Abstract
Aim
This article seeks to evaluate the shifts in publication rates and the participation of Indian orthodontists in different quartiles of orthodontic journals before, during, and after the pandemic, spanning the years 2017–2023.
Methods
The evaluation involved manually searching through archives of 15 journals divided into quartiles, that is, Q1, Q2, and Q3. Articles with at least one author affiliated with an Indian university were collected and tabulated into graphs.
Results
In Q1 journals, “Progress in Orthodontics” achieved the highest Indian publication percentage at 4.66%, whereas the European Journal of Orthodontics recorded the lowest at 0.93%. Among Q2 journals, the Journal of Orthodontic Science led with a maximum publication rate of 35.83%, while the Korean Journal of Orthodontics had the least, accounting for only 0.36%. In Q3 journals, the highest contribution of 31.16% was observed in APOS Trends in Orthodontics, while International Orthodontics had the lowest contribution at 8.24%.
Conclusion
The examination of 15 orthodontic journals spanning the 7 years from 2017 to 2023 revealed that the publication trends remained largely unchanged in the majority of journals across all three time periods: pre-COVID-19, during the pandemic, and post-COVID-19. Notable exceptions included a slight increase in publications observed during and after the pandemic, specifically in the American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics (Q1 journal), Journal of Orthodontic Science (Q2 journal), APOS Trends in Orthodontics (Q3 journal), and International Orthodontics (Q3 journal).
Introduction
Orthodontics is the first recognized dental specialty with a strong history of academic production. 1 In the era of evidence-based medicine, the publication of original research in high-indexed journals is given special importance. It reflects the academic quality of an institute as research is valuable to understand the complexities of a problem to create knowledge that not only enhances the decision-making capabilities of doctors but also leads to patients being the ultimate benefactor of such innovation. Recent advancements in clinical procedures, applications, and techniques have led to a significant increase in orthodontic publications.
Publications are vital to the growth of science and career progression, in universities, increasingly looking at publications to one’s credit while recruiting faculty/researchers. 2 This trend has its roots in 1887 when Edward H. Angle started the trend of publications with his first publication on System of Regulating Appliances in an 1887 textbook by Loomis P. Haskell. 3 He later published an article on the classification of malocclusion in 1899 in Dental Cosmos. The significance of publications in academia is further highlighted by the historical development of the Indian Orthodontic Society (IOS). Initially established as a Study Group in Mumbai in 1963, it officially became the IOS on October 5, 1965. Since its inception, India has consistently demonstrated growth and progress in the realm of research within the field.
Numerous bibliometric studies have delved into the details of orthodontic research, each concentrating on distinct aspects. Thus, the article aims to evaluate the publication rates and the participation of Indian orthodontists in different quartiles of orthodontic journals before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic, as declared by the World Health Organization. 4 Academic journals are typically categorized and evaluated by various indexing systems, including the Journal Citation Reports (JCR) by Clarivate Analytics, Scopus, and the Web of Science. These systems assess journals using multiple metrics such as citation counts, impact factors, and additional criteria to gauge the quality and impact of the research they publish. Additionally, it aims to highlight the alterations in publication rates and the involvement of Indian orthodontists in assessing the impact of Indian research on global orthodontic journals, from the year 2017–2023.
Materials and Methods
The study utilized an observational research approach to examine Indian orthodontic studies published in journals categorized into Q1, Q2, and Q3, ranked from highest to lowest based, given by Scopus.
The search process targeted articles in orthodontic journals from 2017 to 2023, encompassing two years before COVID-19 (2017–2018), the pandemic period (2019–2020), and the years following (2021–2023).
Q1 journals included the American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics, European Journal of Orthodontics, Progress in Orthodontics, The Angle Orthodontist and Orthodontics, and Craniofacial Research.
Q2 journals included the Korean Journal of Orthodontics, Journal of Orofacial Orthopedics, Seminars in Orthodontics, Dental Press Journal of Orthodontics, Journal of Orthodontic Science, and Journal of Orthodontics.
Q3 journals included APOS Trends in Orthodontics, Turkish Journal of Orthodontics, International Orthodontics, and Journal of the World Federation of Orthodontics.
