The stages

Writing your contribution

Stage Two

Format

Manuscripts should be word-processed in Microsoft Word format and double- spaced with a margin of at least 4 cm on the left-hand side. The pages should be numbered consecutively with the numbers centred at the bottom of each page. The first page of the manuscript should give only the title of the article, and the author’s/authors’ name(s), qualifications and address(es) including email address(es).

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Length

Contributions should be of no more than 3,000 words, to include tables and figures. Each table and figure will count as 100 words.
Case reports are welcomed, but should be of no more than 1,500 words in length. Case reports do not need to be scientific in nature. Please refer to the template for writing case reports.

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Structure

1. Titles must be descriptive of the contents of the article, but yet concise. Papers should be introduced with a short abstract which should be able to stand alone. The abstract should not contain references or abbreviations, and should be no longer than 200 words. The abstract will not contribute to the 3000 word limit.
   
   
2. Data or tables may be submitted in Microsoft Excel format or embedded in the text of the Word document.
   
   
3. Figures or images should be included in the text at their intended position and also submitted as separately attached and clearly labelled files in JPEG format at a high resolution of 300 dpi. Colour illustrations are preferred where possible. If the illustration is of a subject’s face, written consent for its publication must be obtained from the subject and attached with the article.
   
   
4. Illustrations obtained from other sources such as books, or from colleagues, must again be accompanied by appropriate documentation indicating approval for their publication as part of the article from the copyright holder, or individual concerned.
   
   
5. Units used in the manuscript must conform to the Système Internationale d’Unités (SI).

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Author details

1. Beneath the article head, authors should be given like this:
   H. Devlin*¹ and P. Giannini²
   
2. NB: as shown in the example above, an asterisk should be used in the author listing beneath the article head to indicate the corresponding author. This should appear before the author affiliation number
   
   
3. If there are more than two authors, they should be given like this:
   H. Devlin,¹ P. Giannini² and B. Smith³ (assuming the authors are from different institutions)
   
   
4. If the authors come from the same institution, this should be indicated in the author listing beneath the article head as follows:
   H. Devlin,¹ P. Giannini¹ and B. Smith¹
   
   
5. If an author comes from more than one institution, this should be indicated in the author listing beneath the article head as follows:
   H. Devlin,^1,2 P.Giannini^1,3 and B. Smith²
   
   
6. The author biog should be given like this:
   ¹Senior Lecturer in Restorative Dentistry, The School of Dentistry, University of Manchester, Higher Cambridge Street, Manchester, M15 6FH;
   ²Assistant Professor, University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Dentistry
   *Correspondence to: Dr Hugh Devlin
   Email: hugh.devlin@man.ac.uk

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General guidelines

1. The Digest uses British spelling throughout, with a preference for ‘s’ rather than ‘z’, ie ‘specialised’ not ‘specialized’, ‘recognise’ not ‘recognize’, ‘sterilisation’ not ‘sterilization’. When adapting copy from US sources, for example from US press releases or a paper by US authors, all words in the text with American spellings must be changed to British, eg ‘behavior’ should be changed to ‘behaviour’, except where these form part of the referenced title of a publication
   
   
2. There should be one space only after full stops, not two
   
   
3. Quotation marks should always be single, not double, even when quoting speech
   
   
4. Numbered or bulleted lists should be followed by a line space
   
   
5. There should be no full stops at the end of the numbers/bullets except after the last point.
   
   
6. As a general rule, terms such as ‘general dental practitioners’, ‘primary care trusts’ and other terms that are commonly abbreviated should not take capital letters when spelled out in full, unless in an official name. Paper authors in particular have a habit of adding capital first letters to terms that do not need them. Check that they are necessary when proofing and if in doubt, remove them!
   
   
7. For Review articles where references are quoted, these should be in the form ‘Journal abbreviation year; volume: page range’. ALL Review articles featuring research from other journals should contain the full reference of the work in question. For more information on references, see the review section below.

