Ten Years and Twelve Thousand Abstracts Later

Ten Years and Twelve Thousand Abstracts Later ■ ■ I Ten years ago this month, the American Dental Association launched the monthly Dental Abstracts as “a selection of dental literature that will enable the reader to keep abreast of the' many and varied developments taking place in dentistry — not only in the United States but throughout the world.” “Dental science, including its seven recognized specialties,” read an Association announcement, “has become so complex and the volume of its literature, published in the world’s various lan­ guages, has grown so great that it is impossible for any dentist— even the most accomplished linguist— to keep abreast of all developments in his profession. The Association, by means of Dental Abstracts, proposes to reduce the magni­ tude of that problem. . . Dental Abstracts will help the dentist direct his reading time and en­ ergy intelligently and profitably. It will be a val­ uable working tool for all the profession.” In the first 10 years, Dental Abstracts has lived up to its promise. It has helped to communicate new ideas and experimental results among gen­ eral practitioners, specialists, educators, and re­ search workers. It has carried news of the dental profession across boundaries and oceans. It has helped the English-speaking dentist surmount the barrier of other languages. In its first decade, many changes and improve­ ments have been made. Current features include a news digest, an illustrated section on new prod­ ucts, an annotated listing of new books of interest to dentists, and news from the National Institutes of Health. The system of organizing the abstracts — many of them illustrated— has steadily been refined and improved. Dental Abstracts since its inception has com­ manded the loyalty of practicing dentists in every state in the union, plus that of more than a thou­ sand subscribers abroad. Among the long-term subscribers are dental specialists, editors, stu­ dents, teachers, technicians, libraries, hospitals, universities, laboratories, foundations, and manu­ facturers of dental equipment. This month the Association introduces, for the benefit of dental research scientists the world over, a second abstract journal, Oral Research

the jo u r n a l welcomes O R A into the family o f. Association publications. A sub­ stantial future is predicted for both abstract jour­ nals— D A for the practitioner, O R A for the re­ search scientist and others who require an over­ all view of the entire literature. The only relation between the two abstract journals is that both are published by the Amer­ ican Dental Association. The two journals are edited for two different sets of readers, have different types of abstracts, and provide different coverage. Each monthly issue of Dental Abstracts con­ tains slightly more than 100 rather lengthy, in­ formative abstracts, many of them illustrated, and all selected to be helpful and interesting to the clinician. Each abstract is written to be com­ plete and intelligible to the reader without ref­ erence to the original paper. Each monthly issue of O R A will contain about 600 to 700 descriptive or directive abstracts. Enough information is supplied in each abstract so that the reader may determine whether he wishes to refer to the original article for more complete study. Oral Research Abstracts will cover comprehensively all dental and nondental periodical literature relating to all phases of oral health. Subscriptions for Dental Abstracts are $10 for domestic subscribers and $12 for subscribers abroad. The subscription cost for Oral Research Abstracts is $30. Subscriptions should be ad­ dressed to the Order Section, 211 East Chicago Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60611.

Abstracts,

Opinion of Other Journals

Status Quo— The Easy Way? ■ ■ I When the firewood fills the bin, when food fills the cupboard, and when no one is complaining, then it’s the rare man who dares to challenge the status quo and prepare for the future. After all, “if everyone is happy and it was good enough for my father, why should I rock the boat,” is the EDITO RIALS •

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