Ethical process reporting in Indian dental journals
Objectives: To study the proportion of articles reporting ethical board approval (ERB) and informed consent process (ICP) in articles published in dental journals in India.
Methods: A retrospective observational study was designed and ten standard Indian dental journals published by different dental specialty professional associations were selected. Among 702 articles, the 428 (61%) were retrieved from 40 issues of 10 selected journals published in 2008 and 2011. Review articles, in-vitro and in-vivo studies were excluded. The entire manuscripts of the articles were manually searched for statements for ICP and ERB approval. The secondary variables such as study designs, disclosure of interests, listing in databases, year of starting the journals, number of articles published, editor’s instructions to authors, World Medical Association (WMA) guidelines were assessed. The data was retrieved independently by two observers using the validated template. Multiple logistic regression analysis was done using SPSS V. 11.01.
Results: 10.3% (44) authors stated ICP while 9.8 % (42) reported ERB approval in their articles. 6.1% (26) articles reported both the ICP and ERB. There are 21 times chances that authors who report the ERB will also report ICP in their articles when compared to authors who either report ICP or ERB only (OR 21.3, 95% CI 8.5-52.8). Seven journals have stated the ethical process reporting in the instructions to authors. Overall, 15.7% (67) articles declared the conflicts of interests.
Conclusions: The low compliance related to reporting of ethical protection measures in dental research among Indian dental journals is of high concern. Stronger enforceable policy regarding the publication ethics needs to be adopted for higher compliance of the ethical reporting.