Promoting a fair quality
control mechanism in
specialized publications
Marian-Vladimir Constantinescu
DDS, PhD, Professor
Editor-in-Chief
Dear readers,
As a member of the editorial board of a young scientific journal pertaining to the global academia I have
noticed that the fundamental principles of research are abandoned in the specialized literature in favour of
“publications aimed at shopping around” (Dr Mutlu Özcan, 2009) 1 able to attract considerable funds and flatter
some colleagues’ professional vanity.
There are 17,000 higher education institutions in the academic world (according to Rauhvargers, 2011) 2 , and over
1.8 million dentists working around the world (as declared by Worldmapper in 2004) 3 , as well as an unknown
number of dental researchers, while there are just over 6,000 dental journals 4 out of which only 91 are rated (Web
of Science, 2017) 5 . This situation makes it difficult to publish an article, proof to that being my own personal
experience alongside the Italian colleagues with respect to an original article that was printed about four years
after its “conception”.
To prevent similar situations from happening to Central and Eastern European researchers, in 2013, we launched
the Stomatology Edu Journal, together with Professor Jean-François Roulet (University of Florida) and Professor
Rolf Ewers (Medical University of Vienna), alongside an enthusiastic group of prestigious editors. The journal
has been self-financing since 2016 and is included in the portfolio of the Romanian Academy publications.
The academia is clearly interested in publishing and the competitive spirit of researchers worldwide is being
stimulated, but there are increasingly more frequent situations when ethical standards and professional
deontology are violated in the “rush” for sponsorship and personal visibility.
The “open review” method allows referees to know the author’s name, which could cause the premature rejection
of the manuscript when the referees compete with the authors for the same grants, which distorts their right
judgment, causing them to make decisions influenced by institutional or individual rivalry.
In order to promote the referees’ impartiality we have chosen the commonly accepted practice implemented by
renowned journals, namely the “double-blind review”, which so far has proven to be the only way to ensure a
fair quality control mechanism in specialized publications. As of this year, also as a common working practice
of renowned journals, out of respect for your dear readers, besides the two referees unknown by the authors
who evaluate each article, before the article you will read reaches the final evaluation by Professor Jean-François
Roulet, it will be also assessed by an Academic Editor.
As part of the international collaboration of the journal I contacted Professor Michael L. Glick, Professor and
Dean Emeritus, School of Dental Medicine, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Editor of JADA,
the Journal of the American Dental Association which has more than 100 years of tradition and is published
monthly in over 170,000 copies.
During the First International Congress in Bucharest, Professor Michael Glick was the guest of honour of the
Dean of the Faculty of Dental Medicine, Assoc Prof Dr Paula Perlea; it was an opportunity I used to present to
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Stoma Edu J. 2017;4(1): 8-9.
http://www.stomaeduj.com