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Headlines

1. The first word in all titles, headlines and subheads should begin with a capital letter but the words following should all be in lower case, except where official names or abbreviations are used, eg NHS, Staphylococcus aureus
   
   
2. Headlines should not have full stops after them
   
   
3. Where titles contain colons or dashes, the first word after the colon or dash should also be all lower case. The only punctuation mark within a headline or title that requires a capital letter after it is a full stop
   
   
4. Subheading one must be one line in length only.

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Abbreviations

1. The abbreviations ‘eg’, ‘ie’ and ‘etc’ are written without dots
   
   
2. Et al. is written in italics followed by a dot, even if another punctuation mark follows (eg ‘as discussed in the paper by Smith et al., periodontal disease has been found…’)
   
   
3. Capital letter abbreviations are acceptable if the term is given in full when first mentioned, but should be restricted to generally recognised forms only
   
   
4. Plurals should not contain apostrophes unless they are possessive, eg ‘the study analysed the opinions of 165 GDPs’; ‘the GDPs’ opinions were as follows…’
   
   
5. Contractions (shortened forms which retain the final letter, eg Mr, Dr, Ltd) should be written without dots.
6. Consistent with WHO guidance, please use COVID-19 if reference is made to the pandemic virus.

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Italics

1. Italics should be used for Latin and foreign words and phrases such as et al., in vivo, in vitro, en masse. (NB: ‘via’ should not be italic)
   
   
2. Use italics for the names of publications including books and reports, eg British Dental Journal, The Times, The first five years
   
   
3. Italics should also be used for Latin names of organisms (generic and specificnames), eg Streptococcus mutans, Staphylococcus aureus, Homo sapiens. These names should be spelled out in full at the first mention; subsequently the generic name can be abbreviated to the first capital followed by a full stop, eg S. mutans, S. aureus. If there could be ambiguity about the generic name, for example if these two microorganisms were mentioned in the same paper multiple times and the ‘S.’ could mean either Streptococcus or Staphylococcus to those unfamiliar with them, the names should be written in full or a longer abbreviation used, eg Staph. aureus, Strep. mutans
   
   
4. Italics should be used for direct quotations from publications and from interviewees.

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Numbers

1. In general text, numbers should be spelled out up to and including ten and then numerals used for 11 onwards
   
   
2. All numbers should be spelled out at the opening of a sentence unless they contain a decimal point.
   
   
3. If a series of numbers are mentioned in a sentence, only one form should be used, ie either numerals or words, with a preference for numerals (eg ‘…aged 3, 7, 11 and 15 years’)
   
   
4. Numerals should not be used for rounded numbers, eg ‘…over a thousand examples’; ‘a million denture wearers could gain relief’
   
   
5. Millions should be written as ‘two million’ or ‘2 million’, not 2m
   
   
6. Numerals should be used for quantities with units (eg 7 kg, 5 mA) and in reporting statistics (eg 7% of respondents). There should be a space between the number and the unit, except for percentages and molarity (eg 7%, 0.1M sodium chloride)
   
   
7. Spaces should be included on either side of mathematical signs such as =, +, - etc EXCEPT for the symbols >, <, ≥ and ≤, which should have no space before the number, eg ‘p <0.05’
   
   
8. Whole numbers greater than four digits should be grouped with commas, eg 1,000 10,000 100,000. No commas should appear after a decimal point, eg 0.0011 0.00011 0.000011.

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Times and dates

1. Dates should be written in the form ‘Friday, 20 April 2007’ and ‘Monday to Thursday, 23 to 26 April 2007
   
   
2. Decades should be written as eg 1920s, not 1920’s or the twenties
   
   
3. Centuries should be written as ‘the nineteenth century’ not the 19th century
   
   
4. Years only may be written as 1976-9, 1979-81, 1909-18 when a range of years is mentioned. This only applies to years, and ranges such as 1897-1903 etc must be written in full
   
   
5. Times should be written in the form 7 am, 7.30 pm.

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Hyphenation

1. Compound words may be hyphenated to aid understanding and avoid ambiguity
   
   
2. Compound adjectives (eg size-dependent, caries-free, motor-assisted) should be hyphenated, especially when magnitude or degree is implied (eg full-time, long-term, high-density, low-fluoride)
   
   
3. Care should be taken with dental terms such as maxillofacial, which should be written like this and not as maxillo-facial. If in doubt, check Dorland’s Medical Dictionary
   
   
4. Consider particularly the use of hyphens when giving ages. The following forms should be used: 7 years old; 7-year-old children (children aged 7 years); 7 year-old children (7 children aged 1 year); 7-year-olds (children aged 7 years).

