International Journal of Orofacial Research
Home Editorial Board Archives Articles Author instructions Online Submission Contact Us
Author Instructions
INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS
Article Categories
The categories of articles that are published in the Journal are listed and described below. Please select the category that best describes your paper. If your paper does not fall into any of these categories, please contact the Editorial Office.
Original Research
This category of articles are that address research questions and/or hypothesis with exhaustive study design and methodology. The full manuscript including abstract, tables, figures and references should not exceed 15 typed pages in double space or 3000 words and should not contain more than 40 references.
Research Protocol
In this category of submission, only prospective proposed basic and clinical research studies who have obtained the ethical clearance from respective Ethics review board will be accepted. It should provide a detailed account of the hypothesis, rationale and methodology, expected outcome, future utility of the study in field of clinical dentistry.
The full manuscript including abstract, tables, figures and references should not exceed 10 typed pages in double space or 2500 words and should not contain more than 20 references.
Short communication
This category includes the brief communications on interesting, novel idea or hypothesis in field of dentistry. It should not contain more than 2000 words (including abstract (200 words), 2 figures, 1 tables and 5 references).
Review
This category solicits structured (systematic review and meta-analysis, scoping review) review of basic and clinical topics of interest to the readership. In rare case, narrative or thematic review on interesting, novel topic will be accepted. The length of review articles should not exceed 15 typed pages with double space or 4000 words in length; the abstract must not exceed 300 words; references must not exceed 50 limit. Although there is not specific instruction for structure of review article, it should include abstract, introduction, methodology, results, limitation(s), conclusion, reference, table/figures. IJOFR desire for review articles to be written by experts in field who are personally dedicated to writing the manuscript.
Case Report / Case Series
Journal welcomes Case report (s) of new dental disease or new presentation of old dental disease/ pathology, Unreported or Unusual oral manifestation presentations of a systemic disease or pathology, new associations or variations in dental disease processes, pathogenesis, presentations, diagnoses and/or management of new and emerging dental diseases, An unexpected association between old dental diseases or symptoms, An unexpected event in the course of observing or treating a patient for dental ailment, Findings that shed new light on the possible pathogenesis of a dental disease or an adverse effect of dental treatment.
Maximum 3 cases are allowed in Case report category and must be in form of clinciopathological case presentation (including abstract, case presentation, diagnostic investigation(s), differential diagnosis with discussion, key points of case(s)). It should be limited to 1000 words, should not have more than 4 authors and should not contain over 4 illustrations and 10 references. Case series must have more than 5 cases, should be limited to 1500 word. Authors have to comply with The CARE (for CAse REports) guidelines (https://www.care-statement.org/). For further details, authors are requested to visit https://www.equator-network.org/.
Special Section
This is special category /section dedicated to dental undergraduate students to exposure to research writing and show undergraduate level research to scientific research community, and academician. Article on any research, hypothesis, idea, concept developed by undergraduate student with help of mentor faculty will be accepted. It should be limited to 1500 word (structured article is encouraged), should contain only 2 table / figure, 20 references.
The undergraduate dental students must be perusing the dental degree recognized in India or aboard and he/she must have parent institute post-graduate degree holding faculty as mentor. ONLY undergraduate students up to 3 and mentoring faculty up to 2 will be given authorship. First Authorship must be given to undergraduate students only.
Contact details for submission
Submission should online through journal portal. If assistance is required by the authors, please refer to the guide for authors that are available on the journal website; you may also contact the Editorial Office. Please do not post, fax or e-mail your manuscripts to the Editorial Office.
Editorial Office
International Journal of Orofacial Research
Monal Yuwanati
Department of Oral Pathology and Microbiology,
Saveetha Dental College and Hospitals, Chennai, India
Email: ijofr.sdc@saveetha.com
Pre-submission preparation
The manuscript should not have been submitted, accepted or published previously or simultaneously in any other journal. If found or reported and after through investigation, journal may retract the article and put restriction on all authors up to 2 years on submission of article in this journal. As per journals policy, all articles will undergo stringent and transparent peer-review process and accepted article will undergo editing as per journals publication requirement and style. Studies (including survey) involving human subjects or animals should have received the approval of the institutional ethics committee. A statement to this effect and that informed consent was obtained from participating human subjects must be included in the manuscript text.
