Clinical Dentistry and Research

Clinical Dentistry and Research is an international, double-blind peer-reviewed, online, open-access scientific journal that aims to contribute to both literature and clinical practice by publishing the highest quality articles based on basic and clinical sciences in the field of dentistry.

Clinical Dentistry and Research publishes contributions in the following categories:

• Original Research Articles
• Case Reports/Case Series
• Letters to the Editor
• Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses
• Review Articles (by invitation only)

Areas of interest cover a wide range of topics including oral diseases, oral and dental health, oral and maxillofacial surgery, oral and maxillofacial radiology, oral pathology, oral biology, periodontology, endodontics, restorative dentistry, prosthodontics, pedodontics, orthodontics, dental materials, geriatric dentistry and dental education. The journal also welcomes submissions reporting clinical trials, epidemiological studies related to dentistry, and research in dental public health.

Manuscript Preparation
When preparing the manuscripts, “Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals: Writing and Editing for Biomedical Publication – International Committee of Medical Journal Editors”, which can be downloaded from the //www.icmje.org/ web address, should be considered. Authors are also encouraged to follow the “Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals” (ICMJE updated guidelines, 2024).
The manuscripts should be typed double-spaced on one side of A4 paper as MS Word files, preferably with 12 font Arial or Times typescript; and with outer margins of 1 inch (2.54 cm). The manuscript should include the following parts ‘Abstract and keywords, manuscript, references, figures/illustrations legends and tables’. Pages should be numbered sequentially on the right bottom of the paper. The title page should be prepared as a separate document. It is suggested that the authors back up all the submissions on electronic or printed media.
All manuscripts must be submitted through the online submission system. E-mail submissions will not be accepted.

Double-Anonymized Peer Review
Clinical Dentistry and Research employs a double-anonymized peer review process, in which the identities of the authors are concealed from the reviewers and vice versa. To facilitate this process, authors are required to upload two separate files during submission:

1. Title Page (with author details)
The title page must include:
• Article title
• A short running title (less than 50 characters)
• Author name(s) and academic degrees
• Affiliation(s) (institution, department, city, country)
• Acknowledgements (if any)
• Funding and Conflict of Interest statements
• Ethical Approval details (name of the board, approval date and number)
• The registration number (for clinical trial studies)
• Corresponding author’s full postal address
• Corresponding author’s e-mail address and telephone number
• ORCID iDs of all authors

2. Anonymized Manuscript (without author details)
The anonymized version should contain only the main body of the manuscript, including:
• Abstract and keywords
• Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion
• References
• Figures and tables (legends included at the end of the text)

Important: The anonymized manuscript must not include any identifying information, such as author names, affiliations, acknowledgements, or self-citations written in a way that discloses authorship (e.g., “our previous study”).

Cover Letter
The author(s) should prepare a cover letter to the Editor-in-Chief of Clinical Dentistry and Research in a Word file. This letter should include all the contact information (postal address, e-mail address, phone and fax numbers) of the author(s) and should be signed. The cover letter must clearly state that the manuscript is original, has not been published previously, is not under consideration elsewhere, and that all authors have approved its submission.

Abstract
The abstract should summarize the contents of the paper in a single paragraph of no more than 250 words. The abstract should not contain abbreviations or references. Except for invited reviews and case reports, abstract should be structured and have the following sections: background & aim(s), material(s) /subject(s) and methods, results, conclusion(s). For the purposes of indexing, maximum 6 key words should be supplied below the abstract in alphabetical order (//www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/MBrowser.html). On the abstract page, the name(s) of the author(s) should not appear.

Abbreviations
Where a term/definition will be continually referred to, it must be written in full when it first appears in the text, followed by the subsequent abbreviation in parentheses. Thereafter, the abbreviation may be used. Please limit the number of abbreviations to those that are absolutely necessary.

Products and Units
All products, where possible, should be referred to by their generic names. Otherwise, manufacturer should be mentioned in parenthesis. For units Systeme International d’unites (SI) must be followed.

Manuscript
Original Research Articles: Only original papers will be accepted. These should include the following; “introduction, materials and methods, results, discussion, conclusion”.
Case Reports: The presented case should be the one which rarely appears or should provide a new idea or a significant contribution to the existing dental literature. The paper should be consisted of an introduction, case presentation and discussion sections. Patient consent statement must be included.
Letter to the Editor: Maximum 600 words and 5 references. Abstract is not needed.
Systematic review&meta-analysis: The manuscript should include the following; “introduction, methods, results, discussion, conclusion” and follow PRISMA guidelines. A PRISMA checklist and flow diagram should be submitted.
Review Articles: Only invited reviews will be published. Review articles should have an abstract in the nonstructured format.

