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Authors are the souls of any journal, and deserve much respect. To publish a journal manuscripts are needed from authors. Authors have a great responsibility for producing facts of their work in terms of number and results truthfully and an individual honesty is expected from authors in this regards. Both ways its true "No authors-No manuscripts-No journals" and "No journals–No manuscripts–No authors". Reviewing a manuscript is also a very responsible and important task of any peer-reviewed journal and to be taken seriously. It needs knowledge on the subject, sincerity, honesty and determination. Although the process of reviewing a manuscript is a time consuming task butit is expected to give one's best remarks within the time frame of the journal.
Salient features of the JCDR: It is a biomedical, multidisciplinary (including all medical and dental specialities), e-journal, with wide scope and extensive author support. At the same time, a free text of manuscript is available in HTML and PDF format. There is fast growing authorship and readership with JCDR as this can be judged by the number of articles published in it i e; in Feb 2007 of its first issue, it contained 5 articles only, and now in its recent volume published in April 2011, it contained 67 manuscripts. This e-journal is fulfilling the commitments and objectives sincerely, (as stated by Editor-in-chief in his preface to first edition) i e; to encourage physicians through the internet, especially from the developing countries who witness a spectrum of disease and acquire a wealth of knowledge to publish their experiences to benefit the medical community in patients care. I also feel that many of us have work of substance, newer ideas, adequate clinical materials but poor in medical writing and hesitation to submit the work and need help. JCDR provides authors help in this regards.
Timely publication of journal: Publication of manuscripts and bringing out the issue in time is one of the positive aspects of JCDR and is possible with strong support team in terms of peer reviewers, proof reading, language check, computer operators, etc. This is one of the great reasons for authors to submit their work with JCDR. Another best part of JCDR is "Online first Publications" facilities available for the authors. This facility not only provides the prompt publications of the manuscripts but at the same time also early availability of the manuscripts for the readers.
Indexation and online availability: Indexation transforms the journal in some sense from its local ownership to the worldwide professional community and to the public.JCDR is indexed with Embase & EMbiology, Google Scholar, Index Copernicus, Chemical Abstracts Service, Journal seek Database, Indian Science Abstracts, to name few of them. Manuscriptspublished in JCDR are available on major search engines ie; google, yahoo, msn.
In the era of fast growing newer technologies, and in computer and internet friendly environment the manuscripts preparation, submission, review, revision, etc and all can be done and checked with a click from all corer of the world, at any time. Of course there is always a scope for improvement in every field and none is perfect. To progress, one needs to identify the areas of one's weakness and to strengthen them.
It is well said that "happy beginning is half done" and it fits perfectly with JCDR. It has grown considerably and I feel it has already grown up from its infancy to adolescence, achieving the status of standard online e-journal form Indian continent since its inception in Feb 2007. This had been made possible due to the efforts and the hard work put in it. The way the JCDR is improving with every new volume, with good quality original manuscripts, makes it a quality journal for readers. I must thank and congratulate Dr Hemant Jain, Editor-in-Chief JCDR and his team for their sincere efforts, dedication, and determination for making JCDR a fast growing journal.
Every one of us: authors, reviewers, editors, and publisher are responsible for enhancing the stature of the journal. I wish for a great success for JCDR."
Thanking you
With sincere regards
Dr. Rajendra Kumar Ghritlaharey, M.S., M. Ch., FAIS
Associate Professor,
Department of Paediatric Surgery, Gandhi Medical College & Associated
Kamla Nehru & Hamidia Hospitals Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh 462 001 (India)
E-mail: drrajendrak1@rediffmail.com
On May 11,2011
Dr. Shankar P.R.
"On looking back through my Gmail archives after being requested by the journal to write a short editorial about my experiences of publishing with the Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research (JCDR), I came across an e-mail from Dr. Hemant Jain, Editor, in March 2007, which introduced the new electronic journal. The main features of the journal which were outlined in the e-mail were extensive author support, cash rewards, the peer review process, and other salient features of the journal.
Over a span of over four years, we (I and my colleagues) have published around 25 articles in the journal. In this editorial, I plan to briefly discuss my experiences of publishing with JCDR and the strengths of the journal and to finally address the areas for improvement.
