The Science System at the Limit: A Call to Action for Considerate Publishing

In recent years, the landscape of scientific publishing has experienced exponential growth, driven in part by the increasing availability of data and advanced analytical methods, by incentives set by the scientific career system and by increasing options of publication routes, with diverging rigor in peer review. While this surge offers unprecedented opportunities for exploration and innovation, it also introduces challenges that potentially compromise the quality and accessibility of scientific literature, as the number of published articles significantly outpaces the number of scientists and, hence, available peer reviewers. Moreover, the increasing complexity of scientific outputs challenges the options for comprehensive, in-depth review and reproduction. We here examine the drivers of this phenomenon, its implications for the dental research community, and potential solutions to ensure a sustainable and rigorous publishing ecosystem. Emphasizing the importance of quality over quantity, we advocate for systemic changes in academic incentives, promoting open science, and enforcing robust peer-review standards. We further summarize the recent statement of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors toward predatory journals; the Journal of Dental Research actively endorses this statement.