Ethical Approval
All research involving human participants must adhere to the ethical principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki and comply with local, national, and institutional regulations on research ethics.
All research involving animals must comply with internationally accepted standards for the ethical use and care of laboratory animals (such as the ARRIVE guidelines, EU Directive 2010/63/EU, or the National Institutes of Health Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals), as well as local and institutional regulations.
Authors must include a statement that ethics committee approval has been obtained in the Methods section. To ensure anonymity, name of the board, approval date and number should be given in the Title page.
Patient identifiers (name, initials, hospital numbers) must not appear in the manuscript or images. Eyes should be concealed with black bars in photographs unless explicit written consent is provided. A statement confirming that informed consent was obtained must be included in the manuscript.
Clinical trial studies must include their registration number (e.g., ClinicalTrials.gov or national registry) in the Title Page.

References
References list should be written with double space typescript. References must follow the Vancouver style. They should be numbered consecutively in the order cited in the text, with superscript numbers. If there are more than six authors, list the first six followed by et al. The names of the journals should be in accordance with MEDLINE. Unpublished references such as interview, personal opinion, meeting are not accepted.

Examples:
-For Journal Articles:
Halpern SD, Ubel PA, Caplan AL. Solid-organ transplantation in HIV-infected patients. N Engl J Med 2002;347:284-287.
- For Books:
Gilstrap LC 3rd, Cunningham FG, VanDorsten JP, editors. Operative obstetrics. 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill; 2002.
- For Book Chapters:
Meltzer PS, Kallioniemi A, Trent JM. Chromosome alterations in human solid tumors. In: Vogelstein B, Kinzler KW, editors. The genetic basis of human cancer. New York: McGraw-Hill; 2002. p. 93-113.
- Online published, but not printed articles can be attributed by Digital Object Identifier (DOI). DOI must be written as follows:
“Andersson L. Tooth avulsion and replantation. Dent Traumatol DOI:10.1111/j.1600-9657.2007.00604.x”
Other examples for references are stated at the following link:
www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html

Tables
Tables must be prepared in MS Word (not as images) and numbered consecutively in the order they are cited in the text using Arabic numerals (Table 1, Table 2, etc.). Each table should be cited in the main text.
Each table should have a short and descriptive title placed above the table and, if necessary, explanatory footnotes placed below the table. Abbreviations used in the tables must be defined in footnotes.
Do not duplicate data already presented in the text or figures. Tables should be self-explanatory and understandable without reference to the main text.
Vertical lines should not be used. Only horizontal lines should be applied at the top, between the header and data, and at the bottom of the table.
Each table (double spaced) should be submitted as separate files.

Figures
Figures should be submitted as separate files, not embedded in the main manuscript text. Acceptable formats are JPEG or TIFF with a minimum resolution of 300 dpi. Figures with lower resolution will not be accepted.
Figures should be numbered consecutively in the order they appear in the text (Figure 1, Figure 2, etc.). Each figure must be cited in the main text.
Legends for all figures must be provided in a separate section at the end of the manuscript text, not within the figure file itself. Each legend should be concise but sufficiently detailed to allow interpretation of the figure without reference to the main text.
Symbols, arrows, or letters used in the figures should be explained clearly in the legend. Abbreviations must be defined either in the legend or in a footnote.
Figures must not include any patient-identifiable information. For clinical images, patient consent must be obtained and stated in the manuscript.
Graphs and diagrams should be prepared using professional software (e.g., GraphPad Prism, SPSS, or Excel) with consistent font style and size. Hand-drawn figures are not acceptable.

Conflict of Interest and Funding
Authors must provide a “Conflict of Interest” statement. If none, this must be declared as “The authors declare no conflict of interest.”
Funding sources and their role (if any) must be disclosed in the Title Page.

Acknowledgements
All individuals who contributed to the study but do not meet the ICMJE authorship criteria (e.g., those providing technical help, writing assistance, language editing, or general support) should be acknowledged in the Title page.
Authors are responsible for ensuring that all persons acknowledged have given their permission to be named.
If applicable, acknowledgements should also include:
• Contributions of advisors, colleagues, or institutions that provided support but did not qualify for authorship
• Details of any professional writing or editing services used
• Acknowledgement of funding bodies and grant numbers (if not listed under Funding section)
The acknowledgements section should not include any confidential information.

