Submissions guidelines

Acta Stomatologica Marisiensis Journal is an international journal dedicated to publishing high quality peer-reviewed articles pertaining to dental medicine. The themes covered by the journal include all the fields of dentistry, within a broad spectrum of disciplines and therapeutic areas, including, but not restricted to oral health, prosthetic dentistry, endodontics, paedodontics, orthodontics, oro-maxillo-facial surgery, implantology, dental materials, digital dentistry, nanotechnology and materials or medical engeneering.

All manuscripts submitted to Acta Stomatologica Marisiensis must be original, high quality and conform to the “Uniform Requirements for Manuscript Submitted to Biomedical Journals” published in Annals of Internal Medicine (1997;126:36-47).

Authors should not submit the same manuscript simultaneously to more than one journal, in the same or different language.

Authorship

All individuals listed as authors should qualify for authorship and should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for appropriate portions of the content.

Authors included in the manuscript should meet all of the following conditions as stated in the ICMJE (International Committee of Medical Journals Editors) guidelines:

• Substantial contributions to the conception and design of the work, acquisition, analysis or interpretation of data;
• Drafting the article or revising it critically, for important intellectual content;
• Final approval of the version to be published.
• Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Any other contributors, who do not qualify for authorship, should be acknowledged in an acknowledgment section. For further information about authorship, please refer to the ICMJE guidelines.

Studies involving experimental research on animals or humans must conform to the guiding principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. In case of research involving human subjects, the manuscript must contain a statement within the “Material and Methods” section indicating that the study protocol has been approved by the author(s) institutional ethical committee and that all study participants have given informed consent to the participate, or that the ethical committee has waived the need for informed consent. In order to respect patient confidentiality and the right to privacy, identifying information such as patient’s names, images, hospital or hospital record details, should not be included in any published material unless the information is essential for the scientific content. If so, written permission must be obtained from the patient, and this permission should be submitted to the editorial office prior to publication.

In case of manuscripts reporting clinical trials, these should be registered in a public trials registry at or before the time of first patient enrolment, as a condition for consideration for publication. Trials should preferably be registered in ClinicalTrials.gov, but in accordance with the guidelines of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors any primary register of the WHO International Clinical Trails Registry Platform (ICTRP) is acceptable.

The journal does not have article processing charges nor article submission charges.

All manuscripts should be submitted via email to the email address asmj@umfst.ro

The submission should include the following attachments:

1. Cover letter
2. License to publish
3. Manuscript
4. Figures
5. Tables
6. Appendices

1. Cover letter

All manuscripts should be submitted together with a cover letter attached as a separate file, stating that:

• the manuscript is original
• no portion of the manuscript is under consideration for publication in any other journal or has been previously published, except as an abstract of fewer than 400 words.
• all authors have read and approved the manuscript and accept responsibility for the full content.
• Authors must state all possible conflicts of interest relating to the manuscript or, if there are none, this should be stated as “none declared”.

The cover letter should be signed by all authors. The corresponding author submits the manuscript and annexes on their behalf.

2. License to publish

A license to publish statement should be signed by be signed by all authors. The standard format of this document is available at www.asmj.ro

3. Manuscript

The manuscripts, including all tables and references, must be prepared in Word format. The text should be typed double-spaced with no indent, using “Times New Roman” font size 12.

Please arrange the contents of your manuscript in the following order:

I. Essential title page information

• Concise and informative. Titles are often used in information-retrieval systems. Avoid abbreviations and formulae where possible.
• Author names and affiliations. Where the family name may be ambiguous (e.g., a double name), please indicate this clearly. Present the authors’ affiliation addresses (where the actual work was done) below the names. Indicate all affiliations with a lower-case superscript number immediately after the author’s name and in front of the appropriate address. Provide the full postal address of each affiliation, including the country name and, if available, the e-mail address of each author.
• Corresponding author. Clearly indicate who will handle correspondence at all stages of refereeing and publication, also post-publication. Ensure that phone numbers (with country and area code) are provided in addition to the e-mail address and the complete postal address. Contact details must be kept up to date by the corresponding author.

Please also provide information on grants, contracts and any other form of financial support received in connection with the reported study.

II. Abstract – an abstract of no more than 300 words should accompany manuscripts relating to original research, case presentations and review articles. This should be structured using the following headings: Introduction, Aim of the study, Material and Methods, Results, Conclusions. Detailed instructions on abstract preparation according to each manuscript type are given below.