My experiences of publishing with JCDR: Overall, my experiences of publishing withJCDR have been positive. The best point about the journal is that it responds to queries from the author. This may seem to be simple and not too much to ask for, but unfortunately, many journals in the subcontinent and from many developing countries do not respond or they respond with a long delay to the queries from the authors 1. The reasons could be many, including lack of optimal secretarial and other support. Another problem with many journals is the slowness of the review process. Editorial processing and peer review can take anywhere between a year to two years with some journals. Also, some journals do not keep the contributors informed about the progress of the review process. Due to the long review process, the articles can lose their relevance and topicality. A major benefit with JCDR is the timeliness and promptness of its response. In Dr Jain's e-mail which was sent to me in 2007, before the introduction of the Pre-publishing system, he had stated that he had received my submission and that he would get back to me within seven days and he did!
Most of the manuscripts are published within 3 to 4 months of their submission if they are found to be suitable after the review process. JCDR is published bimonthly and the accepted articles were usually published in the next issue. Recently, due to the increased volume of the submissions, the review process has become slower and it ?? Section can take from 4 to 6 months for the articles to be reviewed. The journal has an extensive author support system and it has recently introduced a paid expedited review process. The journal also mentions the average time for processing the manuscript under different submission systems - regular submission and expedited review.
Strengths of the journal: The journal has an online first facility in which the accepted manuscripts may be published on the website before being included in a regular issue of the journal. This cuts down the time between their acceptance and the publication. The journal is indexed in many databases, though not in PubMed. The editorial board should now take steps to index the journal in PubMed. The journal has a system of notifying readers through e-mail when a new issue is released. Also, the articles are available in both the HTML and the PDF formats. I especially like the new and colorful page format of the journal. Also, the access statistics of the articles are available. The prepublication and the manuscript tracking system are also helpful for the authors.
Areas for improvement: In certain cases, I felt that the peer review process of the manuscripts was not up to international standards and that it should be strengthened. Also, the number of manuscripts in an issue is high and it may be difficult for readers to go through all of them. The journal can consider tightening of the peer review process and increasing the quality standards for the acceptance of the manuscripts. I faced occasional problems with the online manuscript submission (Pre-publishing) system, which have to be addressed.
Overall, the publishing process with JCDR has been smooth, quick and relatively hassle free and I can recommend other authors to consider the journal as an outlet for their work."
Dr. P. Ravi Shankar
KIST Medical College, P.O. Box 14142, Kathmandu, Nepal.
E-mail: ravi.dr.shankar@gmail.com
On April 2011 Anuradha
Dear team JCDR, I would like to thank you for the very professional and polite service provided by everyone at JCDR. While i have been in the field of writing and editing for sometime, this has been my first attempt in publishing a scientific paper.Thank you for hand-holding me through the process.
Dr. Anuradha
E-mail: anuradha2nittur@gmail.com
On Jan 2020
Reviews
Full Version
Applications of Dermatoglyphics in Dentistry- A Bibliographic Review
Correspondence Address :
Rahul Mohandas,
Sant Tukaram Nagar, Pimpri, Pune, Maharashtra, India.
E-mail: rahuldas1192@gmail.com
Introduction: Dermatoglyphics is the study of the characteristic ridged skin patterns on the fingertips, palms, toes, and soles of all primates, including humans. Due to this unique and unalterable nature, dermatoglyphics can be used as an excellent tool for population studies, personal identification, and morphological and genetic research. In recent years, dermatoglyphics has drawn a lot of attention in the field of dentistry, as a potential adjunct diagnostic tool in the identification of various orofacial and dental anomalies.
Aim: To identify and analyse all the articles published on applications of dermatoglyphics in dentistry.
Materials and Methods: A comprehensive search of bibliographic databases was performed by two independent reviewers, from October 2022 to December 2022, using medical sub-heading terms like “Dermatoglyphics”, “Dental”, and “Oral” in several combinations. All types of published studies were included in this bibliographic analysis. The articles were identified, tabulated and analysed to extract the various bibliometric details.
Results: A total of 536 citations were achieved cumulatively by 57 publications included in this review. The article that received the maximum number of citations (citation=46) was by Reddy BRM et al., published in the Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research in year 2013. Maximum publications (n=46) originated from India. Most of the published articles were focused on application of dermatoglyphics for the diagnosis of dental caries (n=21) followed by malocclusion (n=14).
