JDE Announces Expanded “Advancing Through Innovation” Article Format

The Journal of Dental Education (JDE) editorial office is pleased to announce an expanded format for Advancing Through Innovation (ATI) articles. The new guidelines are available on the JDE’s author guidelines page.

Innovation Through Necessity

In March 2020, ADEA responded to the need to quickly share innovations happening at academic institutions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic by adding the ATI article type to the JDE.

ATI articles followed a specific format (Problem, Solution, Results) and were brief—up to 500 words, four authors, five references and three figures/tables. The number of manuscript submissions in this new category exceeded expectations and the series continued. After the pandemic, the JDE editor expanded the scope to include all teaching and learning innovations happening at health professions education institutions.

Over the past six years, the JDE has accepted almost 500 ATI articles for publication. Articles are first published online and then gathered into two online supplements published each year.

New Scope and Format

As the journal evolved, however, the limitations of the ATI format became evident. Because these manuscripts were intentionally brief, they often could not provide sufficient detail for readers to understand, implement or reproduce the innovation in their own settings. After careful consideration, the JDE Editorial Review Board concluded it was time to revise the ATI format.

The new format provides authors with the space to fully describe the innovation and its implementation, evaluation and outcomes, resulting in manuscripts that are more rigorous, reproducible and useful to readers. Key updates include a word count of 1,200–2,000 words for the main document, an abstract, a new organizational structure and more references (25–40).

This change reflects the journal’s ongoing commitment to publishing high-quality innovations that advance dental education while supporting authors in producing work with lasting scholarly impact.

Authors interested in writing and submitting an ATI article for consideration can refer to the detailed new guidelines on the JDE website. The JDE is accepting ATI submissions in the new format through the JDE’s submission platform. Authors can submit articles at any time throughout the year. The JDE does not charge fees for submission, review or publication behind the subscription wall.

The JDE editorial office looks forward to receiving ATI submissions in the new format. Questions can be directed to Sue Kimner, ADEA JDE Managing Editor, at kimners@adea.org.