Aims and scope

The Portuguese Journal of Stomatology, Dental Medicine and Maxillofacial Surgery (Revista Portuguesa de Estomatologia, Medicina Dentária e Cirurgia Maxilofacial) is an international open access journal which is published quarterly, and considers for publication systematic reviews, original research papers, clinical case reports and clinical innovation reports of scientific interest to clinicians, researchers and community directly or indirectly related with oral health.

Peer-review process

All papers are peer­-reviewed by independent external reviewers, determining their acceptance for publication. Portuguese Journal of Stomatology, Dental Medicine and Maxillofacial Surgery uses a double-blind peer review system. Both authors and reviewers are anonymous. Reviewers do not know the names of the authors, and the authors do not know who has revised their manuscript.

After the submission by corresponding author, the editorial office performs preliminary checks on submitted manuscripts. The manuscripts that do not fit in the submission guidelines, editorial policies, and ethical standards of the journal will be rejected prior to peer review process, while poorly prepared manuscripts may be sent to the corresponding author for proper revision and resubmission. If considered in compliance with submission guidelines, editorial policies and ethical standards, the submission is assessed by the Editor-in-Chief who decides whether to proceed with peer review, depending if the work is scientifically sound and if fits in the journal scope, and may assign a suitable Associate Editor as handling Editor who will guide the peer-review process. The handling editor sends invitations to independent external experts for review. Potential reviewers consider the invitation against their own expertise, conflicts of interest and availability. They will accept or decline, being possible to suggest alternative reviewers. Each submission must be reviewed by at least two experts in the field taking into account originality, scientific soundness, study design, sources of bias, among others. A detailed review is submitted to the journal with a recommendation to accept or reject it, or with a request for revision before it is reconsidered. If the reviewers differ widely, the handling editor may invite an additional reviewer before suggest a decision. The submission is then sent to the editor-in-chief who will make the final decision. The authors are requested to answer in a point-by-point process to the reviewers in case any concern is expressed by the later. All articles, except for Editorials, are externally peer reviewed before a final decision is made about acceptance for publication.

Editorial and Journal Policies

Papers considered for publication must contain original material, not published, in full or in part (including tables and figures), and not submitted or accepted for publication in other journals. Before sending the manuscripts, authors must obtain all permissions needed for publication of the presented material. Note that, to comply with regulations governing authors’ rights, the reproduction of images, figures or graphs from other publications must have prior authorization of the respective authors. These should be included in the references.

The opinions expressed are of the exclusive responsibility of the authors and may not express the opinion of editors and editorial board members.

All papers published in the journal are Open Access without Article Processing Charges.