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| Year : 2014 | Volume
: 25
| Issue : 5 | Page : 681 |
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| Indian dental research - need for self appraisal |
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Thavarajah Rooban1, Kumar PD Madan2, Saravanan Poorni2
1 Oral Pathologist, Marundeeshwara Oral Pathology Services and Analytic Services, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
2 Dentacraft Dental Clinic, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
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| Date of Web Publication | 16-Dec-2014 |
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How to cite this article:
Rooban T, Madan KP, Poorni S. Indian dental research - need for self appraisal. Indian J Dent Res 2014;25:681 |
Dear Sir,
This is in follow-up with the Guest Editorial by Prof. Kenneth Eaton, in the last issue. [1] He has timely pointed out the issue of the increasing number of uncited publication in the bio-medical literature.
A search in scopus database using Scimago (www.scimagojr.com) [2] comparing the dental publications of emerging economies-The Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, BRICS (www.brics.org) revealed that a significant percentage of recent manuscripts in India, go without citation. The Graph 1 shows the percentage of documents not cited at least once in the three preceding years 1996-2012 (for manuscripts published 1993-2009) [Graph 1]. It could be observed that Indian manuscripts attract the least citations in the study period. At the same time, the number of Indian manuscripts published has increased drastically [Graph 2].
The reason for this phenomenon could be probably explained by extrapolation of results of another observational pilot study from the same issue. [3] To combat this situation, Indian dental educational policy makers need to urgently consider the quality of the manuscript rather than the quantity. [4] This is absolutely essential at a time when India is trying to advance its scientific frontiers, an attempt needs to be made in the dental research segment too.
Citations cannot be the only indicator of the quality of work but is still considered as one of the hallmarks of the quality of the manuscript. Considering the sheer volume of Indian dental publications and resources allotted to produce such volume, nonreceipt of citations should raise serious concern and introspection, especially in limited resources setting like India. These resources could be used for better oral health care delivery.
To ensure high quality of dental research, training in research and scientific writing needs to be improved. All stakeholders need to contribute synergistically to rectify and improve the trend. We are much optimistic that this guest editorial would be a harbinger of the same.
 References | |  |
| 1. | Eaton KA. Improving the quality of papers submitted to dental journal. Indian J Dent Res 2014;25:417-8.  [ PUBMED]  |
| 2. | SCImago. 3 years-Cited dental manuscripts-Global scenario-2007 SJR-SCImago Journal and Country Rank. Available from: http://www.scimagojr.com. [Last retrieved on 2014 Oct 10]. |
| 3. | Srinivasan MR, Poorni S, Sujatha G, Kumar SN. Research experiences, attitudes, and barriers to publishing among the dental postgraduate teachers: A cross-sectional study. Indian J Dent Res 2014;25:454-8. [ PUBMED] |
| 4. | Rooban T, Rao UK, Joshua E, Ranganathan K. Assessing the impact of dental faculties publication-methodology clarifications-need of the hour. J Educ Ethics Dent 2013;3:49-53. |
Correspondence Address:
Thavarajah Rooban
Oral Pathologist, Marundeeshwara Oral Pathology Services and Analytic Services, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/0970-9290.147129
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