Bibliometric evaluation of the scientific production of the Stomatos Dental Journal

This cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate the abstracts of all articles published in the Stomatos Dental Journal between 1995 and 2009 and to obtain data on the methodological design of each article, the dental specialties focused on, and the authors institution of origin. A total of 206 abstracts were reviewed by two independent examiners. The results showed that the most frequent study designs were literature reviews (24.3%), cross-sectional studies (24.3%), laboratory in vitro studies (22.3%), and case reports (18.4%). The dental specialties with the highest number of articles were operative dentistry (16%), endodontics (15.5%), pediatric dentistry (10.7%), and oral and maxillofacial surgery and traumatology (10.2%). Most articles had Universidade Luterana do Brasil (ULBRA/Canoas) as the institution of origin (75.2%). Our fi ndings revealed a pressing need to increase the number of studies with higher levels of evidence in all dental specialties and also to encourage the publication of articles from other institutions in order to qualify the journal.