Proofs
After page proofs are sent to the corresponding author, they must be checked carefully for any typesetting, figure/illustration, or table errors. Corrections should be limited to typographical or formatting errors. Substantive changes to the text, addition/removal of data, or modifications to authorship are not permitted at this stage.
The corrected proofs must be returned to the editorial office within 48 hours of receipt to avoid delays in publication. If no response is received within the given timeframe, the Editorial Office reserves the right to proceed with publication.
Corrections should be clearly marked on the PDF proof using the comment/annotation tools.
Once the article is published online, any further corrections can only be made through the publication of an Erratum or Corrigendum.

Fees
Clinical Dentistry and Research does not charge authors or authors' institutions to submit, process or publish articles. There is no fee for extra pages or color images.

Checklist
Only complete manuscript submissions will be considered for publication. Complete submission must include:
•Cover letter for manuscript submission
• Signed copyright agreement form 
•Letter of approval from review committee for the use of human samples in research and human experiments (if necessary)
• Letter of approval from relevant authority for the use of animals in experiments (if necessary)
• Signed consent to publish (in print and online) from human subjects who can be identified in your manuscript (if necessary)

Title page (double spaced) should include the following:
• Article title
• Name(s) and affiliation(s) of author(s)
• Running title not exceeding 50 characters
• Corresponding author’s contact details (name, e-mail, mailing address, telephone and fax numbers)
• ORCID or all authors
• Conflict of interest and funding statements
• Ethical Approval details (name of the board, approval date and number)
• The registration number (for clinical trial studies)
• Acknowledgements (if any)

In the main document, ensure that the following information is provided:
• Abstract max 250 words and max 6 key words (double spaced)
• Main text with appropriate section headings (double spaced)
• References (double spaced), on a new page

Each table (double spaced) should be submitted as separate files.

Figures and/or illustrations should be JPG/TIFF format and submitted as separate files.


COPYRIGHT AGREEMENT FORM

The copyright agreement form can be downloaded from the link below:

https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/journal-file/35571

Clinical Dentistry and Research is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics. Clinical Dentistry and Research adheres to //www.icmje.org recommendations and international standards established by the World Medical Association (www.wma.net). The journal follows the core practices and guidelines set by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). All stakeholders, including authors, reviewers, and editors, are expected to adhere to these ethical principles to ensure integrity, transparency, and accountability in the publication process.
Clinical Dentistry and Research, as an official scientific journal of Hacettepe University Faculty of Dentistry, does not accept advertisements.

Responsibilities of Editorial Board
Editorial Board Members explain the journal policies aimed at displaying the ethical behavior model of the Reviewer(s) and Author(s). A commitment to ethical professional behavior is expected from the Editorial Board Members.
Editorial Board Members evaluate articles by considering their originality, contribution to the literature, validity and reliability of the research method, and the aim and scope of the journal.
Editorial Board Members perform their duties without discrimination based on race, religion, gender, special needs, age or national origin of authors.
Editorial Board Members carefully consider declarations of conflict of interest and, in the event of an ethical violation, implement appropriate procedures in accordance with the journal's policies and procedures.
Editorial Board Members should maintain the confidentiality of the manuscript.
To ensure fairness and transparency, editors do not participate in decisions on manuscripts they have authored or co-authored, or on submissions from family members or close colleagues. In such cases, the peer review process is managed independently of the involved editor and their research group, following the journal’s standard procedures.
Editorial Board Members handle all corrections and retractions promptly and transparently and ensure they are accessible to readers.
Editorial Board Members ensure that reviewers have access to all necessary materials that submitted by the corresponding author. Editor-in Chief is ultimately responsible for the selection of an issue’s content and may reject any article at any time before publication, even after acceptance, if concerns arise about the work.

Responsibilities of Reviewers
Reviewers should adhere to the principles, core practices and guidelines of COPE (https://www.publicationethics.org) and accept the rules and policies governing the Journal.
Reviewers should refuse to review articles that have any conflict of interest arising from a joint, financial, corporate, personal or other relationship or affiliation with any company, institution or person. Reviewers should also refuse to review articles for which they have provided the author with written comments on the article or an earlier version.
Reviewers should complete the review in a timely manner and if they anticipate a delay, they should inform the editorial board so that a time extension can be granted or an alternative reviewer can be appointed.
Reviewers should evaluate independently and without discrimination and should not engage in behavior that would disrupt the double-blind review process. All manuscripts should be evaluated in an objective, fair and professional manner solely on the basis of their scientific merit. Reviewers accept the responsibility of reviewing the article within their field of research by providing comments that may improve the quality of the work. Reviewers should inform the editor of any significant similarities between the manuscript and other published articles.
Reviewers should respect the confidentiality of the manuscript, which prohibits uploading the manuscript to software or other artificial intelligence technologies where confidentiality cannot be ensured. Reviewers should maintain the confidentiality of the manuscript, information regarding the manuscript should not be shared with third parties and any part of the manuscript should not be uploaded to software or other artificial intelligence technologies where manuscript confidentiality cannot be ensured.