The evaluation process involved manually searching through individual journal archives. Identified articles were then collected and tabulated after confirming at least one author’s affiliation with an Indian university. The collected articles were divided into pre-COVID (2017–2020) and post-COVID (2020–2023).
The results of the search were exported to Microsoft 365 Excel (2021) and tabulated to outline the annual publication counts across the 15 journals. Furthermore, a comparative analysis was performed between the two periods, that is, pre-COVID (2017–2020) and post-COVID (2020–2023), and organized into graphs.
Results
The data collected were organized into two graphs, a bar graph depicting how many articles were published by Indian orthodontists per year, thus showing any changing trends before and after the pandemic, and a pie chart illustrating all the publications by Indian orthodontists relative to the total number of global publications from 2017 to 2023 in Q1, Q2, and Q3 articles.
Figure 1 shows all the contributions in Q1 journals by Indian orthodontists per year. American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics (AJODO) and Angle Orthodontist have contributions by Indian orthodontists every year. Despite being well researched and impactful, the number of publications has immense scope of increasing from the current number, which remains at 1 or 2 per year in Angle Orthodontist and the maximum being 12 in AJODO in the year 2022.
Number of Publications by Indian Orthodontists Per Year for the Years 2017–2022 in Q1 Journals.
“Progress in Orthodontics” shows contributions every year for the past 6 years, except in 2022. The maximum number was six publications in 2017. European Journal of Orthodontics and Orthodontics and Craniofacial Research have the least number of publications by Indian orthodontists. Q1 journals depict a constant trend and no increase or decrease in the number of publications after COVID-19.
Publication percentages were calculated to estimate the contribution of Indian orthodontists at a global scale and plotted in a pie chart. The percentage of Indian publications in each journal was determined by dividing the total number of Indian contributions by the overall number of publications in the same journal from 2017 to 2023. In Progress in Orthodontics, Indian authors contributed 18 publications out of a total of 404, resulting in the highest percentage of Indian publications at 4.66%. The European Journal of Orthodontics recorded the lowest percentage of Indian publications, with only 5 out of a total of 538 publications, amounting to 0.93% (Figure 2).
Number of Publications by Indian Orthodontists Vis-à-vis Global Publication in Q1 Journals for the Years 2017–2022.
Similar graphs and pie charts were made for Q2 and Q3.
In Q2 journals (Figure 3), only the Journal of Orthodontic Science had an increase in the number of publications during and after COVID-19. The other journals like the Journal of Orthodontics, Dental Press Journal of Orthodontics, Seminars in Orthodontics, and Journal of Orofacial Orthopedics had a constant trend of 1–3 publications every year leading to 16 out of 189, 20 out of 363, 12 out of 215, and 5 out of 324, respectively, and the Korean Journal of Orthodontics showed only one publication by Indian orthodontists from the year 2017 to 2023 out of 273 total publications.
Number of Publications by Indian Orthodontists Per Year for the Years 2017–2023 in Q2 Journals.
The pie chart plotted after calculating percentages showed (Figure 4) the maximum contribution in the Journal of Orthodontic Science at 35.83%, and the least being the Korean Journal of Orthodontics with only 0.36% from the year 2017 to 2023.
Number of Publications by Indian Orthodontists Vis-à-vis Global Publication in Q2 Journals for the Years 2017–2023.
In Q3 journals (Figure 5), “The Journal of the World Federation of Orthodontics” showed four publications during COVID-19 (2019–2020). Also, the journal “International Orthodontics” showed an increase in publications in the year 2021 (post-COVID-19). The Turkish Journal of Orthodontics showed a constant trend of publications with an increase in the years 2022 and 2023 (post-COVID-19). Lastly, a decrease in publications was observed during COVID (2019–2020) in APOS Trends In Orthodontics, followed by an increase post-COVID-19 (2022).
Number of Publications by Indian Orthodontists Per Year for the Years 2017–2023 in Q3 Journals.
Similarly, a pie chart plotted with the calculated percentages showed a maximum contribution of 31.16% in APOS Trends in Orthodontics with 48 publications by Indian authors out of a total of 202, and the lowest being in International Orthodontics at 8.24%, calculated from 31 publications by Indian orthodontists out of a total of 407 shown in Figure 6.
Number of Publications by Indian Orthodontists Vis-à-vis Global Publication in Q3 Journals for the Years 2017–2023.
