The authors of the article in question, Drs. James C. Hamilton and Joseph B. Dennison, were asked to respond to Dr. Hudson’s letter. In their response, the authors note correctly that they had no control over the font size or placement of what Dr. Hudson calls the "inconspicuous acknowledgment at the end of the article."
In response to Dr. Hudson’s remarks, Drs. Hamilton and Dennison had this to say: "Delta the Dental Fund of Michigan had no input on the protocol [for the study], which was solely developed by the authors. Readers need to recognize that the majority of dental faculty who are engaged in dental research are trained in scientific methodology and would not jeopardize their reputations by submitting to pressure from a sponsor."
They continued, "Delta Dental Fund of Michigan had no input on the selection of members of the research team. Delta Dental Fund of Michigan at no time had any suggestions or changes to this research study."
JADA makes every effort to ensure that acknowledgments are sufficiently conspicuous to capture the reader’s attention—and apparently we succeeded in Dr. Hudson’s case. These acknowledgments are intended to disclose sources of funding for a given study and any financial or other interest authors may have in products or services described. In this case, JADA acknowledged that the study had been "partially supported by Delta Dental Fund of Michigan."
JADA’s central mission is to present clinical research of interest to practicing dentists. Once the editors have decided that the topic of a particular manuscript is pertinent to JADA readers, that manuscript is channeled through The Journal’s stringent peer-review process. The reviewers, acknowledged experts in their fields, are asked to assess whether a given study was properly conducted according to accepted scientific protocol and whether the study’s findings justify the authors’ conclusions.
Much frontline research conducted today is funded by industry sources. To ignore such research reduces the pool of material available to us, and readers are shortchanged.
Our challenge, then, is to select research that appeals to our readers, regardless of whether it is industry-funded, provided that the study has been properly conducted and fairly presented. We continue to invite thoughtful letters like Dr. Hudson’s regarding such studies.
