Objectives of the AVDC Publication Requirement

This requirement is designed to show that all AVDC examination candidates can select a topic and write a case report or an article or book chapter on a veterinary dental or related topic that demonstrates their ability to write a scientific article clearly and coherently. The case report, article or book chapter must include accurate citations of relevant published material, and the conclusions or summary provided by the author must be supported by the content of the article.

Definitions

Items submitted for AVDC Credentials Committee Publication Review are classified as either Solicited or Unsolicited.

Unsolicited articles are articles submitted to a peer-reviewed journal that was not solicited by the Journal Editor and that will be subjected to peer-review by anonymous (to the author) reviewers selected by the Journal editor.

Solicited items include: (Does not fulfill First Article Requirements)

• Book chapter: A chapter in a book that will be published as a distinct single-purchase publication. Prior to submission, the chapter will have been solicited and reviewed by the Book Editor or Section Editor, but the book chapter will not have been subjected to anonymous peer review.
• Solicited Periodical Article: The article will be intended for publication in a periodical that publishes issues that each cover a different topic. An ‘Issue Editor’ is appointed by the Periodical Editorial Board, and the Issue Editor solicits authorship of the individual articles for that issue.Prior to submission to AVDC, the article will have been reviewed by the Issue Editor, but these articles will not have been subjected to anonymous peer-review. Example: Veterinary Clinics of North America.There are separate Supervisor Forms and Committee Review Forms for Case Reports, Book chapters, Solicited Articles and Unsolicited articles.

Specifics of the Publications Requirement

Articles can be submitted to a journal before or at the same time as submission to AVDC. Publications are to be submitted without author or location identification anywhere within the publication, to ensure that anonymity of the author is maintained during the blinded review process; the exception to this rule is that articles that have been accepted for publication in an AVDC-approved journal (page 6) can be submitted to AVDC as accepted by the journal, because AVDC Credentials Committee review is not required.

One First Article is required- First Article (and Second Article) are defined below.

First Article

A paper on a veterinary dental or related topic containing original data (e.g. a research project or a clinical case series) or an in-depth review article, or an article that is a case report that includes an in-depth review of the literature because of the unique features of the case, or equivalent, submitted to a peer-reviewed journal. The trainee/resident is to be the first or only author. A Submission Approval form must be completed and submitted by the Residency Director/Supervisor, confirming that the trainee/resident conducted the research or case series follow up or was the primary dentist on an in-depth case report, conducted the literature search and wrote the first draft of the article, and that the Residency Director/Supervisor has read the article.

For consideration as a First Article, a Case Report article must normally include a minimum of 10 cases with an in-depth liteature review, except that an article with fewer than 10 cases of a clinical entity can be approved as a First Article if there are unique features justified by the Supervisor in the Supervisor Report form and considered as appropriate as an exception to the ‘10 cases’ rule by the Credentials Committee.

If proof that the article (as described above – research paper, clinical case series, in-depth review article or case report with in-depth literature review) has been accepted by or published in an AVDC-approved journal (page 6) is provided, the article is automatically approved as an AVDC credentials publication whether or not Credentials Committee review has already occurred and the article was approved or not by a Credentials Committee review team. (See article review flow chart- page 8) Determination of status as a two CREP point or one CREP point article, or as a ‘First Article,’ will be made by the Credentials Committee chair and Chair-designate after reading the article and the redacted Supervisor’s Report.

If the article is submitted to but not yet accepted by an AVDC-approved journal (page 6) or is submitted to or accepted for publication in a journal that is not on the AVDC Approved-journal list, the article is reviewed by a Credentials Review team to determine whether it meets the ‘First article’ criteria.

Second Article (Does not fulfill the First Article Requirements)

The second article can be in any of the following formats:

1. A case report written using the AVDC standard case report format. The case report must have been submitted to a peer-reviewed journal prior to the time of submission to AVDC.
2. The Credentials Committee decision to approve a case report as meeting part of the AVDC credentials requirement is not dependent on acceptance by the Journal to which the case report was submitted.
3. The trainee/resident must have been the ‘primary dentist’ and the case must have been treated no more than five years prior to the case report submission date; the case can have been treated prior to the resident registering in an AVDC-approved training program.
4. A completed Supervisor form confirming that the trainee/resident was the primary dentist and wrote the first draft of the report and that the Supervisor has read and approved the report must accompany the submission.

Note: For trainees registered prior to 2014 who elect to pursue the 2014 Publication Requirement, a case report already approved by AVDC will be allowed to count as the ‘Second article’ under the 2014 Publication Requirement.

Submission via DMS is Required

The resident is required to completely redact any identifying information from their paper prior to submission to DMS.  If this is not done the paper will be returned and this will delay the review process.   

 Use of the Pre-Approval procedure is required. The Pre-Approval process is described in the Pre-Approval file that can be accessed via a link in the Information for Registered Trainees web page. Click the Begin a New Document for Submission link on the DMS Welcome screen, and use the drop-down menu you to select the specific document type. Items can be submitted at the same time as a credentials application is submitted in July; however, if it is not approved, submission of a replacement article will not be permitted during that Credentials Application cycle.