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Figures, tables and boxes

1. Figure, box table captions should be given as ‘Fig. 1’ with one space before the number and two following it (eg Fig. 1 Ulcerous lesions; Table 3 Demographic information, Box 1 List of questions)
   
   
2. Captions and legends should not have full stops at the end of them. This applies also to figure captions in News and other articles
   
   
3. Within the body text, figures should be referred to as ‘Figure 1’. When cited in the body text but in brackets, figures should be referred to as Fig. 1. For example: ‘As can be seen in Figure 1, the lesions appear black and mottled. After growth they become red (Fig. 2).’
   
   
4. Tables should be referred to as Table 1 etc whether in brackets or not
   
   
5. Boxes should be referred to as Box 2 etc whether in brackets or not
   
   
6. Boxes should be used when a table or figures, consists of on ‘column’ of text, eg a list.

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References

How to cite a reference in the text of your paper

The most important thing to note about references is that they should be as exact as possible. Readers should be able to find the work referred to easily by looking at the reference given. Many authors are not as precise and conscientious as they should be when compiling their reference lists. Ensure that references are correct, and please do try as far as possible to make sure that all the references in a list comply with our Guidelines for Authors. This may involve searching around on the internet for example to find the publisher name, location or year for a book, the correct publisher and date for a government report, or to verify that a reference to a paper is correct. Authors are advised not to submit items for consideration until this has been done! Items so submitted will be returned for correction, without a decision being indicated on possible publication. Copy accepted for publication in the Digest must be in a ready-to-publish state.

1. Reference numbers in text always FOLLOW punctuation, like this.¹ Also like this,² this;³ but not (like this)⁴
   
   
2. Please follow the full description of the Digest reference styles given below. Particular points to note:
   
   
3. For references with up to AND INCLUDING six authors, all author names should be given. References with more than six authors should give the first three authors followed by et al. NB: Paper authors sometimes just give one author followed by et al. This is incorrect and the additional names must be added
   
   
4. For edited books, editors should be indicated by the term (ed) or (eds) after their name(s) [note no capital E!]. Second or third (or fifth etc) editions of books should be indicated by the phrase 2nd ed., 5th ed. etc, NOT eg 3rd edn.
   
   
5. For references to websites or online documents, the URL provided should be checked to make sure it still works. For websites, the name of the site should be given followed by the URL and if provided by the authors, the date the site was accessed. For online documents and reports, make sure that the authors are still listed if any are given; in this case the format should be much like that for a book or report: Authors. Title. Date. URL. Access date (if available)
   
   
6. Please note that Digest style uses the official abbreviations of journal titles and these are not always correctly given by authors. When checking reference lists, please double-check that the journal abbreviations are correct. They may be checked using PubMed, available at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?db=pubmed. To do this, you can type the full journal name into the search box. This will bring up a listing of the articles for this journal; the correct abbreviation is given at the bottom of the reference. Alternatively, on the PubMed homepage you can click the ‘Journals in NCBI Databases’ link under the More Resources list. This will take you through to the NLM Catalog journals search page, by typing the full name into the search box, PubMed will search its journals database and bring up the listing for this journal and any similar ones. The official abbreviation is given in the ‘NLM Title Abbreviation’ field of the journal of interest.
   
   
7. References must be in the Vancouver style. They should be numbered in the order in which they appear in the text. The numbers should be inserted as superscripts each time the author is cited (Robb3-5 reported similar findings). Other references to the paper should be given in the same way after punctuation (Other studies have shown this to be true.4,5 Drummond-Jackson et al.6 demonstrated...)
   
   
8. The authors' names must be followed by the title of the article; the title of the journal abbreviated according to Index Medicus and Index to Dental Literature style; year of publication; volume number; and the first and last page numbers in full.
   
   
9. Titles of books should be followed by the place of publication, publisher, and the year.

If this reference citation style is not followed exactly, especially in relation to punctuation and spacing, the manuscript will be returned without review.