Ethical approval of studies and Informed consent
Studies involving human subjects or animals should have received the approval of the institutional ethics committee. A statement to this effect and that informed consent was obtained from participating human subjects must be included in the manuscript text. Please ensure that the work described has been carried out in accordance with The Code of Ethics of the World Medical Association (Declaration of Helsinki) for experiments involving humans http://www.wma.net/en/30publications/10policies/b3/index.html; EU Directive 2010/63/EU for animal experiments http://ec.europa.eu/environment/chemicals/lab_animals/legislation_en.htm; Uniform Requirements for manuscripts submitted to Biomedical journals http://www.icmje.org. Authors should include a statement in the manuscript that informed consent was obtained for experimentation with human subjects. The privacy rights of human subjects must always be observed.
Conflict of interest
IJOFR follows the ICMJE recommendations regarding conflict of interest disclosures. All authors are required to report the following information with each submission: (1) All third-party financial support for the work in the submitted manuscript. (2) All financial relationships with any entities that could be viewed as relevant to the general area of the submitted manuscript. (3) All sources of revenue with relevance to the submitted work who made payments to you, or to your institution on your behalf, in the 36 months prior to submission. (4) Any other interactions with the sponsor of outside of the submitted work should also be reported. (5) Any relevant patents or copyrights (planned, pending, or issued). (6) Any other relationships or affiliations that may be perceived by readers to have influenced, or give the appearance of potentially influencing, what you wrote in the submitted work. As a general guideline, it is usually better to disclose a relationship than not. Additional information on the ICMJE recommendations can be found at: http://www.icmje.org/. The form for conflict of interest disclosure can be downloaded here: http://www.icmje.org/conflicts-of-interest/. If there are no conflicts of interest, please state "None declared".
Submission declaration and verification
Submission of an article implies that the work described has not been published previously (except in the form of an abstract, a published lecture or academic thesis, see 'Multiple, redundant or concurrent publication' for more information), that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, that its publication is approved by all authors and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities where the work was carried out, and that, if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in English or in any other language, including electronically without the written consent of the copyright holder. To verify originality, your article may be checked by the originality detection service.
Plagiarism policy
Journal take any form of plagiarism seriously and follows the guidelines contained in the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) flowcharts (http://publicationethics.org/resources/flowcharts):
In the case of suspected plagiarism in a published article:
1. The person who advised us of the situation is informed about the process to be followed.
2. The articles are compared to check the degree of copying.
3. All Editors of the IJOFR are informed and asked for their comments.
4. The corresponding author of the article in question is contacted with documentary evidence of the case of plagiarism and is asked for a response.
5. If the authors are found guilty of plagiarism, the editor of the journal in which the original plagiarized article was published and the authors of the plagiarized article are informed.
6. The IJOFR publishes an official retraction of the paper along with withdrawal of online version of the article.
7. The IJOFR will not publish any article by any of the author (s) concerned for three years.
It is mandatory for author to submit plagiarism Declaration form.
Use of inclusive language
Inclusive language acknowledges diversity, conveys respect to all people, is sensitive to differences, and promotes equal opportunities. Content should make no assumptions about the beliefs or commitments of any reader; contain nothing which might imply that one individual is superior to another on the grounds of age, gender, race, ethnicity, culture, sexual orientation, disability or health condition; and use inclusive language throughout. Authors should ensure that writing is free from bias, stereotypes, slang, reference to dominant culture and/or cultural assumptions. We advise to seek gender neutrality by using plural nouns ("clinicians, patients/clients") as default/wherever possible to avoid using "he, she," or "he/she." We recommend avoiding the use of descriptors that refer to personal attributes such as age, gender, race, ethnicity, culture, sexual orientation, disability or health condition unless they are relevant and valid. These guidelines are meant as a point of reference to help identify appropriate language but are by no means exhaustive or definitive.
