Author Guidelines & Submissions
The Nigerian Dental Journal (NDJ), the official publication of the Nigerian Dental Association, publishes peer-reviewed scientific articles relevant to the needs of dental, medical and other health professionals in Nigeria and other parts of the world. Published triannually in Gold Open Access.
No Submission Fee • Payable Only Upon Acceptance
The Nigerian Dental Journal charges an APC of NGN 85,000 on accepted manuscripts only. There is no submission fee and no review fee. This is our primary source of funding to sustain open-access publishing, digital typesetting, and long-term archiving.
Waiver Policy: Full or partial fee waivers are automatically considered for researchers from low-income developing nations or authors without institutional funding upon formal application to the Editor-in-Chief. Ability to pay never influences editorial decisions.
Publication Scope & Accepted Article Types
Contributions accepted for publication in the Nigerian Dental Journal include clinical papers, original research papers, review papers, technical notes (surgical techniques, technical innovations), case reports, and letters to the Editor that are related to dentistry and allied healthcare professions.
Authorship Criteria & Integrity (COPE Guidelines)
Authors submitting an article should do so on the premise that the document has been perused and endorsed by all authors and that all authors consented to submission to the Journal. All named authors must have made an effective input to the idea and design and/or analysis and interpretation of data and/or writing of the paper. All authors must have judiciously checked its contents and certified the final version.
Note: Contribution merely in the acquisition of financial support or the gathering of data does not substantiate authorship.
Reporting Guidelines by Study Design
NLM Research Reporting GuideFormat your manuscript in tandem with the established international reporting guidelines that fit your study type/design. Authors must provide evidence of following the applicable reporting standard in their cover letter:
Ethical Considerations & Patient Confidentiality
We subscribe to the World Medical Association's Declaration of Helsinki. All manuscripts must contain a statement that the work has been approved by the appropriate Ethical Committee related to the institution(s) in which the work was performed, and that subjects gave informed consent. Institutional Ethics Committee approval is required for all human studies. For retrospective record studies, a statement of approval or exemption is required upon submission. Studies involving animal experiments must state care was in accordance with institutional guidelines.
Patient Confidentiality & Consent Form
Download Official Consent Form (.PDF)Written consent for the use of patient's images in the form of photographs, videos or any description must be obtained from the patient (or parent/guardian/next of kin) before submission and provided to the Editorial Office on request. Identifying details must be omitted. If consent has not been obtained, private patient information must be completely removed before submission.
Manuscript Structure & Technical Format
The format of the Nigerian Dental Journal follows the uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to Biomedical Journals. All manuscripts should be typed, double-spaced on one side of A4 paper leaving at least 2.5cm margins all round. Pages should be numbered on the upper right corner beginning with the title page. Each manuscript component should begin on a new page in the following sequence:
Title Page Requirements
- The article title
- Authors' full names with degrees or titles
- Authors' institutional affiliations including city, country, and email addresses
- Name, address, telephone, and email address of the corresponding author
Abstract & Keywords
- Original Research: Structured abstract (Objectives, Materials and Methods, Results, Conclusions) ≤ 400 words.
- Case Reports: Unstructured brief description highlighting unique features, treatment, and conclusions.
- Keywords: 4–5 keywords and a short running title of no more than 40 characters.
Discussion Section: The FITTER Approach
To improve the quality and consistency of manuscripts, NDJ recommends the FITTER approach for the discussion section of all empirical manuscripts. Please present your discussion section exactly as:
Vancouver Reference Style & Examples
The Vancouver style must be used. References should be numbered consecutively in order of in-text mention using Arabic Numerals in superscript. Full list of references at the end gives all authors unless >6 (give first 3 followed by et al).
Tables, Line Art, Photographs & Electronic Figures
- Tables: Consecutively numbered in Arabic numerals with descriptive titles above and footnotes below. Double-spaced on separate pages with horizontal rules only.
- Figures & Dimensions: Numbered consecutively. Single column width (54 mm), double column (113 mm), or full page (171 mm).
- Image Resolutions (DPI): Line art: >600 dpi; half-tones (including gels): >300 dpi; combined half-tone/line art: >600 dpi. Submit EPS or TIFF files only.
- Permissions: Author and publisher permissions required for previously published material.
Submission Preparation Checklist
As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items:
Registered Reports
NDJ accepts Registered Reports. Authors may submit a study protocol for peer review before data collection. Accepted protocols receive In-Principle Acceptance and will be published regardless of outcomes, provided registered methodology is followed.
Journal Policies Hub
For detailed information on double-anonymous peer review, COPE ethics, plagiarism, AI use, retractions, and WAME membership:
View Full Journal PoliciesEditorial Office Correspondence
All correspondence including reprint orders, advertising, and manuscript submission inquiries should be addressed to:
Editor-in-Chief, Nigerian Dental Journal
Email: [email protected]