Responsibilities of Authors
Authors should ensure that the data from their work are presented accurately. The data should be presented and discussed sufficiently and appropriate references should be given in the manuscript. Authors are responsible for fully disclosing the institutions, individuals or organizations that support their work. The manuscript should be prepared according to the author guidelines on the Journal's website.

Publishing Ethics and Ethical Approvals
The corresponding author must declare that the manuscript has not been published or is not under review elsewhere, that all authors meet the authorship criteria, and have approved the final version of the manuscript. The corresponding author must ensure that conflict of interest disclosures and funding statements are accurately and completely submitted.
Authors should be aware that their manuscripts may be scanned for signs of plagiarism using appropriate and available tools.

Studies in humans
All research involving human participants must adhere to the ethical principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki and comply with local, national, and institutional regulations on research ethics. Authors are required to state in the manuscript that approval was obtained from a recognized institutional review board (IRB) or ethics committee, including the name of the committee and the approval number/reference code.
Manuscripts must also include a statement confirming that informed consent was obtained from all participants prior to their enrollment in the study. For vulnerable groups (such as children, patients with diminished capacity, or other at-risk populations), informed consent must be obtained from legal guardians in accordance with applicable regulations.
Authors must ensure the privacy and confidentiality of participants. Identifying information (including names, initials, images, or personal details) should not be published unless it is scientifically essential and the participant (or legal guardian) has provided explicit written consent for publication. Such consent must be available upon request by the Editors.
For manuscripts reporting interventional clinical trials, prior registration in a publicly accessible registry is mandatory. The registry must be available in English and include essential study details. Submissions without proper registration will not be considered for review. Although registration is not compulsory for observational clinical studies, authors are encouraged to register these studies as well in order to promote transparency and reproducibility. Authors should provide the registry name and unique trial or study identification number within the manuscript.

Studies in animals
All research involving animals must comply with internationally accepted standards for the ethical use and care of laboratory animals (such as the ARRIVE guidelines, EU Directive 2010/63/EU, or the National Institutes of Health Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals), as well as local and institutional regulations.
Manuscripts must clearly state that approval was obtained from an institutional animal care and use committee (IACUC) or equivalent ethics board, including the name of the committee and approval/reference number. Authors should also describe the measures taken to minimize animal suffering, reduce the number of animals used, and employ alternatives wherever possible, in accordance with the principles of Replacement, Reduction, and Refinement (the 3Rs).
Any identifying details, photographs, or descriptions must respect animal welfare and not misrepresent or exaggerate findings.

Authorship
Authors submitting articles confirm that the article has been read and approved by all authors and that all authors agree to submit the article to the Journal. Clinical Dentistry and Research adheres to the definition of authorship established by //www.icmje.org. An author should meet all the following criteria:
1. make significant contributions to the design, acquisition, analysis or interpretation of data,
2. preparing the article or critically reviewing it for important intellectual content,
3. final approval of the version to be published
Contributors who do not qualify as authors should be acknowledged in the acknowledgments section of the article.

Changes to authorship
At the time of submission, authors must ensure that the author group, the designated Corresponding Author, and the order of authors are accurate and final. Names, affiliations, and contact information should be carefully checked, as the accepted version will be published exactly as submitted.
Requests to change authorship after submission such as adding or removing an author, reordering the list, or changing the Corresponding Author, require written approval from all listed authors. Once a manuscript has been accepted, modifications to authorship will not be allowed.
During the revision stage, changes in authorship are generally not permitted. In exceptional situations, however, a well-documented explanation may be considered. Approval of such requests is at the discretion of the Editor-in-Chief, and journal-specific policies may apply.

Conflict of interest
Clinical Dentistry and Research requires all authors to disclose any potential conflicts of interest that may influence, or be perceived to influence, the objectivity and integrity of their work. Conflicts of interest can be financial, professional, or personal, and may involve relationships with individuals, institutions, or organizations.
Examples include, but are not limited to:
• Employment or consultancy roles
• Ownership of stocks, shares, or equity
• Honoraria, lecture fees, or travel support
• Paid expert testimony or advisory positions
• Patent applications, registrations, or royalties
• Research grants, funding, or sponsored projects
• Editorial or advisory board affiliations with this or other journals
A ‘Conflict of Interest Statement’ must be provided at submission, clearly indicating whether any conflicts exist. If none are declared, the statement should read: “The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.”
This information will be published with the article to ensure transparency and maintain trust in the scientific record.