Authorship
All authors should have made substantial contributions to all of the following: (1) the conception and design of the study, or acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data, (2) drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content, (3) final approval of the version to be submitted.
Changes to authorship
Authors are expected to consider carefully the list and order of authors before submitting their manuscript and provide the definitive list of authors at the time of the original submission. Any addition, deletion or rearrangement of author names in the authorship list should be made only before the manuscript has been accepted and only if approved by the journal Editor. To request such a change, the Editor must receive the following from the corresponding author: (a) the reason for the change in author list and (b) written confirmation (e-mail, letter) from all authors that they agree with the addition, removal or rearrangement. In the case of addition or removal of authors, this includes confirmation from the author being added or removed.
Only in exceptional circumstances will the editor consider the addition, deletion or rearrangement of authors after the manuscript has been accepted. While the Editor considers the request, publication of the manuscript will be suspended. If the manuscript has already been published in an online issue, any requests approved by the Editor will result in a corrigendum.
Reporting clinical trials
Randomized controlled trials should be presented according to the CONSORT guidelines. At manuscript submission, authors must provide the CONSORT checklist accompanied by a flow diagram that illustrates the progress of patients through the trial, including recruitment, enrollment, randomization, withdrawal and completion, and a detailed description of the randomization procedure. The CONSORT checklist and template flow diagram are available online.
Copyright
IJOFR is the official, peer-reviewed publication of the Saveetha Dental College and Hospitals, Chennai. Manuscripts published in the IJOFR become the permanent property of IJOFR. All articles published in the Journal are protected by copyright, which covers the exclusive rights to reproduce and distribute the article, as well as translation rights. No IJOFR article, in part or whole, may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, by photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission from IJOFR. The Journal, however, grants to all users a free, irrevocable, worldwide, perpetual right of access to, and a license to copy, use, distribute, perform and display the work publicly and to make and distribute derivative works in any digital medium for any reasonable non-commercial purpose, subject to proper attribution of authorship and ownership of the rights. The journal also grants the right to make small numbers of printed copies for their personal non-commercial use under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to complete a 'Copyright Agreement'. Acceptance of the agreement will ensure the widest possible dissemination of information. Each manuscript must be submitted with a ‘Copyright Agreement' form.
Author Rights
As an author you (or your employer or institution) have certain rights to reuse your work.
Funding/support Statement
All financial and material support for the research, work, writing and editorial assistance from internal or external agencies, including commercial companies, should be clearly and completely identified in a funding/support statement. You are requested to identify who provided financial support for the conduct of the research and/or preparation of the article and to briefly describe the role of the sponsor(s), if any, in study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the article for publication. If the funding source(s) had no such involvement, then this should be stated.
Role of the funding source
You are requested to identify who provided financial support for the conduct of the research and/or preparation of the article and to briefly describe the role of the sponsor(s), if any, in study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the article for publication. If the funding source(s) had no such involvement then this should be stated.
Identification of patients in descriptions, photographs and pedigrees
A signed statement of informed consent to publish (in print and online) patient descriptions, photographs and pedigrees should be obtained from all persons (parents or legal guardians for minors) who can be identified (including by the patients themselves) in such written descriptions, photographs or pedigrees. Such persons should be shown the manuscript before its submission. Omitting data or making data less specific to de-identify patients is acceptable, but changing any such data is not acceptable. State explicitly in the methods section of the manuscript that informed consent was obtained from all participating adult subjects or from parents or legal guardians for minors or incapacitated adults, together with the manner in which informed consent was obtained (i.e., oral or written).
Article processing charges (APC)
IJOFR currently do not charge for article submission, processing or publication.