Conclusion: The present bibliometric analysis identifies and analyses the most-cited articles on applications of dermatoglyphics in dentistry. The findings of this review not only provide insight into the scientific evolution in the field but also reveal trends in further research and clinical practice.
Analysis, Cleft lip, Cleft palate, Dental caries, Fingerprint, Malocclusion
Dermatoglyphics or ‘epidermal ridge configurations’ is defined as the study of the characteristic ridged skin patterns on the fingertips, palms, toes, and soles of all pirates, including humans (1). The term dermatoglyphics originated from the Greek words ‘derma’ meaning skin and ‘glyphic’ meaning ‘carvings’ (2). The term was coined by Dr. Harold Cummins, the father of dermatoglyphics in 1926 as was mentioned in searchable study by Asen D (3). The epidermal ridge development begins around the 13th week of intrauterine life and is completed by the 19th week (4). The ridge patterns are influenced by the blood vessel-nerve bundle pairs present at the border of the dermis and epidermis. The patterns may be altered by a variety of factors such as inadequate oxygen supply, alterations in epithelial growth, and unusual distribution of sweat glands (5). The epidermal ridge configuration is considered a sensitive marker of developmental dental anomalies as both originate from the same ectodermal germ layer in the 6th-7th intrauterine week (6).
The ‘proof of no change” theory was put forth by Galton, stating that an individual’s fingerprint remains unchanged throughout his/her lifetime (7). Due to this unique and unalterable nature, dermatoglyphics can be used as an excellent tool for population studies, personal identification, and morphological and genetic research (8). Dermatoglyphic studies include qualitative and quantitative analysis. Total Finger Ridge Count (TFRC), Absolute Finger Ridge Count (AFRC), AB ridge count, and Axial tri-radius and Angular tri radius (Atd) angle are the qualitative assessment methods. Quantitative assessment includes analysis of the dermal patterns, independently and combined, along with detection of abnormal palmar creases, Sydney lines, and Simian lines (9).
In recent years, dermatoglyphics has drawn a lot of attention in the field of dentistry (10). It has been associated with a wide array of congenital and acquired dental pathologies like dental caries, periodontal diseases, cleft lip, cleft palate, malocclusion, Down’s syndrome, and Klinefelter’s syndrome (11). Moreover, an association between epidermal ridge pattern and oral submucous fibrosis, leukoplakia, and oral squamous cell carcinoma has also been established (12). Dermatoglyphics can be used as a potential adjunct diagnostic tool in the identification of various orofacial and dental anomalies. It has various advantages like relative simplicity, versatility, and faster interpretation of the findings (8).
Several publications have shed light on the potential application of dermatoglyphics in the field of dentistry [9-65]. However, there is a lack of systematic identification and analysis of all the published literature on the topic, which can highlight the lacunae in existing research. A bibliometric analysis aids in identifying the key articles that have created an enormous impact in their respective fields, and have paved the way for other research and clinical practice. By this bibliometric analysis, the authors aim to identify and analyse all the articles published on applications of dermatoglyphics in dentistry and help guide future researchers by highlighting the most cited previous publications. As per our knowledge, this bibliographic analysis of literature published on applications of dermatoglyphics is a first-of-its-kind review on the topic.
The current review followed the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) reporting guideline. This Bibliographic analysis was conducted at Dr. D.Y. Patil Dental College and Hospital, Pimpri, Pune District, Maharashtra State, India from October 2022 to December 2022. The institutional review board deemed that ethical approval was not necessary, as this was a bibliographic analysis where electronically available data was retrieved and evaluated retrospectively.
Inclusion criteria: Studies that focused on the application of dermatoglyphics in the dental specialty were included in the review.
Exclusion criteria: Manuscripts which were not related to applications of dermatoglyphics in dentistry. For instance, a study on the application of dermatoglyphics in diabetic and hypertensive patients was excluded.
