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CDs, which were well received in lieu of the journals, and were included in the congress folders. I regret to have to
say that I understood that you could not trust a private company and I had to look for a state-owned publishing
house.
After a brief analysis I understood that only the Publishing House of the Romanian Academy was the one to take
over the publication of the journal. I approached the director of the Publishing House, Academician D. R. Popescu,
and following our discussion I understood that the Romanian Academy Publishing House only publishes journals
included in the portfolio of publications approved by the Presidium of the Romanian Academy. I submitted
an application to the Presidium of the Romanian Academy in which I described the editorial board and the
purpose of the journal. In response, I was advised to seek the agreement of the Academy of Medical Sciences,
as there was no member of the Romanian Academy on our board, there were only members of the medical
branch. Given this situation, I asked to be received by the person in charge of the Academy publications, its vice-
president, Academician Alexandru Surdu. Very kindly, he advised me to include at least one full member of the
Academy in the Editorial Board and not to request any funds for publication. So I contacted Professor Constantin
Ionescu-Tîrgoviște, member of the Romanian Academy and president of the Romanian Medical Association.
With the courtesy of the master, he accepted to help us, especially as between diabetes and the periodontal disease
there are a series of connections. It so happened that, at that time, a famous American professor of Romanian
origin, Adrian Bejan, honorary member of the Romanian Academy, was in Bucharest to hold a conference in
the Polytechnic University. I described the stomatologists’ problem to him and I invited him to become a board
member as Deputy Editor in Chief, as between his constructal theory, the stomatognathic system and the whole
body there are a series of laws that draw us closer. As generousily as any great master or any elite athlete he
accepted this position.
Then, with a substantially strengthened board, I appealed to the members of the journal board, holders of
academic titles in their own countries, to recommend and support the Journal with the Romanian Academy. This
is how the Office of the Presidium of the Romanian Academy received letters of recommendation and support
from the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (founded 1652) by Professor Gottfried Schmalz, The
Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts (founded 1866) by Professor Vjekoslav Jerolimov, l’Academie Nationale de
Chirugie Dentaire (founded 1956) by Professor François Duret and Doctor Hubert - Pierre Ouvrard, DDS, PhD,
former President of the l’Academie Nationale de Chirugie Dentaire (ANCD) and President of the l’Association
d’Enseignement d’Odontologie et de Stomatologie. Following this cumulated approach, I was finally granted the
approval of the Office of the Presidium of the Romanian Academy that the Stomatology Edu Journal (Stoma
Edu J) be included in the portfolio of Romanian Academy journals, mentioning that the publication will be self-
financed.
After relating this journey, I still remember that, while we were on board an imposing yacht in the Tasman Sea, a
colleague wearing a seaman's uniform ironically replied that he did not see the purpose of a new dental journal
because there are too many already. It might be so for somebody who has free access to quoted journals.
The colleague wearing a seaman's uniform did not understand the urgent need to publish the over 85,000
dentists in the Central and Eastern European countries had [3]. The figure I quoted covers the 2013 census and
out of this figure there are 15,500 dentists in Romania and 1,600 in the Republic of Moldova.
I personally know that there are no specialized journals in our country, and, like my colleagues, I had to resort to
Stoma Edu J. 2018;5(1): 8-12.
http://www.stomaeduj.com