Research waste-related editorial policies of leading dental journals: Situation 2018.

OBJECTIVES: To study whether specific recommendations aimed at reducing avoidable research waste were included in the author instructions of leading dental journals. METHOD: We identified 109 peer-reviewed and original research-oriented dental journals that were indexed in the MEDLINE and/or SCIE database in 2018. Two authors extracted independently information regarding the endorsement of reporting guidelines (RGs), ICMJE recommendations, trial or systematic review registration, and open access (OA) and data sharing policies. RESULT: All 109 journals provided online "instructions to authors," among which 64 journals (58.7%) mentioned RGs. The ICMJE recommendations were endorsed by 74 journals (67.9%), and trial and systematic review registration were mentioned by 48 (44.0%) and 6 (5.5%) of the journals, respectively. In terms of OA, most journals stated they were hybrid OA (82.0%) and direct OA (15.4%), while data sharing policy was recommended by 32 (29.4%) journals. Statistical analyses suggest that these policies were more frequently mentioned by SCIE-indexed journals, higher-impact journals, and journals that endorsed the ICMJE recommendations. CONCLUSION: Reporting guidelines, OA and data sharing are important tools for enhancing research communication, translation and the reduction of avoidable research waste. However, currently they are not widely endorsed by dental journals.

Arthroscopy, Sports Medicine, and Rehabilitation (ASMAR): A New, Open Access, Electronic Journal.

Arthroscopy, Sports Medicine, and Rehabilitation (ASMAR) is our new, open-access, electronic, companion journal to Arthroscopy and Arthroscopy Techniques. While there is already "so much to read, so little time," bearing in mind the context that some submissions are not accepted for publication in Arthroscopy despite admirable quality, the necessity of ASMAR becomes clear.

Study of Predatory Open Access Nursing Journals.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify predatory journals in nursing, describe their characteristics and editorial standards, and document experiences of authors, peer reviewers, and editors affiliated with these journals. DESIGN: Using two sources that list predatory journals, the research team created a list of nursing journals. In Phase One, the team collected data on characteristics of predatory nursing journals such as types of articles published, article processing charge, and peer review process. In Phase Two, the team surveyed a sample of authors, reviewers, and editors to learn more about their experiences with their affiliated journals. METHODS: Data from the review of predatory nursing journals were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Written comments were summarized and categorized. FINDINGS: There were 140 predatory nursing journals from 75 publishers. Most journals were new, having been inaugurated in the past 1 to 2 years. One important finding was that many journals only published one or two volumes and then either ceased publishing or published fewer issues and articles after the first volume. Journal content varied widely, and some journals published content from dentistry and medicine, as well as nursing. Qualitative findings from the surveys confirmed previously published anecdotal evidence, including authors selecting journals based on spam emails and inability to halt publication of a manuscript, despite authors' requests to do so. CONCLUSIONS: Predatory journals exist in nursing and bring with them many of the "red flags" that have been noted in the literature, including lack of transparency about editorial processes and misleading information promoted on websites. The number of journals is high enough to warrant concern in the discipline about erosion of our scholarly literature. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Nurses rely on the published literature to provide evidence for high-quality, safe care that promotes optimal patient outcomes. Research published in journals that do not adhere to the highest standards of publishing excellence have the potential to compromise nursing scholarship and is an area of concern.

COCONUT­An Efficient Tool for Estimating Copolymer Compositions from Mass Spectra.

The accurate characterization of synthetic polymer sequences represents a major challenge in polymer science. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) is frequently used for the characterization of copolymer samples. We present the COCONUT software for estimating the composition distribution of the copolymer. Our method is based on Linear Programming and is capable of automatically resolving overlapping isotopes and isobaric ions. We demonstrate that COCONUT is well suited for analyzing complex copolymer MS spectra. COCONUT is freely available and provides a graphical user interface.

Endorsement of open science practices by dental journals: A meta-research study.

OBJECTIVES: This study evaluates the endorsement of open science practices by dental journals. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a meta-research study that included journals listed in the 2021 Journal Citation Reports under Dentistry. A comprehensive evaluation was performed by accessing journal websites to ascertain the availability of publicly accessible instructions to authors in Portuguese, English, or Spanish. A researcher extracted information from the "Instructions for Authors" section, encompassing the journal's impact factor, mention of any reporting guidelines, details on data sharing, acceptance of articles in preprint format, and information regarding study protocol registration. Descriptive data analysis was conducted using the Stata 14.0 program, and an Open Science Score (OSS) (ranging from 0 to 100 %) was calculated for each journal by considering five open science practices. Pearson's correlation test was conducted to determine the relationship between the OSS score and journal impact factor. RESULTS: Ninety journals were included in the study. Most journals (70 %) indicated the mandatory use of reporting guidelines, while 60 % recommended data sharing. Conversely, 46.7 % did not provide information on study protocol registration, and 44.4 % stipulated them as mandatory for authors. Regarding preprints, 50 % of the journals did not provide any information, but 46.7 % confirmed their acceptance. The mean OSS was 52.9 % (standard deviation 26.2). There was a weak correlation (Pearson's correlation coefficient of 0.221) between the journal impact factor and OSS (P-value=0.036). CONCLUSION: This study found varying degrees of endorsement of open science practices among dental journals. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Dental practitioners rely on high-quality, evidence-based research for informed decision-making. By assessing the endorsement of open science practices, our study contributes to improving the quality and reliability of dental research, ultimately enhancing the evidence base for clinical practice.