III. Key words – up to 10 keywords should be supplied by the author(s).

IV. Full text – should be formatted in Microsoft Word, double-spaced, single columned. Use headings and subheadings in all the sections. Original research articles should not exceed 5.000 words including references, tables, table legends and figure legends, and should be divided into the following sections:

a. Introduction

This must be presented in a structured format, covering the following subjects, although actual subheadings should not be included:

• succinct statements of the issue in question;
• the essence of existing knowledge and understanding pertinent to the issue (reference);
• the aims and objectives of the research being reported relating the research to dentistry, where not obvious.

b. Materials and methods

• describe the procedures and analytical techniques.
• only cite references to published methods.
• include at least general composition details and batch numbers for all materials.
• identify names and sources of all commercial products e.g.Voltarol® Emulgel® Gel (Company, Town, Country).
• specify statistical significance test methods.

c. Results

• refer to appropriate tables and figures.
• refrain from subjective comments.
• make no reference to previous literature.
• report statistical findings.

d. Discussion

• explain and interpret data.
• state implications of the results, relate to composition.
• indicate limitations of findings.
• relate to other relevant research that should be cited and listed in the references section.

e. Conclusion

• must NOT repeat Results or Discussion
• must concisely state inference, significance, or consequences

When preparing your manuscript, consider the following rules:

• Define abbreviations that are not standard the first time they appear in the text, followed by the abbreviation in brackets.. Such abbreviations that are unavoidable in the Abstract must be defined at their first mention there. Ensure consistency of abbreviations throughout the article
• All references, tables and figures should be cited in numerical order.
• Language editing will be available during the editorial process, however authors whose native language is not English are strongly advised to seek appropriate grammatical assistance when preparing the manuscript. Poorly written manuscript will be returned for improvement before commencing the editorial process.

V. Acknowledgments – collate acknowledgements in a separate section at the end of the article before the references and do not, therefore, include them on the title page, as a footnote to the title or otherwise. List here those individuals who provided help during the research (e.g., providing language help, writing assistance or proof reading the article, etc.).

Please indicate any source of funding including grants, contracts or any other form of financial support relating to the study.

VI. References – Number the references in the order in which they are first cited in the text. References should be indicated as full-size Arabic numerals in square brackets placed before punctuation marks.

VII. Reference style – List all authors if six or less; otherwise list first three and add “et al”. Please abbreviate titles of periodicals according to Index Medicus, or spelled out in full if not listed in Index Medicus. Use the following formats, paying close attention to the use of punctuation i.e.colon (:), semi-colon (;), coma (,) and full-stops (.).

For journal articles: Kim J, Fitzgerald JG, Sanders AK, Hofman HG. Long term survival following implantation of drug eluting stents. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2002;42:652-8.

For articles-in-press: Hendricks-Ferguson VL, Sawin KJ, et al. Novice Nurses’ Experiences with Palliative and End-of-Life Communication. J Pediatr Oncol Nurs. 2015. doi: 1043454214555196. [Epub ahead of print]

For a chapter in a book: La Rovere MT, Schwartz PJ: Baroreflex sensitivity. In Opie, L: Drugs for the Heart, Sixth Edition. Philadelphia: WB Saunders. 2006, pp.67-93.

For a Book: Eisen HN. Immunology: an introduction to molecular and cellular principles of the immune response. 5thed. New York: Harper&Row; 1974. P.406.

VIII. Acknowledgements – collate acknowledgements in a separate section at the end of the article before the references and do not, therefore, include them on the title page, as a footnote to the title or otherwise. List here those individuals who provided help during the research (e.g., providing language help, writing assistance or proof reading the article, etc.).

IX. Units – follow internationally accepted rules and conventions: use the international system of units (SI). If other units are mentioned, please give their equivalent in SI.

4. Figures

Figures should be prepared separately and sent as additional files, in TIF or JPG format, or compressed into one ZIP file. The figures should be prepared at the standard resolution of 300 dpi. All abbreviations used in a figure should be explained in the figure legend. Figure legends should be concise but explicit, enabling a clear understanding of the illustration. Figures and figure legends should be numbered in Arabic numerals in the order of appearance in the text and should not be imbedded within the text. Colour figures are preferred. Where a figure(s) is reproduced or adapted from another source, the author must first seek permission from both the author and publisher of the original material. Written evidence of permission for reproduction in both print and electronic formats for worldwide distribution must be forwarded with the manuscript and state “Reproduced with permission from…” or “Adapted with permission from…”.

5. Tables

These must be self-explanatory and should not duplicate the text. Tables should be numbered in Arabic numerals in the order of mention in the text and should not be imbedded within the text. Instead, each table should be typed on a separate page at the end of the manuscript. All the abbreviations used in the table should be typed as footnotes immediately below the table.  Tables should be created with Word’s Insert Table function in order to be editable. Do not submit tables as image files.

6. Appendices

If there is more than one appendix, they should be identified as A, B, etc. Formulae and equations in appendices should be given separate numbering: Eq. (A.1), Eq. (A.2), etc.; in a subsequent appendix, Eq. (B.1) and so on. Similarly for tables and figures: Table A.1; Fig. A.1, etc.

Acta Stomatologica Marisiensis Journal also publishes the following types of papers:

Reviews

The journal publishes comprehensive review papers on actual topics of interest related to dental medicine. Review articles should include a brief non-structured abstract of no more than 300 words and the text should be limited to 5.000 words including tables and figures, excluding references. In extraordinary situations or relevant and extensive topics, the Editor-in-Chief may decide to accept papers with a higher number of words, a maximum of 400 words for the abstract and 6.500 for the text, including tables and figures, excluding the references.

