Instructions for authors
Thank you for choosing to submit your paper to us. These instructions will ensure we have everything required so your paper can move through peer review, production, and publication smoothly. Please take the time to read and follow them as closely as possible, as doing so will ensure your paper matches the journal’s requirements.
All authors submitting to medicine, biomedicine, health sciences, allied and public health journals should conform to the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals, prepared by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).
Please note that this journal only publishes manuscripts in English.
Biomaterial Investigations in Dentistry accepts the following type of articles: Original articles, Review articles, Systematic reviews, Mini reviews, Brief reports, Case reports, Letters to the editor, Editorials, and Conference proceedings.
Original articles
Original articles report on full-length scientific investigations. The scientific investigations aim to acquire new knowledge but may also confirm or correct previous knowledge.
In general, Biomaterial Investigations in Dentistry prefer analytical studies over descriptive studies. Articles reporting on novel research showing cause and effect relationships for experimental studies and explanatory/associative relationships for those of an observational nature are favored.
Preparing your manuscript
• Should be written with the following elements in the following order: Title page; Abstract; Keywords; Introduction; Patients/Materials and Methods; Results; Discussion; Conclusions; Acknowledgments; Declaration of Interest statement; Author Contributions statement; Data Availability Statement; References; appendices (as appropriate); table(s) with caption(s) (editable on individual pages); figures; figure captions (as a list).
• Should contain a structured abstract of no more than 300 words. Please provide the abstract subdivided into the following sections: Background/Objective(s)/Introduction; Patients/Materials and Methods; Results; Conclusion(s).
• Should contain between 3 and 10 keywords.
• The Patients/Materials and Methods should present a study protocol. In experimental studies of human subjects a statement should be included which indicates that the informed consent of the subjects and acceptance of the study protocol by a local ethics committee has been obtained. See Complying with Ethics of Experimentation for further information. The results should be presented in a logical sequence, and the discussion should commence with a presentation of the major findings of the study and conclude with the implications and/or applications of the findings.
• Key messages: Please include 1-3 key messages from the article, each forming a complete sentence. Include these in the manuscript text file and also enter the key messages in the designated area in the online submission form.
Review articles
Review articles present comprehensive summaries of previous research on a specific research area/topic. Reviews aim to provide an overview for the state of the art, to evaluate progress in the research area, and/or to highlight current research gaps and potential developments.
Preparing your manuscript
• Should be written with the following elements in the following order: Title page; Abstract; Keywords; Introduction; Discussion; Conclusions; Acknowledgments; Declaration of Interest statement; Author Contributions statement; Data Availability Statement; References; appendices (as appropriate); table(s) with caption(s) (editable on individual pages); figures; figure captions (as a list).
• Should contain an unstructured abstract of no more than 300 words.
• Should contain between 3 and 10 keywords.
• Data Availability Statement: This is required for all articles. If data sharing is not applicable the following statement wording may be used: “Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analyzed in this study.”.
• Key messages: Please include 1-3 key messages from the article, each forming a complete sentence. Include these in the manuscript text file and also enter the key messages in the designated area in the online submission form.
Systematic review
Systematic review articles present a synthesis of previous research on a specific topic and use systematic, pre-specified, reproducible, and transparent methods to identify, select, and analyse the accumulated evidence.
Preparing your manuscript
• Should answer a defined research question through the use of explicit, systematic methods to review primary literature and identify, appraise and synthesize all empirical evidence according to pre-specified eligibility criteria.
• Should follow the PRISMA guideline for systematic reviews and include the following elements in the following order: Title page; Abstract; Keywords; Introduction; Materials and Methods; Results; Discussion; Conclusions; Acknowledgments; Declaration of Interest statement; Author Contributions statement; Data Availability Statement; References; Appendices (as appropriate); Table(s) with caption(s) (editable on individual pages); Figures; Figure captions (as a list).
• Should contain a structured abstract of no more than 300 words. Please provide the abstract subdivided into the following sections: Background/Objective(s)/Introduction; Materials and Methods; Results; Conclusion(s).
• Should contain between 3 and 10 keywords.
• The Methods should provide details of the review protocol if one exists as well as details of eligibility criteria for included studies, information sources, search strategies, data collection, synthesis of results and additional analyses (if appropriate). The Results synthesis should be quantified and presented with confidence intervals and measures of consistency. The statistical method(s) and/or package used should also be stated. The Results should be presented in a logical sequence, and the Discussion should commence with a presentation of the major findings of the study and conclude with the implications and/or applications of the findings.
• Key messages: Please include 1-3 key messages from the article, each forming a complete sentence. Include these in the manuscript text file and also enter the key messages in the designated area in the online submission form.
