The BALKAN JOURNAL OF DENTAL MEDICINE provides contributors with an opportunity to publish review and original papers, preliminary (short) communications and case reports.

Original papers (OP) should be related to the results of scientific, clinical and experimental research. They should investigate a certain problem using adequate scientific methods and comment the obtained results in accordance to the previously published observations of other authors.

Review papers (RP) should present an analytic evaluation of certain problems in dental medicine, based on a critical approach to personal experience and to the published results of other authors.

Case reports (CR) should illustrate unusual and clinically relevant observations.

Contributors should send their manuscripts to the Editor-in-Chief (Prof. Dejan Markovic, University of Belgrade, School of Dental Medicine, Clinic for Paediatric and Preventive Dentistry, Dr. Subotića 11, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia, e-mail: balkan.dentistry@hotmail.com.

No fees are awarded for the submitted papers. Original copies of papers, as well as illustrations, will not be returned. Following acceptance of a manuscript for publication, the author will receive a page proof for checking. The proofs should be returned with the least possible delay.

Offprints can be obtained on the author’s request, the cost being paid by the author.

Preparation of manuscripts

All manuscripts should be submitted in correct English. Text should be double spaced, with ample margins of not less than 4 cm. A conventional font, such as Times New Roman or Arial, should be used, with a font size of 12. Pages should be numbered starting from the title page.

Papers submitted for publication should be accompanied by a statement, signed by all authors, that the manuscript has been read and approved by all authors, that all authors agree to the submission of the manuscript, they the manuscript has not already been published, and is not under consideration by any other publication.

Manuscripts should be prepared as a text file plus separate files for illustrations. The manuscripts should be set out as follows, with each section beginning on a separate sheet: Title page, Summary, Text, Acknowledgements if any, References, Tables and Captions of illustrations.

Submissions which do not conform to these guidelines will be returned to the author. 

Title page. The title page should give the following information: 1) title of the paper which should be informative but concise, 2) initials, surname and the institution address of each author, 3) name, postal address, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail address of the author responsible for correspondence and to whom requests for offprints should be sent and 4) sources of support in the form of grants if any.

Summary. It should consist of not more than 250 words summarizing the contents of the paper. For OP, the abstract should be structured with the following headings: Background/Aim, Material and Methods, Results and Conclusions. For CR, the summary should consist of the following: Background/Aim, Case Report(s) and Conclusions. In other types of papers, the summary has no specific outline.

A list of 3-10 key words should be included, according to Index Medicus.

Text. The complete title should precede the text (but without authors and institution names). Headings should be appropriate to the nature of the paper. Normally, only two categories of headings should be used: major ones should be typed in capital letters in the centre of the page and underlined; minor ones should be typed in lower case (with an initial capital letter) at the left hand margin and underlined.

Main text of OR should be divided into: Introduction, Material and Methods, Results, Discussion and Conclusions.

Introduction should provide a concise summary of the background to the relevant field of research, outline the historical or logical origins of the study, introduce the specific problem and state the hypothesis to be tested.

Materials and Methods must contain sufficient detail about the properties and selection of the material (sample). Experimental, analytical and statistical methods should be described with enough detail. All drugs and equipment used should be identified precisely with the name and brief address of the manufacturer.

Manuscripts reporting studies on laboratory animals and on human subjects should include evidence that the research was ethically conducted.

Results should be presented in logical sequence. The text should not duplicate data provided in tables or figures.

Discussion should describe limitations of the study, if any, interpretate the data and inferences about the contribution of the study to the wider field of research. Repetition of preceding sections should be avoided.

Conclusions should be linked to the aim of the study and comment the relevance of the findings.

Main text of RP comprises Introduction, headings structured in a suitable way according to the subject treated, and Conclusions.

Main text or CR should be divided into Introduction, Case Report(s), Discussion and Conclusions.

All illustrations, labelled as figures (such as photographs, line drawings, charts or tracings) should be submitted as high-contrast prints, suitable for publications. Illustrations should have a final resolution of 300 dpi, and line drawings of 800-1200 dpi. They must be numbered with Arabic numerals in the same order as they are cited in the text. Photomicrographs should have the magnifications and details of staining techniques shown. Short explanatory captions of all illustrations should be typed on a separate sheet.

 

Tables should be typed on a separated sheet. Each table should have a short heading (title) above and any footnotes, suitably identified, below. Tables should be numbered consecutively with Arabic numerals. Do not submit tables as photographs. Ensure that each table is cited in the text. Abbreviations are not desirable.

 

References. References in the text should use superscript numerals as they appear in the list of references, with or without the name(s) of the author(s). The list of references at the end of the paper should be typed in double spacing on a separate sheet, arranged alphabetically and numbered, and should include all references cited in the text. For review papers, references can he arranged consecutively and numbered (by Arabic numerals) as they are cited. The accuracy of references is the responsibility of the author.

Titles of journals should be abbreviated as used by Index Medicus. The format for references should be: yearvolume- first and last page. References to monographs should also include publisher and the page(s) referred to.

Examples:

  1. Brown JS, Browne RM. Factors influencing the patterns of invasion of the mandible by squamous cell carcinoma. Int J Oral Maxillofac Surg, 1995; 24:417-426.
  2. Sternbach RA. Pain patients – traits and treatment. New York, London, Toronto, Sydney, San Francisko: Academic Press, 1974, pp 20-30.
  3. Koulourides T, Feagin F, Pigman W. Experimental changes in enamel mineral density. In: Harris RS (ed). Art and Science of Dental Caries Research. New York: Academic Press, 1968, pp 355-378.

 

Selection of reviewers

The Editor-in-Chief and Guest Editors of a journal have the right to select reviewers for a particular manuscript considering the knowledge and experience of the reviewers.

 

Purpose of a review

A review report provides the Editor-in-Chief with an expert opinion on the quality of the manuscript under consideration. It also supplies authors with explicit feedback on how to improve their papers to make them acceptable for publication in the journal. Although confidential, comments to the editors are not relayed to authors, any remarks that may help improve the quality of the manuscript are forwarded to the authors for their consideration. A good review report answers the following important areas:

  • Is the work novel and of high standards?
  • Is the manuscript written comprehensively enough to be understandable? If not, how could it be improved?
  • Does the paper offer enough details of its methodology to reproduce the experiments?
  • Do the experimental data support the declarations? If not, what other evidence may prove fruitful?
  • What are the main findings of the paper? Is relevant work of other authors in the field appropriately acknowledged and references given to the previous literature?
  • What kind of readers would benefit from the manuscript and why?
  • In what further directions would it be feasible to take the current research?

After review of the manuscript by at least two independent experts, in addition to the views of the Editor- in-Chief, the decision is relayed to the authors, which may be categorized as:

  • Accept without changes
  • Revisions required
  • Reject