The International Dental Journal Continues to Evolve.

The International Dental Journal (IDJ) is the scholarly publication of the FDI World Dental Federation and celebrated its 70th anniversary in 2020. Anniversaries are a point in time to reflect on the past, consider the present, and plan for the future. This is certainly true for scientific publications, which must continually evolve in response to their mission and the scientific landscape.

Since assuming the editorship in 2015, the task was to define the focus of the journal and improve its standing in the academic community. Considering both the relationship with the FDI and the important issues facing the dental profession, the scientific focus for research reports published in the journal was defined as practice-related research, international public health, and interprofessional education and practice. Further, a thorough peer-review system was needed to evaluate submitted manuscripts. This began with the appointment of 4 Associate Editors and then a 25-person Editorial Board. More recently, to expand its outreach and involvement with the larger dental medicine community, 2 new types of publications were announced. The first of these is a Concise Clinical Review, which is a relatively short review of topics important to clinicians, providing an update on the status of patient management. The second is a Commentary, which was introduced as a means of bringing to the fore important and often controversial issues that are facing the dental profession. Now, as the IDJ enters its 71st year of publication, evolution of the journal continues as we have announced our partnership with a new publisher and the introduction of a new publishing format.

John Wiley and Sons has been the publisher of the IDJ for many years, but as of the start of the new year, the publisher will change to Elsevier, a distinguished international publisher of scientific journals and books that was founded in 1880. In addition, the publishing format will change to gold open access, which will make all articles published in the IDJ available to everyone. No longer will access to the articles be restricted to those with a personal or institutional subscription. The open access format means that anyone with a computer and Internet access can go to the journal's website and access all published papers. There will now be much wider distribution of each author's work and a broader exchange of scientific advances. Open access publishing in the field of dentistry is becoming a reality.

Processing and preparation of scientific publications is costly, even when the articles or issues of the journal are only in a virtual format. Though the cost of open access publishing is reduced because journals are virtual and not published in hard copy format and the cost of billing and collection of subscriptions fees is eliminated, the many steps associated with scientific publishing remain, including submission checks, peer-review, and publishing the digital version of accepted manuscripts.

In the open access format, these costs are borne by article publication charges (APC). This means that publication costs are the responsibility of the author or authors. Manuscripts accepted for publication are required to pay the APC. This can be paid by the author or charged to a research grant or academic organization. Furthermore, some national and international organizations have set aside funds to pay for APC.

As Editor-in-Chief of the IDJ, I fully realize that with the global focus of the journal, we receive and publish manuscripts from authors across the globe in both the developed and developing world. Payment of an APC can be a challenge for investigators in developing counties. In such instances, waivers are available to be used for outstanding papers when the authors are unable to pay the APC. In many such instances, authors will qualify for Resarch4Life waivers or discounts. Further, waivers will also be used for authors who submit an invited Concise Clinical Review or a Commentary.

Open access publishing allows free and unhindered access to scientific data and, thereby, enhances communication among researchers. As a publisher, Elsevier has more than 400 fully open access journals. This free flow of information should advance future research and, in the case of clinical disciplines, enhance patient care. Further, some universities and academic consortia are demanding that scientific publications be in an open access format.

It is also important to stress that the change to open access publishing comes with other challenges. A disturbing trend is seen in the context of open access publishing, and that is the appearance of what are referred to as “predatory journals.” Such journals are strictly for-profit, offer quick publication, and limited, if any, real peer-review. These predatory journals often solicit manuscripts from potential authors, citing a recent publication that was published by the person being contacted, and journal titles are often similar to those of established journals. Informal lists of such journals are available. The first of these was Beall's List of Potential Predatory Scholarly Journals and Publishers. It is incumbent on authors, editors, and readers to remain diligent., One way to assess the credibility of a scientific journal is to determine if the journal in question has an Impact Factor (IF), which reflects scientific credibility. The Impact Factor is based on how often papers published in journals are cited in other journals.

So, as the International Dental Journal looks to the future, there are some exciting developments at hand but not without challenges. It is my responsibility, as well that of the Associate Editors and Editorial Board, to continue to uphold the standards established for the IDJ during the past 5 years. Our values will not change, and we will monitor outcomes carefully. However, the adoption of open access publishing offers to expand the reach and influence of the IDJ.

Funding

This editorial did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Conflict of interest

None disclosed.