In 2011, the Academy introduced its groundbreaking peer-reviewed journal, Clinical Advances in Periodontics (CAP). With its emphasis on providing relevant, practical knowledge to clinical teams managing patients diagnosed with periodontal diseases and conditions, CAP, conceived as a digital journal, was truly an innovation in the AAP’s publishing enterprise, and it remains a valuable source of clinical information for practitioners eight years later.
When reading CAP, you’ll notice a variety of article types grouped into two main sections. Case-Based Learning includes case reports/series, in which clinicians share their experiences and novel approaches to managing complex cases, including multidisciplinary solutions. Clinical Decision Making includes practical applications, best-evidence topics, and point-counterpoint articles, in which authors present the knowledge basis for making decisions that clinicians face every day. More information on these three article types is available in the author guidelines.
As an AAP member, I look forward to reading each quarterly issue of CAP and seeing what my peers encounter in their practices. The articles are practical, engaging, and informative, and I appreciate the high-quality images and broad range of multidisciplinary material available in CAP. I especially like the focused clinical questions in the practical applications papers and best-evidence topics, along with the summary tables in the case reports. These tables, which provide the reader with a unique way to scan critical elements of each report, quickly explain why a particular case is new information and highlight the keys and primary limitations to successful management of the case.
As the postdoctoral program director at The Ohio State University, I regularly review CAP as a source of literature for our periodontal residents. I also encourage our students to read CAP, and I engage them in discussing reports that provide information they can apply when they’re in the clinic treating patients. In addition to being a useful educational tool, CAP offers a unique opportunity for residents to become published authors. In November 2017, our resident Dr. Monica P. Gibson authored a case report on the treatment of gummy smile of multifactorial etiology. In the same issue, another resident, Dr. Ross I. Gordon, served as lead author on a practical applications paper reviewing the extraoral uses of autologous oral soft tissue grafts. Both papers were submitted to Clinical Advances in Periodontics because it was the perfect vehicle for sharing our residents’ clinical experiences with our periodontal colleagues. My hope is that all our educators are sharing CAP with their pre- and postdoctoral students and encouraging them to submit articles for publication. Our profession gains from the knowledge presented in CAP, and ultimately this knowledge helps us to provide the best possible care for our patients.
Now that CAP is well established, what’s on the horizon? First, CAP will continue being published in print for the next two years. Originally, CAP was published online only from 2011 through 2017. When Wiley became the Academy’s publisher in 2018, they began printing CAP and will continue doing so through 2020. Later this year, the Academy and Wiley will begin evaluating how widely read the print version of CAP is among AAP members and determine whether to continue printing CAP beyond 2020. Second, an application will soon be submitted by Wiley to the National Library of Medicine for CAP to be considered for indexing in MEDLINE. It’s a highly selective process, with just 12-15% of journals being accepted for inclusion. CAP is currently listed in the Emerging Sources Citation Index within Web of Science, another literature database. Third, the AAP and Wiley will hold a strategy meeting in March; CAP is among the agenda items to be discussed. I believe CAP has great potential to continue being a benefit to the AAP membership and to help support the Academy’s efforts to reach our non-periodontist colleagues.
We have a superb treasure in CAP, and much gratitude is owed to Co-Editors Drs. Kenneth Kornman and Michael Reddy; Founding Editorial Board members Drs. Richard Kao, Paul Rosen, Hom-Lay Wang, and Thomas Wilson; and AAP leadership for having the vision to create such a unique journal written by clinicians for clinicians.
The next CAP issue will publish in March. Be sure to check out the articles when you have a moment. And, as always, consider submitting your unusual cases, complex diagnoses, and novel treatment approaches!
Dimitris N. Tatakis, DDS, PhD
Postdoctoral Program Director, The Ohio State University and CAP Contributor