Information for Authors
The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association invites submission of articles, clinical reports, clinical techniques, reviews, perspectives, and practice management articles. Articles are accepted with the understanding that they have not been submitted elsewhere and are submitted solely to the MDA Journal. All articles accepted and published by the MDA become copyright property of the Michigan Dental Association in print and electronic media formats.
The following criteria are guidelines for submission of material. Please note that adjustments may be made to these guidelines upon request or as required. Generally, feature article manuscripts should range between 1,500 and 3,000 words. Exceptions may be made for special circumstances.
ADA/MDA membership: All dentist authors must be members of the American Dental Association. Articles by nonmember dentists will not be accepted for publication.
General Articles: reports of detailed investigations of interest to dentistry, including clinical and laboratory research, contributions to causes, diagnosis and treatment of dental disease, and studies in dental economy and education. Text should range between 625 and 2,000 words.
Clinical Reports: Succinct reports of cases and clinical observations.
Clinical Techniques: Descriptions of practical applications of methods or techniques. These articles may range from 625 to 2,000 words.
Practice Management Articles: Descriptions of methods used in planning and administration of office and practice procedures. Text should be succinct, with a maximum of 1,500 words.
Perspectives of Opinion: Essays on current issues in dentistry. References are unnecessary. Text should not exceed 650 words.
Letters to the Editor: All letters must be signed. Length should normally not exceed 250 words. All letters may be cut for length or content.
Manuscript submission
Authors are encouraged to submit articles on computer disk (Word preferred), along with two double- or triple-spaced copies addressed to Editor, Michigan Dental Association, 3657 Okemos Road, Suite 200, Okemos, MI 48864. A transmittal letter, naming one author as correspondent with an address and telephone number, should accompany the manuscript. Manuscripts are sent anonymously to reviewers; therefore, take care to place author names only on the letter of submission. Author names should not appear on the manuscript pages or on the illustrations.
Authors are expected to disclose any financial, economic, or professional interests that may have influenced positions presented in their articles. Such interests should be disclosed with the author acknowledgements. Compliance with the disclosure request will be inferred at the time of the submission of the article.
The editor reserves the right to edit the manuscripts, to fit articles within available space, and to ensure conciseness, clarity and stylistic consistency.
Manuscript preparation
All manuscripts must be submitted in Microsoft Word files, along with two hard copies, formatted as double- or triple-spaced, on one side of the page, 8 1/2 x 11 inches, with ample margins (at least one inch) on all four sides. Sorry, we cannot accept hard-copy only submissions. Disks will not be returned. Articles may also be e-mailed, but a follow-up phone call should be made to ensure the e-mail was received.
Article titles
Titles should be descriptive, but concise and amenable to indexing. The editor reserves the right to retitle all articles.
Abstracts
All clinical or research articles should include an Abstract of up to 150 words. This abstract will be published on or near the first page of the article.
Author credentials
Academic degrees, university affiliations, previous publications, current biography should all be provided upon submission. An ôAbout the Authorö box of two or three paragraphs will be published, along with a photograph of the author. These should be included in the manuscript submission.
References
Follow reference style used in the Journal of the American Dental Association (JADA). See issues of JADA for examples. Submissions with incorrect references will be returned to authors for revision.
PLEASE NOTE: Do not use automatic footnoting programs. Automatic footnotes need to be removed prior to typesetting. Manuscripts containing automated footnoting will be rejected and returned to authors for removal.
Illustrations
Photos, drawings or graphics should be of high quality for satisfactory reproduction. Drawings or graphics are usually re-set by the MDA. On the back of each photo or illustration, the figure number and the TOP edge should be indicated lightly in pencil. If a figure contains two or more parts, the figure number and each part should be indicated. Each set of illustrations should be placed in a separate envelope labeled with the name of the author. Authors are advised to keep a set of photos in the unlikely event that photos submitted are lost. Photographic prints should be at least 5-inches-by-7-inches in size; 8-by-10 prints are preferred.
Captions/legends for illustrations and photos should be typed on a separate page.
PLEASE NOTE: Only high-resolution (such as 300 resolution tiff files) digital images can be accepted. Photos must be submitted on disk in separate files. Do not embed photos in Word documents.
Tables
Tables should be logically organized and should supplement the information provided in the text. They should be numbered in the order of their mention in the text, and each should be typed on a separate page with the table title and footnotes, if any.
Permissions
Permission of author and publisher must be obtained for the direct use of previously published material (text, photos, drawings). Up to 100 words of prose usually can be quoted without permission, provided the material quoted is not the essence of the complete work.
Photo Releases
Waivers must be obtained for the publication of photographs showing persons or for photos copyrightable by photo houses. Photo releases are available upon request or can be downloaded from this Web site.
Copyright
Unless otherwise requested, all manuscripts and photos published in the Journal of the Michigan Dental Association become the property of the MDA. This ownership is limited to print publication of manuscripts and photos in article format. Articles published in the Journal may be reproduced or reprinted only after written permission has been granted by the MDA.
Mail all materials to Dave Foe, Managing Editor, MDA Journal, 3657 Okemos Road, Suite 200, Okemos, MI 48864. Direct all questions to the managing editor at the same address, or call (800) 589-2632, extension 421; or click here to send an e-mail.
— Revised May 2009