Publications can be submitted from September 15th to May 1st. Pre-approval remains open to all from May 1st through September 15th, but residents will experience a delayed response in review time during this period due to credential package reviews. During this time, review priority will be given to residents submitting a credentials package July 15th of that year. Please note that pre-approval notifications are NOT ensured for July 15th credential packages if the resident submits later than May 1st of that year.

The standard by which an item will be judged will be the same whether the item was submitted for Pre-Approval or at the same time as the Credentials Application package.

Supervisor Form: When an article is submitted via DMS, it is processed to the Supervisor, who completes and uploads the required Supervisor Form; the blank form is available in the Publication section of the Information for Registered Trainees web page. A submission will not be reviewed if a completed Supervisor form is not also present. Supervisor Forms specific to Unsolicited Article, Solicited Article and Book Chapter are available as links from the Information for Registered Trainees web page.

Delayed Submission of Articles

If a trainee has completed all other training program requirements, submission of an item to complete the Publication requirement after the credentials application deadline is permitted, with the following stipulations:

1. Delayed Submission is available only for a ‘First Article’, as defined in this Publications Requirement document. The purpose of Delayed Submission is to encourage AVDC residents to undertake research or clinical investigation projects that may not be able to be completed during the residency program period, because of the nature of the project.
2. A completed Request for Delayed Submission of a Publication form must be submitted at the time that the Credentials Application is submitted. The form is available as a link in the 2014 Publications Requirements section of the Information for Registered Trainees web page. The Request for Delayed Submission of a Publication form will be redacted by the Executive Director, so as to permit anonymous review by the Credentials Committee chair.
3. The maximum time permitted for delayed submission of the article is two years from the July 15 Credentials Application deadline of the original credentials application, except that if a candidate has passed the certification examination, the candidate will be allowed an additional year for a total of 3 years to submit a paper on the same topic or an article on another topic.
4. The article must be submitted to the selected peer-reviewed journal before or at the same time as submission for AVDC Credentials review.
5. Delayed submission articles will be reviewed as for any other Pre-Approval item – they will not be identified as a ‘delayed submission’ article.
   File: Pub_Req_2015.doc Release: 3/12/18 Page 6 of 8
6. A trainee/resident whose credentials application, including an approved ‘First Article’ delayed submission request, is approved is a candidate for the AVDC examination. However, if the candidate passes the examination, s/he will not be recognized as a diplomate and will not receive the diploma or be able to refer to her- or him-self as a veterinary dental specialist until the delayed submission article is approved by the normal Credentials Committee approval process. Acceptance for publication in an AVDC- approved journal (see below) will result in AVDC approval of the article without need for Credentials Committee review, subject to review by the Credentials Committee Chair to determine First Article status. Approval by an AVDC Credentials Review team as a First Article does not have to await notification of acceptance for publication by the journal to which the article was submitted.

‘AVDC Approved’ Journals

• American Journal of Veterinary Research
• Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association
• Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association
• Journal of Small Animal Practice
• Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery
• Journal of Veterinary Dentistry
• Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine
• Veterinary Comparative Orthopedics and Traumatology
• Veterinary Pathology
• Veterinary Radiology & Ultrasound
• Veterinary & Comparative Oncology
• Veterinary Surgery
• Frontiersin.org, particularly the Veterinary Dentistry and Oromaxillofacial Surgery section
• Equine Veterinary Journal
• Equine Veterinary Education (EQ specialty)
• The Veterinary Journal

 Case Reports (for CREP consideration)

1. A case report written using the standard AVDC Case Report format cannot be submitted to meet the First Article Publication Requirement.
2. The AVDC Case Report format and content are described in detail in the web site CREP/Publication document, available as a link on the Information for Registered Trainees web page. Read this information before starting to prepare a case report for CREP consideration.
3. Upon submission, an initial review for format will be conducted by the AVDC Administrator. Case reports will be returned un-reviewed if the required format is not followed. The format requirements that will be reviewed include:
   1. Maximum 12 pages of text in the body of the report (not including a page that contains only the title of the case report). Each page is to be numbered.
   2. Maximum two pages of references, numbered consecutively as cited in the text.
   3. 12 point Times New Roman font, 1.5 line space, 1” margins, 8.5 x 11” page size.
   4. Insert a Line number in the left margin (in Word, click Page Layout, then click Line Number in the Page Set-up section, then click Continuous)
   5. Figures must be readable (in focus, good exposure, appropriately cropped) and each must have a legend immediately adjacent to the figure. They can be included on separate pages at the end of the text section.
4. Resubmission of a case report that was returned as unreviewed because it was incorrectly formatted is permitted, after correction of the formatting issues.
5. Equine case reports – if a non-Equine trainee/resident submits an equine case report, the Credentials Committee chair can send it to the Equine Credentials Committee for review rather than having it reviewed by Credentials Committee members who have little or no experience in equine dentistry.
6. When a Request for Clarification from the Credentials Committee is sent to the trainee/resident, s/he is notified that s/he has 10 days to respond. If a response from the trainee is not received within the required time, the trainee/resident risks termination of further consideration of that item.

Review Forms

The forms used during the review process by the Credentials Committee are available in the Publications section of the Information for Registered Trainees web page.

Steps in Article Submission to Credentials Committee: