Universitas Odontologica, the scientific journal of the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana’s Dental School from Bogotá, Colombia, invites the academic, scientific, and professional community to submit original manuscripts for the thematic dossier What is Considered Valid Knowledge in Dentistry, which will be published in the volume 41 of 2022. 

About the Journal  

Universitas Odontologica’s mission is to become the international reference journal that promotes the advancement of knowledge in the dental field from and about Ibero America. The journal gives equal importance to knowledge, regardless of its application or impact reach, either local, regional, or global. Given the scientific nature of the journal, the types of articles accepted are: 1) original scientific and technological research articles, 2) reflection articles on original research results, 3) different modalities of systematic reviews of literature, and 4) case descriptions supported by systematic reviews (contributing with new research questions and promising techniques for future testing through research).

As of 2020, Universitas Odontologica is being published on a rolling volume basis (reception and publication of articles throughout the year). Its format is open access (http://www.javeriana.edu.co/universitasodontologica). The journal receives manuscripts in Spanish, Portuguese, and English, but currently publishes all the articles in English. Titles, abstracts, and keywords are published in the three languages. Universitas Odontologica covers a wide spectrum of topics related to Ibero-American dental work and knowledge. It includes ten application area-based sections: 1) Dental healthcare services and guild-related matters; 2) Basic sciences, biotechnology, and bioinformatics; 3) Scientometrics, and scientific writing and literacy; 4) Bioethics; 5) Dental education; 6) Dental materials and laboratory; 7) Legal and forensic dentistry; 8) Clinical practice; 9) Public health and oral epidemiology; and 10) Thematic Dossier (current issues/topics with an international team of expert guest editors).

Thematic Dossier: What is Considered Valid Knowledge in Dentistry

New knowledge in dentistry is generated and validated through research, knowledge that seeks to be real and true. However, there are various notions of reality and truth that are aligned with the researcher's epistemological perspective (for example, empirical-analytical, historical-hermeneutical, or critical-social). In recent times, with the development of evidence-based science, the types of studies, standards, protocols, and tools have been refined to conduct quality research that is valid and rigorous. Dentistry as an applied scientific discipline is framed through several perspectives that evolve. For this reason, it is essential for Dentistry’s advancement to determine how knowledge is constructed (methods); what is considered valid (reliable); and how it is used (applicability and benefit). It is communicated through scholarly literature.

This dossier does NOT seek to describe existing research methods, but rather to identify the standards, protocols, and notions of validity that currently support research in the different clinical specialties / subspecialties, biotechnological research, work with communities and public policies, scientometric analyses, bioinformatics, and all those fields that make up professional work and research in dentistry. It also involves states of the art, in terms of the types of questions and the ways of answering them today (research about research).

For the dossier, What is Considered Valid Knowledge in Dentistry we will receive original studies with designs ranging from theoretical to documental, which attempt to respond questions such as: What types of studies and research designs prevail in maxillofacial surgery journals? What types of questions are currently being addressed in endodontic diagnosis? What role does bioinformatics play in advancing dental knowledge? What types of questions are raised in bibliometric research in dentistry? What is considered valid in dental caries risk studies? How does psychological research contribute to patient management in pediatric dentistry? How are the connections between research in molecular biology and clinical practice generated? What type of evidence is considered valid for decision-making in oral health policy? What theoretical perspectives predominate in the evaluation of community oral health programs? What are the most accurate (gold) standards to evaluate diagnostic tests in dental caries? What are the most appropriate methods to assess the accuracy and precision of dental scanners? In short, all those works that address topics on the construction of knowledge in dentistry and its validity are welcome. 

How to Submit an Article for Publication in the Dossier

ALL manuscripts must meet the submission requirements that are described on the journal’s website and must be submitted for evaluation through, http://www.javeriana.edu.co/universitasodontologica. The maximum accepted length of manuscripts is 5000-7000 words (Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusions, and Recommendations, for original research and literature reviews), without counting references. The maximum number of annexes (tables and figures) is eight (8). Manuscripts received for the What is Considered Valid Knowledge in Dentistry dossier and the other usual sections are first evaluated by the journal’s general and guest editors, who inspect the documents compliance of style, presentation, and methodological criteria. Those articles passing this screening go through the double-blind peer-review process. Each article has at least two peer reviewers or referees who are external to the institution where the manuscript originates and, if possible, from other countries. The articles that complete the arbitration process will be included in volume 41 of 2022 of Universitas Odontologica.

Key Dates

• Release of the call for manuscripts: 24 February 2022
• Deadline for manuscript submission: 15 August 2022
• Article evaluation and revisions: 15 August to 30 September 2022
• Pre-publication with DOI assigned: 31 October 2022

Editorial Team for this Dossier

Gina Murillo. Universidad de Costa Rica, CR. Editora invitada

Natalia Fortich. Corp. Universitaria Rafael Núñez, Colombia. Editora invitada

Martha Tamayo. Universidad El Bosque, Colombia. Editora invitada

Vanessa Pereira. Universidad de La República, Uruguay. Editora invitada

Murilo Feres. Universidade de São Paulo, Brasil. Editor invitado

Luis Fernando Gamboa. Universidad El Bosque, EE. UU. Editor invitado

Ronell Bologna. Universidad de La República, Uruguay. Editor invitado

Jorge Enrique Delgado. University of Pittsburgh, EE. UU. Editor general

Sandra C. Delgado. Universitas Odontologica. Editora asistente