Submission
Before beginning the submission, please check the submission requirement and author instructions
Checklist for Submission
· Cover letter
· Title page
· Blind manuscript/Article file
· Copyright form
· Plagiarism declaration form
· Figure
· Table
Journal online submission system guides you stepwise through the process of entering your article details and uploading your files. Editable article files (e.g., Word) are mandatory to use in the peer-review process and typeset your article for final publication. All correspondence, including notification of the editor's decision and requests for revision, is sent by e-mail.
The Journal only accepts online submissions in electronic format. All new manuscripts must be submitted through IJOFR website https://www.mmpubl.com/ijofr. Please follow the following steps to submit your manuscript:
1. Open the homepage of the Journal's website https://www.mmpubl.com/online-submission-ijofr.
2. Register yourself for free by clicking on register on the top and create a user profile with a desired username and mandatory details. On submission of the information, you will receive an email confirming your registration along with the 'Password'
3. Click "Log In" on the main navigation menu at the top of the journal screen to open the login page.
4. Enter your username and password in the appropriate fields (e-mailed to you at the time of registration).
5. Click "submission", this takes you to the "submission page".
6. To start submission, click on “New submission”
7. After that you can submit the manuscript by following the instructions provided on the screen.
8. Revised manuscripts can be uploaded online using the same log in.
If you have any problems in submission of your manuscript, please send us an email at ijofr.sdc@saveetha.com
By submitting a manuscript online, the author agrees to the following:
1. The work is original and free from plagiarism.
2. It has neither been published, nor is it not under consideration for publication at another journal.
3. All authors are aware of the authorship order. The corresponding author shall be responsible in case of dispute.
4. Once published, copyright of manuscript shall stand transferred to the Journal.
5. 'Conflict of interest' if any, must be explicitly stated at the end of the manuscript.
Submit your article
Please submit your article via https://www.mmpubl.com/online-submission-ijofr
PREPARATION
Manuscripts must conform to the instructions given below:
General
Type the manuscript using 'Times New Roman' font, size 12 in double space throughout. Please arrange the manuscript as follows: Title page, Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, and References. Number all pages consecutively, beginning with the title page. All figures and Tables must be referred to in the manuscript. Consult a recent issue of the Journal for details. Only the Title page should bear the names and addresses of the author(s). Editorials, perspective and review articles are generally by invitation. However, if you are interested in writing a review/perspective, you can send an email to the editor with the topic and a short summary of contents to be included. The editor will convey decision in 2-3 weeks time.
Length of articles
Text of articles should be between 1000 and 3500 words. The article should not ordinarily contain more than 3 tables, 2 figures and 40 references. Case Reports with an interesting image can be accepted. This report should be of about 1000 words including discussion with 1–2 images and 5–6 references.
Peer review
This journal operates a double blind review process. All contributions will be initially assessed by the editor for suitability for the journal. Papers deemed suitable are then typically sent to a minimum of two independent expert reviewers to assess the scientific quality of the paper. The Editor is responsible for the final decision regarding acceptance or rejection of articles. The Editor's decision is final.
Double-blind review
This journal uses double-blind review, which means the identities of the authors are concealed from the reviewers, and vice versa. To facilitate this, please include the following separately:
Cover letter: A letter stating the originality of research and why you think it should be published.
Title page (with author details): This should include the title, authors' names, affiliations, acknowledgements and any Declaration of Interest statement, and a complete address for the corresponding author including an e-mail address.
Blinded manuscript (no author details): The main body of the paper (including the references, figures, tables and any acknowledgements) should not include any identifying information, such as the authors' names or affiliations.
Essential title page information
• Title. Concise and informative. Titles are often used in information-retrieval systems. Avoid abbreviations and formulae where possible.
• Author names and affiliations. Please clearly indicate the given name(s) and family name(s) of each author and check that all names are accurately spelled. You can add your name between parentheses in your own script behind the English transliteration. Present the authors' affiliation addresses (where the actual work was done) below the names. Indicate all affiliations with a lowercase superscript letter 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. This responsibility includes answering any future queries about manuscript. Ensure that the e-mail address is given and that contact details are kept up to date by the corresponding author.