Reporting standards
For systematic reviews, the journal requires authors to follow the PRISMA guideline. Submissions received without these elements will be returned to the authors as incomplete.
Mini review
Mini review articles present concise summaries of the recent developments within a current topic and/or emerging concept, possibly giving directions for future advances. The body of the manuscript of the Mini reviews should be no longer than three printed pages.
Preparing your manuscript
• Should be written with the following elements in the following order: Title page; Abstract; Keywords; Introduction, Discussion; Conclusion; Acknowledgments, Declaration of interest statement; Author Contributions statement, Data Availability Statement, References; Appendices (as appropriate); Table(s) with caption(s) (editable on individual pages); Figures; Figure captions (as a list).
• Should be no more than 4,500 words inclusive of tables, references, figure captions, footnotes, endnotes.
• Should contain an unstructured abstract of no more than 300 words.
• Should contain between 3 and 10 keywords.
• Data Availability Statement: This is required for all articles. If data sharing is not applicable the following statement wording may be used: “Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analyzed in this study.”
• Key messages: Please include 1-3 key messages from the article, each forming a complete sentence. Include these in the manuscript text file and also enter the key messages in the designated area in the online submission form.
Brief report
Brief research reports present original research and/or preliminary findings of great novelty and/or significance and the body of the manuscript should not be longer than two printed pages.
Preparing your manuscript
• Should be written with the following elements in the following order: Title page; Abstract; Keywords; Introduction; Patients/Materials and Methods; Results; Discussion; Conclusions; Acknowledgments; Declaration of Interest statement; Author Contributions statement; Data Availability Statement; References; Appendices (as appropriate); Table(s) with caption(s) (editable on individual pages); Figures; Figure captions (as a list).
• Should be no more than 2,500 words inclusive of tables, references, figure captions, footnotes, endnotes.
• Should contain a structured abstract of no more than 300 words. Please provide the abstract subdivided into the following sections: Background/Objective(s)/Introduction; Patients/Materials and Methods; Results; Conclusion(s).
• Should contain between 3 and 10 keywords.
• Methods should provide sufficient details of the materials and methods used so that the work can be repeated by others. As per many reporting guidelines, this section should also include a brief discussion of allowances made (if any) for controlling bias or unwanted sources of variability. Any limitations of the datasets should be discussed. If the study involves the use of a questionnaire that has been validated by a previous study, this should be cited and a URL link provided to the validated questionnaire. If the authors have created a novel questionnaire (or performed a translation), the article must state if the questionnaire has been validated, and provide the following information: Initial ace validity testing; Preliminary pilot testing; Reliability testing (internal consistency, test-retest, inter-rater); Any changes implemented resulting from preliminary testing. The novel questionnaire should be provided as extended data.
• In experimental studies of human subjects a statement should be included which indicates that the informed consent of the subjects and acceptance of the study protocol by a local ethics committee has been obtained. See Complying with Ethics of Experimentation for further information. The Results should be presented in a logical sequence, and the Discussion should commence with a presentation of the major findings of the study and conclude with the implications and/or applications of the findings.
• Key messages: Please include 1-3 key messages from the article, each forming a complete sentence. Include these in the manuscript text file and also enter the key messages in the designated area in the online submission form.
Case report
Case reports present unique patient cases e.g., on novel treatments or unexpected treatment outcomes. Only case reports that significantly advance the field will be considered.
Preparing your manuscript
• Should be written with the following elements in the following order: title page; Abstract; Keywords; Introduction; Patients/Materials and Methods; Results; Discussion; Conclusions; Acknowledgments; Declaration of Interest statement; Author Contributions statement; Data Availability Statement; References; Appendices (as appropriate); Table(s) with caption(s) (editable on individual pages); Figures; Figure captions (as a list)
• Should contain a structured abstract of no more than 300 words. Please provide the abstract subdivided into the following sections: Background/Objective(s)/Introduction; Patients/Materials and Methods; Results; Conclusion(s).
• Should contain between 3 and 10 keywords.
• The Patients/Materials and Methods section should present a study protocol. A statement should be included which indicates that consent to publish has been obtained from the subjects. See Complying with Ethics of Experimentation for further information. The Results should be presented in a logical sequence, and the Discussion should commence with a presentation of the major findings of the study and conclude with the implications and/or applications of the findings.
• Key messages: Please include 1-3 key messages from the article, each forming a complete sentence. Include these in the manuscript text file and also enter the key messages in the designated area in the online submission form
Reporting standards
For case reports, the journal requires authors to follow the CARE guidelines. The CARE checklist should be provided as an additional file. Submissions received without these elements will be returned to the authors as incomplete.
