The journal is circulated to all dentist members of the Faculty of General Dental Practice (UK) and to private subscribers.

Correspondence

All correspondence should be sent to:

Editor
Primary Dental Care
Faculty of General Dental Practice (UK)
The Royal College of Surgeons of England
35-43 Lincoln’s Inn Fields
London WC2A 3PE

E-mail: domalley@rcseng.ac.uk

Final checklist for submissions