• Present/permanent address. If an author has moved since the work described in the article was done, or was visiting at the time, a 'Present address' (or 'Permanent address') may be indicated as a footnote to that author's name. The address at which the author actually did the work must be retained as the main, affiliation address. Superscript Arabic numerals are used for such footnotes.
Abstract
A concise and factual abstract is required. The abstract should state briefly the purpose of the research, the principal results and major conclusions. An abstract is often presented separately from the article, so it must be able to stand alone. For this reason, References should be avoided, but if essential, then cite the author(s) and year(s). Also, non-standard or uncommon abbreviations should be avoided, but if essential they must be defined at their first mention in the abstract itself.
Keywords
Immediately after the abstract, provide a minimum of 3 keywords to maximum of 12 keywords, using American spelling and avoiding general and plural terms and multiple concepts (avoid, for example, 'and', 'of'). Be sparing with abbreviations: only abbreviations firmly established in the field may be eligible. These keywords will be used for indexing purposes.
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.).
Formatting of funding sources
List funding sources in this standard way to facilitate compliance to funder's requirements:
Funding: This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health [grant numbers xxxx, yyyy]; the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle, WA [grant number zzzz]; and the United States Institutes of Peace [grant number aaaa].
It is not necessary to include detailed descriptions on the program or type of grants and awards. When funding is from a block grant or other resources available to a university, college, or other research institution, submit the name of the institute or organization that provided the funding.
If no funding has been provided for the research, please include the following sentence:
This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
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.
Artwork
Electronic artwork
General points
• Make sure you use uniform lettering and sizing of your original artwork.
• Embed the used fonts if the application provides that option.
• Aim to use the following fonts in your illustrations: Arial, Courier, Times New Roman, Symbol, or use fonts that look similar.
• Number the illustrations according to their sequence in the text.
• Use a logical naming convention for your artwork files.
• Provide captions to illustrations separately.
• Size the illustrations close to the desired dimensions of the published version.
• Submit each illustration as a separate file.
• Ensure that color images are accessible to all, including those with impaired color vision.
Formats
If your electronic artwork is created in a Microsoft Office application (Word, PowerPoint, Excel) then please supply 'as is' in the native document format. Regardless of the application used other than Microsoft Office, when your electronic artwork is finalized, please 'Save as' or convert the images to one of the following formats (note the resolution requirements for line drawings, halftones, and line/halftone combinations given below):
EPS (or PDF): Vector drawings, embed all used fonts.
TIFF (or JPEG): Color or grayscale photographs (halftones), keep to a minimum of 300 dpi.
TIFF (or JPEG): Bitmapped (pure black & white pixels) line drawings, keep to a minimum of 1000 dpi.
TIFF (or JPEG): Combinations bitmapped line/half-tone (color or grayscale), keep to a minimum of 500 dpi.
Please do not:
• Supply files that are optimized for screen use (e.g., GIF, BMP, PICT, WPG); these typically have a low number of pixels and limited set of colors;
• Supply files that are too low in resolution;
• Submit graphics that are disproportionately large for the content.
Figures/Illustrations/Photographs
Photographs of 300 dpi or higher resolution may be submitted as 'jpeg', or 'tiff ' files in a zipped folder. In clinical photographs, identity of the subjects should be suitably masked; in case this is not possible, a written permission from the concerned person should accompany the manuscript.
Legends to Figures
The figure number (numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals), title and explanations of the figures should appear in the legend (not on the figure). Type the legends on a separate page. Enough information should be included to interpret the figure without reference to the text.
Tables
Each table should be typed on a separate page and numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals. Each table should have a title and all abbreviations should be explained in the footnote. Necessary explanatory notes, if any, may be given below the table.
References
Number the references in the order in which they first appear in the text and identify the reference numbers in the text in superscript in roman. References must be placed at the end of the manuscript.