Review articles can be submitted by invitation or unsolicited. In both cases, full consideration will be given to articles providing a substantial contribution to a better understanding of a pathophysiological or clinical aspect in a field related to dental medicine.

Case reports and case series

Case reports should be limited to presentation of a single particular and uncommon case, or uncommon presentation of a disease. Case series include description of a series of a maximum of 10 cases with common particularities. The abstract should be limited to 300 words, being divided into introduction, case presentation / presentation of case series and conclusions. The full manuscript should not exceed 3.000 words including references, figures and tables, being divided into sections headed Introduction, Case presentation / presentation of case series, Discussions, Conclusions. In manuscripts pertaining to case presentation or case series, the number of authors should be limited to four, the number of references to thirty and the number of figures to 8.

Original papers

Definitive reports on a full study, describing original preclinical or clinical study (which is not a case presentation or a case series report) represent research of high scientific level and timeliness. A concise abstract of no more than 300 words is required. The abstract should briefly state the purpose of the research, the main results and major conclusions. An abstract is often presented separate from the article, so it must be able to stand alone. The manuscript should be written clearly and concisely. The authors are responsible for providing the correct nomenclature, which must be consistent and unambiguous. The text should be arranged in the following order: Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion and Conclusions.

The length of the manuscript should be limited to 5000 words (including references, tables and figures).

Brief reports

Brief reports refer to articles presenting a short communication related to an original preclinical or clinical study which is not a case presentation or a case series report. While the structure of the abstract and of the full text should be detailed similar to that for full original articles, the length of the manuscript should be shorter, the abstract limited to 200 words and the full text (including references, tables and figures) to 2.000 words.

Letter to editor

A letter to the editor may refer to an article recently published by the journal, commenting on the article in a constructive professional manner the content of which, in the opinion of the author(s) would add the current status of knowledge in the field. If accepted, the letter will be sent to the authors of the original article who will have the opportunity to respond and to have their response published in the same journal issue as the letter to the editor. The letters should be limited to 500 words, 5 references and 3 authors. No abstract is required.

Editorial

Editorials should be limited to 3000 words (including references) and should be related to an article published in the current number or to a specific topic that is current and of high interest to the readers.

State-of-the-art papers

The journal publishes state-of-the-art articles that aim to provide an update on the current status of areas of high interest to dental medical specialists. The main aim of such articles is to offer the specialist and other practitioners a source of continuous education and forum for discussion. A state-of-the-art article should have a full text limited to 5.000 words, in addition to a 300 word unstructured abstract. Sections of the article should be divided using headings relevant to each particular case.

Peer review process

Submitted manuscripts are first checked to ensure that they comply with instructions to authors and are in accordance with the “Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals”, Annals of Internal Medicine, 1997,126, 36-47, and that all references, figures and tables meet the journal’s requirements.

All manuscripts sent to the journal are routinely screened using specialized anti-plagiarism soft-wares. In all cases where any possible irregularity exists, the editorial office will follow the principles stated in COPE (Committee on publication ethics) guidelines.

Only manuscripts complying with the above requirements and free of possible irregularities, will be entered into the review process. The author(s) will be informed that the manuscript has been accepted for review.

Authors may suggest the names of potential reviewers and the Editor may choose, without obligation or explanation, to use one or more of these. Authors may also specify the names of a person(s) which they do not wish to review their manuscript, in which case a brief explanation should be given.

All articles will be reviewed by at least two peers with expertise in the manuscript’s subject matter. The identities of the reviewers, chosen by the editor, will not be disclosed to the authors.

The average time from submission to a decision following the first review is approximately 4-6 weeks.

Based on the reviewers’ opinion, the Editor will choose one of the following alternatives:

• Accepted;
• Minor revisions required;
• Major revisions required;

In cases where revision is required, the author(s) will be invited to amend their manuscript, which should be resubmitted as soon as possible, but not later than 6 weeks. The revised manuscript will be reappraised by the initial reviewers and notification of a final decision will be sent to the author in approximately three weeks.

After acceptance and prior to publication, authors will receive a pdf file with the edited version of their manuscript for final proofreading and will be asked to carefully check the completeness and accuracy of the text, tables and figures.

Complaints

In cases where the authors wish to file a complaint, please contact the editorial office:

Acta Stomatologica Marisiensis Journal

”George Emil Palade”  University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science and Techology  from Tirgu Mures

Gheorghe Marinescu street no.38, Tirgu Mures, 540139, ROMANIA

Phone: +40-265-21 55 51, fax +40-265-21 04 07

Email: asmj@umfst.ro

Please describe the reason for complaining and specify the address for correspondence. Where the complaint is related to the editorial process, related to a manuscript, please include the name of the manuscript and the date the manuscript was submitted. The Editor in Chief, together with the editorial office will analyze the complaint and will answer to your complaint in a maximum of three working days.