Study Procedure
In October 2022, a comprehensive search of bibliographic databases like Google scholar, PubMed, and Scopus was performed by two independent reviewers. The search was performed using medical sub-heading terms like “Dermatoglyphics”, “Dental”, and “Oral” in several combinations. The search included all peer-reviewed journals and was not restricted to dental specialty journals. The search was done without any date, language, or type of study filter. All types of published studies were included in this bibliographic analysis. The gross result of the search was then analysed for the journal, year of publication, country of origin of the study, type of study, application in dentistry, and language. The results were then tabulated according to the total number of citations to date and then reviewed individually by both authors. The authors initially read the abstracts, and the entire manuscript was reviewed in cases where additional information was required. In cases of discrepancy between the two authors, a third author was included in the discussion until consensus was achieved.
For each of the published articles on applications of dermatoglyphics in dentistry, the following details were recorded: article title, author’s name, journal name, publication year, the total number of citations, average citations per year, country of origin, type of study, application in dentistry and language of the publication. Typing and sub-typing of all the articles were also done, and they were categorised as pilot studies, review articles, cross-sectional studies, case-control studies, cohort studies, comparative studies, in-vivo studies, and randomised control trials.
The overall search yielded 31 articles in the Scopus database, 28 articles in the PubMed database, and 48 articles in the Google Scholar database. After eliminating the duplicates, based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria described above, a total of 57 articles were included in the review [6,9-11,13-65]. The publications were arranged in descending order of citations received. The details of the included publications are enlisted in (Table/Fig 1).
Article and Citation Analysis
A total of 536 citations were achieved cumulatively by all the publications included in this review. The citation number ranged from 46-0, with the mean citation count being 23. The article that received the maximum number of citations (n=46) was by Reddy BRM et al., published in the Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research (2013) (13). It was followed by publications by Jindal G et al., (cited 38 times), Sharma A et al (cited 31 times), Matsuyama N and Ito Y (cited 31 times) and Singh E et al., (cited 25 times) [14-17]. The citation density ranged from 5.43-0, with a mean of 2.7. The publication by Jindal G et al., had the highest citation density (5.43). The article was published in the Saudi Dental Journal in the year 2015 (14).
All the publications were in the English language. India had the maximum number of publications (n=46), followed by Iran (n=4), and Saudi Arabia (n=3). Japan, Malaysia, and Turkey had one publication each (Table/Fig 2). The study by Neiswanger K et al., was a multicentric trial conducted across four nations, Hungary, the USA, Spain, and Argentina (33). The first article on the application of dermatoglyphics in dentistry was published by Atasu M in the year 1998 (cited 25 times) (19). The years from 2012-2022 were the most active in publishing these papers, with 52 articles being published in this decade. The maximum number of publications (n=8) was seen in the year 2021 (Table/Fig 3).
The included publications consisted of cross-sectional studies (n=26), case-control studies (n=11), comparative studies (n=7), in-vivo studies (n=4), randomised control trials (n=3), and pilot studies (n=2). Additionally, there was one review, a retrospective cohort study, and a multicentric study (Table/Fig 4).
Most of the published articles were focused on application of dermatoglyphics for the diagnosis of dental caries (n=21) followed by malocclusion (n=14). (Table/Fig 5) depicts the various applications of dermatoglyphics in dentistry.
Author Analysis
A total of 254 researchers contributed 5 articles that were included in this review. The analysis also revealed that the included articles had a minimum of one author (n=4) and a maximum of eleven authors (n=1). Six publications were authored by a single author, six had two authors, and forty-five publications had three or more authors. Eleven authors had contributed more than one publication in the field. Three authors (Dawasaz AA, Syed S, and Togoo RA) had three publications each. Eight authors contributed two publications each (Table/Fig 6).
Journal Analysis
A total of 33 journals published articles on the application of dermatoglyphics in dentistry. Among these, eleven journals published more than one article (Table/Fig 7). A thorough examination of the journals revealed that the maximum number of articles was published in three journals, namely the Indian Journal of Dental Research, the International Journal of Clinical Paediatric Dentistry, and the Journal of the Indian Society of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry. These three journals contributed to fifteen publications among the included articles. Twenty-two journals had contributed solitary publication in the list of included articles.