Please use recent references as much as possible. The responsibility for accuracy of references lies with the respective authors. The Journal is in agreement with the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (http://www.icmje.org).The general arrangement, abbreviations of Journal names and punctuations followed are as per the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts submitted to Biomedical Journals (http://www.icmje.org). Please pay attention to the style of references and punctuations as follows:
Journal article
List all authors when six or less as shown in the example below:
Tallon D, Chard J, Dieppe P. Exploring the priorities of patients with osteoarthritis of the knee. Arthritis Care and Res 2000; 13: 312–9.
When there are seven or more authors, list only the first six and add et al.
[dataset] 5. Oguro, M, Imahiro, S, Saito, S, Nakashizuka, T. Mortality data for
Japanese oak wilt disease and surrounding forest compositions, Mendeley Data, v1; 2015. http://dx.doi.org/10.17632/xwj98nb39r.1.
Book or monograph
Following is an example: Cassidy JT. Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. In: Textbook of Rheumatology 6th ed, Kelly et al (eds) Philadelphia Saunders 2000; pp. 1297–313.
Citation in text
Please ensure that every reference cited in the text is also present in the reference list (and vice versa). Any references cited in the abstract must be given in full. Unpublished results and personal communications are not recommended in the reference list, but may be mentioned in the text. If these references are included in the reference list, they should follow the standard reference style of the journal and should include a substitution of the publication date with either 'Unpublished results' or' Personal communication'. Citation of a reference as 'in press' implies that the item has been accepted for publication.
Editorial Process
All articles submitted to the Journal undergo initial review by the Editor/associate editor and articles that are outside the scope of Journal or are not in the journal format are excluded. Later at least two peer reviewers review each article. The time to first decision is usually less than 6 weeks. As per the policy of the Journal, an Editor, who is either author of a manuscript or belongs to the same institution as any of the authors, is not assigned that manuscript and is not involved in decision making regarding its publication. Reviewers/Editorial Board members should decline the invitation to review a manuscript which is submitted by authors from their institution.
Preparation for Publication and Proofs
Once a manuscript has been accepted for publication, authors should submit the final version of their manuscript in MS Word format, with all tables/figures as applicable. Accepted manuscripts are then copyedited according to the Journal's style and the galley proofs in the form of a PDF file are sent by the Publisher to the corresponding author for final approval. Authors are responsible for all statements made in their work, including changes made by the copy editor.
Proofreading is solely the authors' responsibility. Note that the Editorial Board reserves the right to make revisions to the manuscript and the publisher may proceed with the publication of your article if no response from the author(s) is received.
Data references
This journal encourages you to cite underlying or relevant datasets in your manuscript by citing them in your text and including a data reference in your Reference List. Data references should include the following elements: author name(s), dataset title, data repository, version (where available), year, and global persistent identifier. Add [dataset] immediately before the reference so we can properly identify it as a data reference. The [dataset] identifier will not appear in your published article.
Data linking
If you have made your research data available in a data repository, you can link your article directly to the dataset. There are different ways to link your datasets to your article. When available, you can directly link your dataset to your article by providing the relevant information in the submission system.
AFTER ACCEPTANCE
Online proof correction
To ensure a fast publication process of the article, we kindly ask authors to provide us with their proof corrections within two days. All instructions for proofing will be given in the e-mail we send to authors, including alternative methods to the online version and PDF.
We will do everything possible to get your article published quickly and accurately. Please use this proof only for checking the typesetting, editing, completeness and correctness of the text, tables and figures. Significant changes to the article as accepted for publication will only be considered at this stage with permission from the Editor. It is important to ensure that all corrections are sent back to us in one communication. Please check carefully before replying, as inclusion of any subsequent corrections cannot be guaranteed. Proofreading is solely your responsibility.
AUTHOR INQUIRIES
If authors have any inquiries, please email it to ijofr.sdc@saveetha.com