Letter to the Editor
Letters to the Editor most often refer to scientific articles published in the journal, and in that case the authors of the previous article will be given the opportunity to respond. Letters to the Editor should be no longer than one printed page and must be submitted within 3 months of the article’s publication date. Please contact the Editor-in-Chief prior to submitting your manuscript.
Editorial
Editorials present relevant issues, changes, or news regarding the journal and its editorial management, content, or policies. Editorials are normally written by the journal’s editorial team or the editorial board.
Conference Proceedings
Expressions of interest should be communicated to the Editor in Chief.
Formatting and journal style guidelines
Note that, regardless of the file format of the original submission, an editable version of the article must be supplied at the revision stage.
Style guidelines:
Third-party Material
You must obtain the necessary permission to reuse third-party material in your article. The use of short extracts of text and some other types of material is usually permitted, on a limited basis, for the purposes of criticism and review without securing formal permission. If you wish to include any material in your paper for which you do not hold copyright, and which is not covered by this informal agreement, you will need to obtain written permission from the copyright owner prior to submission.
Disclosure Statement
Please include a disclosure statement, using the subheading “Disclosure of interest.” If you have no interests to declare, please state this (suggested wording: The authors report there are no competing interests to declare). For all NIH/Welcome-funded papers, the grant number(s) must be included in the declaration of interest statement.
Clinical Trials Registry
All clinical trials must have been registered in a public repository, ideally at the beginning of the research process (prior to participant recruitment). Trial registration numbers should be included in the abstract, with full details in the methods section. Clinical trials should be registered prospectively – i.e. before participant recruitment. For clinical trials that have not been registered prospectively, retrospective registration should be transparent, and assure complete dissemination of all clinical trial results, which ultimately impact human health. Authors of retrospectively registered trials must be prepared to provide further information to the journal editorial office if requested. The clinical trial registry should be publicly accessible (at no charge), open to all prospective registrants, and managed by a not-for-profit organization. For a list of registries that meet these requirements, please visit the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP). The registration of all clinical trials facilitates the sharing of information among clinicians, researchers, and patients, enhances public confidence in research, and is in accordance with the ICMJE guidelines.
Ethics of Experimentation
Please ensure that all research presented in submitted papers adheres to ethical standards and responsible conduct, and is fully compliant with all relevant codes of experimentation and legal regulations. Any original research papers involving humans, animals, plants, biological materials, protected or non-public datasets, collections, or sites must incorporate a written statement in the Methods section, confirming that the necessary ethical approval has been obtained from the local ethics committee or Institutional Review Board, as well as, when applicable, confirming informed consent has been acquired. In the case of studies involving animals, approval must be obtained from the local or institutional animal use and care committee. All research involving humans, whether individuals, samples, or data, must have been carried out in accordance with the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki. In situations where ethics approval is not mandated for non-interventional studies (e.g., surveys), authors should provide a statement to clarify this. In cases where there are no established ethics committees to grant ethical approval, authors are encouraged to contact the Editor for further guidance.
Consent
All authors are obliged to adhere to the ICMJE (International Committee of Medical Journal Editors) guidelines regarding privacy and obtaining informed consent from patients and study participants. Authors are required to include a statement confirming that they have obtained informed consent from any patient, service user, or participant, or the legal guardian of such an individual, involved in any form of qualitative or quantitative research.
For submissions where there is a potential risk of identifying patients or participants (e.g., clinical case reports containing their medical history, identifiable images, media content, etc.), authors must include a statement affirming that they have secured written informed consent from the relevant individual (or their parents/guardians in the case of a minor or someone unable to provide informed consent, or next of kin if the participant is deceased). The process of obtaining consent for publication should involve sharing the article with the individual (or the authorized representative) to ensure they are fully informed about the article's content before publication.
Health and Safety
Please confirm that all mandatory laboratory health and safety protocols have been strictly adhered to during the execution of any experimental work detailed in your paper. It is imperative that your paper includes all necessary warnings regarding potential hazards associated with the experiments or procedures described, as well as any hazards linked to instructions, materials, or formulations.
Kindly include all pertinent safety measures and reference any established standards or codes of practice. Authors engaged in animal science may benefit from consulting the International Association of Veterinary Editors' Consensus Author Guidelines on Animal Ethics and Welfare and the Guidelines for the Treatment of Animals in Behavioral Research and Teaching.
In situations where a product has not yet received approval from the appropriate regulatory body for the specific use described in your paper, please make it clear in your text, or if the product is still in the investigational stage, please state so.
Biomaterial Investigations in Dentistry is an Open Access peer-reviewed journal, publishing research in oral biomaterials science.
The journal welcomes submissions from around the world. The scope of the journal includes all basic and clinical aspects of oral biomaterials science in dentistry.