A bibliographic analysis is the best way to identify the most influential articles in different avenues of research. The number of times an article has been cited denotes the scientific value of that publication (66). Such analysis help in providing a holistic view of existing literature on a particular topic, highlights the existing voids in research, and paves the way for future research and development in the particular topic (67). Dermatoglyphics has found multiple applications in dentistry as a tool to unveil oral diseases like dental caries, malocclusion, oral cancer, periodontal disease, cleft lip cleft palate, and forensic odontology (6). A good citation number is generally indicative of the quality of the publication (68). In the present analysis, an article titled “A comparative study of dermatoglyphics in individuals with normal occlusions and malocclusions” authored by Reddy BRM et al., in 2013 had the maximum number of citations (13).
In terms of the period of publication, the majority of the articles were published between 2012 and 2022 (n=52). It is well established that time is directly proportional to the citation count (68). The older publications have an advantage of time and are thus ranked higher. In contrast, newer innovative research with good scientific content may have a lower citation number (69). A period of 6-15 years is needed for an article to receive a sufficient number of citations (70). This could be the reason that none of the recently published articles top the list of most cited articles in the present analysis. However, facilitates like social media networking, journals with the electronic format, online-first option, and open access features can have a positive impact on the citation score of newly published articles (71).
Among the studies analysed, 98.2% of the studies were original research projects. However, the majority of them had a low level of evidence, as most of them were cross-sectional studies, case-control studies, comparative studies, and in-vivo studies. Only three studies were randomised control trials [20,43,49], which have a high level of evidence. The level of evidence emphasises the impact of the article, its quality, and its relevance to further research (72).
A majority of publications on the application of dermatoglyphics were published by researchers and institutions from India (n=46). This can be attributed to the vast population, focus on health sciences and research, and promotion of health research through the availability of government funding (73). In recent years, India has grown by leaps and bounds in terms of medical research and development (74).
Although a thorough and systematic approach was used for the identification and analysis of all the articles published on the applications of dermatoglyphics in dentistry, this bibliographic review does have some possible limitations. Using “Title-specific” criteria in the search process, the authors have captured all possible relevant articles. Using a different database and search engine like Embase or Wiley Online Library with different combinations of keywords and search definitions could have resulted in a different list of the most-cited manuscripts. Another limitation is that it was difficult to determine the primary author in many of the publications, and the first author was assumed to be the primary author. Additionally, author details were missing in some of the publications. Also, newer articles take time to get a high citation rate and older papers may become less cited with time as they become irrelevant. Older articles have the time effect to get higher citations, which seems unfair for the recent studies, therefore the average citations per year was also calculated.
This bibliographic analysis depicts the evolution of research pertaining to applications of dermatoglyphics in dentistry. Using the data presented here, the authors hope that the lacunae in research are identified and future research is promoted.
The present bibliometric analysis identifies and analyses the most-cited articles on applications of dermatoglyphics in dentistry. The list includes many landmark publications by leaders in the field that has revolutionised research and development in this domain. The findings of this review not only provide insight into the scientific evolution in the field but also reveal trends in further research and clinical practice. Hereby, the authors believe that the articles presented herein will be an important source of information for researchers and clinicians.
DOI: 10.7860/JCDR/2023/61311.17673
Date of Submission: Nov 07, 2022
Date of Peer Review: Dec 29, 2022
Date of Acceptance: Jan 11, 2023
Date of Publishing: Mar 01, 2023
AUTHOR DECLARATION:
• Financial or Other Competing Interests: None
• Was Ethics Committee Approval obtained for this study? No
• Was informed consent obtained from the subjects involved in the study? NA
• For any images presented appropriate consent has been obtained from the subjects. NA
PLAGIARISM CHECKING METHODS:
• Plagiarism X-checker: Nov 09, 2022
• Manual Googling: Dec 28, 2022
• iThenticate Software: Jan 04, 2023 (12%)
ETYMOLOGY: Author Origin
- Emerging Sources Citation Index (Web of Science, thomsonreuters)
- Index Copernicus ICV 2017: 134.54
- Academic Search Complete Database
- Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)
- Embase
- EBSCOhost
- Google Scholar
- HINARI Access to Research in Health Programme
- Indian Science Abstracts (ISA)
- Journal seek Database
- Popline (reproductive health literature)
- www.omnimedicalsearch.com