Publishing in dental education: a history and systematic analysis

The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the development of dental education and its present status as evidenced by published articles in the dental literature. The method used has been a stratified sampling review of 3 journals. The analysis of articles in the British Dental Journal (BDJ) covers 4 periods between 1903 and 1994. A separate study of more recent trends sampled the Journal of Dental Education (J Dent Educ) at 5-year intervals between 1977 and 1997 as well as all the articles published in the European Journal of Dental Education (EJDE) in 1997-98. The long-term survey (BDJ) indicated that the subject of dental education was already being seriously addressed in the early years of this century although articles were few. There was a progressive increase in the number and types of article published over the period of the analysis. Many of the issues addressed in the first half of the century were similar to controversial topics in the present day. In the analysis of recent years (J Dent Educ 1977-1997) the number of articles devoted to strictly educational subjects fell to be replaced by articles only indirectly related to dental education. No consistent pattern was discernible in the type of articles published. There was a paucity of review articles throughout the period. Research articles were proportionally higher in the middle years of the period of the study. Both in the J Dent Educ and the EJDE, the highest proportions of articles were those concerned with curriculum, teaching methods, assessment and quality issues. The paper advocates more evidence-based studies, qualitative research and systematic reviews of the dental educational literature. It concludes that there is a need and an opportunity for expansion of both the quantity and quality of published articles in dental education.