Discussion
Research plays a crucial role in helping clinicians improve their clinical skills in orthodontics. By keeping up-to-date with the latest developments, clinicians can incorporate new insights, techniques, and technologies into their practice, ultimately providing better care for their patients. 5 Research also provides clinicians with evidence-based data that helps them make informed decisions about treatment planning and patient care. This leads to more accurate diagnosis, effective treatment plans, and better clinical outcomes. Finally, research can enhance patient education by providing clinicians with valuable information about conditions, treatment options, and expected outcomes. 5 Overall, research in orthodontics helps clinicians improve their clinical skills and provide better care for their patients. In recent years, utilizing bibliometric methods, researchers can observe the evolving patterns in publications. 6 This study delves into the bibliometric data of Indian orthodontic publications within orthodontic journals from 2017 to 2023. Additionally, the research compares data from the first and second halves of this six-year period, highlighting the changing bibliometric trends.
In order to assess the impact of Indian research at a global level, it is important to have a measuring scale by which the impact factor can be analyzed and brought to the forefront. In this regard, a measure of assessing impact is by dividing orthodontic journals into four quartiles: Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4. The importance of these journals is indicated by an impact factor which is associated with the measure of an average number of citations of the articles published in that journal, project reports, thesis, and any other approved documents. Based on that, the top 25% of orthodontic journals occupy the Q1 category; Q2 is occupied by journals in the 25–50% group; Q3 is occupied by journals in the 50–75% group; and Q4 is occupied by journals in the 75–100% group.
The quality and frequency of research in orthodontics have improved greatly over the past years, and this increase in the academic literature helps healthcare professionals in providing evidence-based clinical practice. This rise can be linked to individual, institutional, and national factors, including changes in government policies, increased research funding, advancements in research facilities, academic financial opportunities, and a higher rate of postgraduate enrolments. 7 Publication has become very important for the growth of the subject and further progression in our careers. 4 Frequent and successful publications are one of the methods for students and teaching faculty to demonstrate academic talent to peers and also ensure the progress of the individual in their respective fields. Academic institutions and universities these days now frequently use the number of publications as the measure of competency to an individual’s credit. 4
Despite the challenges posed by the nationwide lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Indian orthodontists/academicians/students have shown great resilience and dedication toward their work. With 324 dental colleges across India, as per the Dental Council of India, there is a huge potential for contributions to publications in the field. While practical knowledge is important, it is heartening to see that there is a growing recognition of the need for Indian dental colleges to lead the way in creating a culture of innovation and encouraging a research-centric approach.
Promoting research and publications in orthodontics requires a multifaceted approach involving various stakeholders, such as orthodontists, researchers, and publishers. To achieve this, several suggestions could be implemented. First, orthodontic associations and societies can encourage orthodontists to participate in research activities by offering research grants, organizing research workshops, and providing research training. Collaborations between orthodontists and researchers from other fields can promote interdisciplinary research, leading to discoveries and publications. Second, providing resources such as research databases, funding opportunities, and research equipment can help orthodontists conduct and publish research. Encouraging orthodontists to publish their research in high-impact journals can help promote their work and improve the visibility of orthodontics as a field. Additionally, open-access publishing makes research available to a wider audience, which can help promote orthodontic research and improve patient care. 6 Finally, orthodontic associations and societies can disseminate research findings through conferences, seminars, and social media, which can help promote research and improve patient care. By fostering a writing culture and working together in research teams to develop relevant research topics and thesis topics, Indian dental professionals can bring their expertise and unique perspectives to the global stage. This will not only help to put India on the map but also contribute to the advancement of dental research worldwide.
Conclusion
The analysis of the content of 15 orthodontic journals during the 7-year period (2017–2023) indicated that there were no changes in trends in the number of publications in the majority of the journals in all three time periods, that is, before, during, and after COVID-19. There was a slight increase in several publications during and after the pandemic in only the American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics (Q1 journal), Journal of Orthodontic Science (Q2 journal), APOS Trends in Orthodontics (Q3 journal), and International Orthodontics (Q3 journal).
Thus, there is a tremendous opportunity for Indian orthodontists to increase their global presence and contribute to the advancement of their field.
Footnotes
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Ethical Approval
Not applicable.
Funding
The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Patient Consent
Not applicable.