Funding
All authors must disclose any sources of financial support received for the conduct of the research and/or preparation of the manuscript. The involvement of the funding body, if any, should be specified with respect to study design, data collection, analysis and interpretation, manuscript writing, and the decision to submit the work for publication. If the funder had no such role, this should be explicitly stated.
Funding information should be presented in a standardized format, for example:
Funding: This work was supported by the Scientific Research Projects Coordination Unit of Hacettepe University [grant numbers xxxx, yyyy]
It is not necessary to provide detailed descriptions of the program type, scholarships, or awards. When support derives from a block grant or general institutional resources, please specify the name of the funding institution or organization.
If the research did not receive external financial support, authors should include the following statement:
This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Declaration of Artificial Intelligence (AI)–Assisted Technology in Scientific Writing
Authors must disclose any use of generative AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT) in the preparation of their manuscript. Such tools cannot be listed as authors, and responsibility for the accuracy and integrity of the content, including any portions produced by AI tools, rests solely with the authors. Authors are accountable for any ethical violations that may arise from the use of such content. If AI tools were used, a statement including at what stage they were used and the tool used should be given in the manuscript (e.g., “The authors used ChatGPT for language editing and take full responsibility for the content.”).
Data Sharing and Accessibility
Editors may request that authors provide the raw data for review purposes. The journal encourages authors to share this data publicly. Authors may include a data availability statement with their article, including a link to the repository they used, for publication. Authors should retain such materials for a reasonable period of time after the publication of their paper.
Use of inclusive language
Authors should use inclusive, respectful, and unbiased language in all submissions. Terms that discriminate based on race, gender, ethnicity, age, disability, sexual orientation, or belief should be avoided. Where relevant, authors are encouraged to use gender-neutral expressions and person-first language.

Image manipulation
Images must accurately reflect the original data. Adjustments for clarity (brightness, contrast, or color balance) are acceptable, provided they do not distort or obscure the findings. The introduction, removal, or alteration of features is strictly prohibited.

Disclaimer and Copyright

Submission of a manuscript to Clinical Dentistry and Research means that the work is original, has not been published entirely or partially before, is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, and cannot be submitted elsewhere until a final decision is made for publication. The final form of the manuscript must be approved by all authors. In case of any compensation claim, the publisher cannot be held legally responsible.

Clinical Dentistry and Research provides free access and allows free download of its contents. The content cannot be used for commercial purposes. No part of this journal may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Only for scientific purposes summarizing and quotations can be done with the condition of proper citations listed as references. No responsibility is assumed by the publisher for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions or ideas contained in the material herein. Information included herein is not professional advice and is not intended to replace the judgement of a practitioner with respect to particular patients, procedures, or practices. The opinions and views expressed in the articles, advertisements, etc. herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the Clinical Dentistry and Research.

After acceptance
The publisher converts manuscript files into an article and sends the galley proofs to the corresponding author via e-mail. All authors should carefully review the final PDF proof of the article for punctuation or spelling errors, correct presentation and positioning of the tables, figures and their captions. Corrected proofs should be returned via e-mail within 2 days of receipt. Major changes such as adding new paragraphs, changing the title or author order and changing visual elements will not be permitted at this stage.

Corrections and Retraction
Requests for correction or retraction are reviewed by the Journal's Editorial Board and evaluated in accordance with the rules established by COPE. If an error is identified in only a small portion of the published article that does not significantly impact the findings, a formal correction will be published. An erratum (for publishing error) or a corrigendum (for author error) will be published in the next issue of the journal.
If major errors are identified that affect the findings of the article, a more substantive correction or retraction will be required. If scientific misconduct or violation of ethical standards is detected, a thorough investigation will be conducted by the Editorial Board. Depending on the findings, a Retraction Notice may be issued to inform readers that the article has been invalidated. If authors are willing to retract a manuscript before it is published (accepted or under review), requests must be sent to the Editor-in-Chief from the corresponding author. The reason for the retraction request and written, signed confirmation from all authors that they accept the retraction must be sent to the Editor-in-Chief.
Correction and Retraction Notices will be published in the next issue of the journal and linked to the original articles online. All corrections and retractions will be clearly stated and publicly accessible.
In rare cases, an article may be removed entirely from the online database. These situations may include defamation, violation of legal rights, court orders, and allegations in the article that pose serious health risks. While the title and author names remain on the webpage, the text will be replaced with a notice stating that the article has been removed for legal reasons.

Citation Indexes

TR Dizin