BDJ Open (2019-2020) and the advantages of open access publishing.

BDJ Open is the open access sister journal to the British Dental Journal, and this paper aims to explore the various different articles that BDJ Open has published between 2019 and 2020, in order to highlight which areas authors felt were important to publish open access. Furthermore, this article will investigate the advantages of open access publishing to both authors and readers, as well as the scientific community in general, and will examine how open access publishing has allowed the BDJ Portfolio to publish a wide range of research, both in terms of topic and geography.

Comparison of the impact factors of subscription access and open access orthopedics and sports medicine journals in the SCImago database.

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to compare the annual impact factors (IFs) for the period 1999-2017 and the tri-annual IFs in 2011, 2014 and 2017 of the subscription access (SA) and open access (OA) journals published in the field of orthopedics, traumatology and sports medicine according to the SCImago Journal Rank (SJR). MATERIAL AND METHODS: All data for this study were obtained from the SCImago Journal & Country Rank database. We compared the change in the mean annual IFs of 197 SA journals with 52 OA journals in the field of orthopedics and sports medicine for the period between 1999 and 2017. In addition, we determined and compared the changes in the mean tri-annual IFs of these journals in 2011, 2014 and 2017. The mean publication fee values of the OA journals as well as the correlation between the three-year IFs of the year 2017 and the publication fee values were evaluated. RESULTS: From 1999 to 2017, the mean IF of SA journals increased 0.47-fold to 0.69, while the mean IF of the OA journals increased 0.85-fold to 0.63. Significant positive correlation was observed between the tri-annual IF and publication fee of OA journals in 2017 (r=0.458, p=0.001). CONCLUSION: We can predict that the mean IFs of OA journals in the field of orthopedics and sports medicine will reach the mean IFs of SA journals after several years. Choosing OA journals becomes advantageous when the desire for a higher number of citations is the most important factor.

Adesão ao formato preprint por docentesde odontologia das universidades públicas do Rio Grande do Sul / Adherence to the preprint format by dentistry professors from public universities in Rio Grande do Sul

Objetivo: Avaliar a aderência à publicação de preprints pelos professores dos cursos de pós-graduação em Odontologia, das três Universidades Federais do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS, UFPel e UFSM) (n = 97). Materiais e métodos: Quatro revisores realizaram a busca de publicações em formato preprint, em maio de 2021, nas plataformas MedArxive SciELO Preprints, por cada professor incluído. Os mesmos revisores extraíram os dados que foram checados por um quinto revisor. Para a avaliação e comparação das dife-rentes universidades foi utilizado o teste exato de Fisher, com posterior análise dos resíduos com α corrigido. Para a comparação entre as plataformas foi realizado o teste do Qui-quadrado de Pearson (α = 0,05). Resultados: Os resul-tados mostraram que 16,5% (n=16) do total de professores incluídos já haviam publicado pelo menos 1 preprint em alguma das duas plataformas, sendo que a UFPel diferiu estatisticamente das outras universidades, apresentando o maior número de aderência seguido pela UFRGS e UFSM (p=0,038). Não houve diferença estatística quanto a com-paração das plataformas pesquisadas (p=0,306). Discussão: Os achados demonstram que este formato, mesmo que de forma incipiente, já é uma realidade na área de Odontologia. Conclusão: Os achados deste estudo indicam uma baixa taxa de aderência ao formato de publicação preprint pelos professores dos programas de pós-graduação em Odontologia das universidades públicas do Rio Grande do Sul.

Aim: To evaluate the adherence to the publication of preprints by professors of postgraduate programs in Dentistry, from the three Federal Universities of the Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS, UFPel and UFSM) (n = 97). Mate-rials and methods: Four reviewers performed a search for publications in the preprint format, in May 2021, on the MedArxiv and SciELO Preprints platforms, for each included professor. The same reviewers extracted the data which were checked by a fifth reviewer. Fisher's exact test was used for the evaluation and comparison of the different universities. For comparison between platfor-ms, Pearson's Chi-square test was applied with α = 0.05. Results: The results showed that 16.5% (n=16) of the total number of professors included had already published at least 1 preprint on either of the platforms, with UFPel differing statistically from the other universities, with the highest membership followed by UFRGS and UFSM (p = 0.038). There was no statistical difference between the platforms concerning the number of published pre-prints (p=0,306). Discussion: The findings demonstrate that this format, even incipiently, is already a reality in the Dentistry field. Conclusion: The findings of this study indicate a low rate of adherence to the preprint publication model by professors of the postgraduate programs in Dentistry in the public universities in of the Rio Grande do Sul state in Brazil.