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Examples of reference styles to be used at the end of your paper

Reference to an article

1. Molar L R, Fang-Jones Q, Jaw U. Are Teeth biting back?. Br Dent J 2006; 200: 144-146.

Reference to a book

2. Craig D C, Skelly A M. Practical Conscious Sedation. 1st ed. London: Quintessence, 2004

Reference to a book chapter

3. Robb N D. Conscious sedation in Dentistry. In Heasman PA (ed) Master Dentistry. Vol. 2; Restorative Dentistry, Paediatric Dentistry and Orthodontics. pp 149-168. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone, 2003.

Reference to a report

4. Re-accreditation and re-certification for the dental profession. London: General Dental Council, 1997.

Reference to a webpage

5. General Dental Council. Scope of practice. 2009. Online information available at www.gdc- uk.org/Newsandpublications/Publications/Publications/ScopeofpracticeApril20 09[1].pdf (accessed April 2012).

The author/principal author is responsible for the accuracy of the reference list.

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Acknowledgements

These should be grouped in a paragraph at the end of the text before the references. Permission and approval of the wording must be obtained from the person(s) thanked. Where any research project was supported by industry, this should be acknowledged in a covering letter to the Editor on submission of the manuscript.

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Declaration of interests

Author(s) must ensure that they declare any possible conflicts of interest in their paper. This includes matters such as: direct funding from an organisation or company for the research; funding received (or payment in kind) for any related work carried out from an organisation or company that could be linked to the research; consultation or advisory positions held in an organisation or company involved in the research or an organisation involved in similar research; any other situation that could be construed as a conflict of interest.

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Ethics

Articles reporting clinical research must include a statement indicating that appropriate Ethical Committee approval has been granted.

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Copyright

Upon acceptance for publication in SAAD Digest, it is assumed that the author(s) assign(s) copyright of the article to the Society for the Advancement of Anaesthesia in Dentistry. Single copies of the published article for personal study may be made free of charge but multiple copies will require permission of the Editor prior to production.

updated 26.08.2022. FT

When and how to send your contribution

Stage Three

We try hard to publish one Digest each year in February, and welcome articles submitted at any time. However, submission for the following year’s Digest closes on June 30^th so if you miss that date your article, if accepted, might not appear for over a year. Articles submitted after 1st July will be considered during the next submission period.

Manuscripts may only be submitted by email to fiona@saad.org.uk.

Authors should note that submitted papers not fully conforming to these ‘Authors Guidelines’, especially in terms of length and manuscript format, will be returned for correction without consideration or peer review, and in such cases publication might well be delayed or subsequently declined.

Before you submit your article therefore, we strongly suggest you ask at least one person not involved in its production to read it both for content, and at the same time asking them to check it for proofing errors. Then PLEASE check yourself that it really is as close as possible finished in the format we have detailed above before emailing it to us.

If in doubt please look at past recent copies of the Digest available here https://saad.org.uk/index.php/digest-newsletters as they will demonstrate exactly what we’d like to receive!

What happens next?

Stage Four

Manuscripts are generally processed as they are received and it is expected that your submission will be acknowledged by the secretary soon after receipt, with a reference number allotted for future correspondence.

Authors should note that submitted papers not fully conforming to our guidance as given here, especially in terms of length and manuscript format, will be returned for correction without consideration or peer review, and in such cases publication might well be delayed or subsequently declined. Peer review is carried out by at least two anonymous referees, and the Chairman of the Editorial Board. Additional statistical advice may be sought if required.

Authors will be advised as soon as possible, that either their paper….

1. is suitable for publication without amendment,

2. is suitable for publication with some amendments,

3. may be suitable but requires major rewriting,

4. is rejected.

In any case, authors will receive the anonymous structured feedback of the reviewers from the secretary advising them of the decision level as above, and the action (if any) to be taken before resubmission. Delays in action on such advice may cause publication delay or even rejection if the publication deadlines are missed.

Once a manuscript is accepted for publication, authors will be advised whether their paper is to be published in the next issue or is, at the discretion of the Editorial Board, to be held for the following issue in order to obtain the appropriate balance for each edition. For similar reasons, in some cases the final decision on acceptance may be delayed. All decisions to publish are at the discretion of the Editorial Board alone whose decision is final.

The principal author of a manuscript accepted for publication will later be e-mailed a pdf version of their article for final proofing. Any errors identified and requiring correction must be notified by email without delay, and at the latest within one week. No revision of the wording or other change, other than correction of proofing errors, will be allowed at this stage.

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