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AVDC Case Report Equivalent Point Requirements - Information For Trainees
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CASE REPORT and
“EQUIVALENT POINTS”
REQUIREMENT
Revised January 2016
This document applies only to AVDC Alternate Pathway trainees and
residents whose training program registration date is December 31st, 2013
or earlier.
For residents whose training program has a registered start date of January 1st, 2014
or later, the relevant Publication Requirements are in the Publication Requirements 2014 document, which is available in the Publication and Case Report section of the
Information for Registered Trainees web page. Trainees with a registered training
program start date prior to January 1st, 2014 can elect to meet the pre-2014 or 2014
Publication Requirements.
Contents of This Document
AVDC Policy for Case Reports and Equivalents
Objectives of and Definitions for the Publication
Requirement………………………………………………...Page 2
Introduction – the CREP system……………………………Page 3
Dental disciplines…………………………………………...Page 3
Minimum of two standard case reports required……………Page 3
Published articles permitted for CREP credit……………….Page 3
If a submission is not approved……………………………..Page 4
Standard AVDC Case Report
Introduction
Selecting Cases for AVDC Case Reports
Standard AVDC Case Report Requirements
General
Content
Format and Editorial Details
Submitting a Case Report
Publication of AVDC Case Reports
Page 4
Page 4
Page 5
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Page 6
Page 9
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Alternatives – Articles and Chapters Published or Submitted for
Publication
Introduction
Page 11
Authorship
Page 11
AVDC Case Report Equivalent Point Requirements - Information For Trainees
Approval decision
Items permissible for submission and CREPs awarded
Book Chapters permissible for CREP point review
Submitting a CREP item
Page 2
Page 11
Page 12
Page 13
Page 14
“Delayed Submission” of a CREP article
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AVDC Process Following Submission
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Options if a Case Report or Article is not Approved
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Objectives of the AVDC Publication Requirement
This requirement is designed to show that all AVDC examination candidates can select a
topic and write a case report or an article or book chapter on a veterinary dental or related
topic that demonstrates their ability to write a scientific article clearly and coherently.
The case report, article or book chapter must include accurate citations of relevant
published material, and the conclusions or summary provided by the author must be
supported by the content of the article.
Definitions:
In addition to Case Reports (see page 4 in this document), items submitted for AVDC
Credentials Committee Publication Review are classified as either Solicited or
Unsolicited.
Unsolicited articles are articles submitted to a peer-reviewed journal that was not
solicited by the Journal Editor and that will be subjected to peer-review by anonymous
(to the author) reviewers selected by the Journal editor.
Solicited items include:
Book chapter: A chapter in a book that will be published as a distinct single-purchase
publication. Prior to submission, the chapter will have been solicited and reviewed by the
Book Editor or Section Editor, but the book chapter will not have been subjected to
anonymous peer review.
Solicited Periodical Article: The article will be published in a periodical that publishes
issues that each cover a different topic. An ‘Issue Editor’ is appointed by Periodical
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Editorial Board, and the Issue Editor solicits authorship of the individual articles for that
issue. Prior to submission to AVDC, the article will have been reviewed by the Issue
Editor, but these articles will not have been subjected to anonymous peer-review.
Example: Veterinary Clinics of North America.
There are separate Supervisor Forms and Committee Review Forms for Case Reports,
Book chapters, Solicited Articles and Unsolicited articles.
Introduction and Overall Policy – Pre-2014 Requirements
Case Report and Equivalent Points (‘CREP’)
AVDC Case Report and Published Articles or Book Chapter Requirement
1. Case Report Equivalent Point (CREP) System: Accumulation of a minimum of
four approved ‘case report equivalent points’ (CREP) is required. CREPs are
accumulated by AVDC approval of either standard AVDC case reports or articles
published or submitted for publication in peer-reviewed journals or as book
chapters. Details of acceptable submissions are described below.
2. Dental disciplines of case reports and published items: The subject of three
items (standard case reports or articles) is to be three of six AVDC core dental
disciplines: Endodontics; Oral Medicine; Oral Surgery; Periodontics;
Radiography; Restorative Dentistry/Prosthodontics. The fourth CREP point can
be earned in any dentally-relevant subject (e.g. orthodontics or dental statistics, or
a second item in a core discipline). One full CREP point is required to qualify for
the ‘three discipline’ requirement- a single half-point item in a discipline is not
sufficient. Two 0.5 CREP items in the same dental discipline can be counted as
one CREP point to meet the three-discipline requirement.
3. One Standard AVDC Case Report is required (see Standard AVDC Case
Reports, page 2 in this document). One CREP point will be awarded per approved
standard AVDC case report. All four CREPs may be earned by approval of
standard case reports, or 1-3 CREP points can be earned by approval of articles or
book chapters as described below.
4. Request for Clarification: The Credentials Committee review team has the
option of requesting clarification prior to making a final decision to Approve or
Not Approve an item. The trainee will be sent notification of the Request for
Clarification via DMS email. A response will be expected within 10 days. If a
response from the trainee is not received within 10 days, and there is no request
for an extension because of exceptional circumstances, the trainee risks the item
being returned unreviewed without possibility of resubmission.
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5. If a submission is not approved. As for any adverse decision made by AVDC or
its committees, an appeal against a non-approval decision can be lodged with
AVDC. Details of the Appeal procedure will be provided in the communication
notifying the trainee of the non-approval decision.
Standard AVDC Case Report
Introduction:
As one means of ensuring that AVDC trainees have reached a level of competence
appropriate for an entry-level specialist, AVDC requires that a minimum of one
standard case report submitted by the trainee has been reviewed and approved by the
Credentials Committee.
The AVDC Board of Directors adopted the following purpose of case reports on August
11, 2002: Case Reports are a required part of the credentials application that provide a
means to evaluate the trainee’s level of competence in veterinary dentistry through the
report of a clinical case. The Case Report is to demonstrate proficiency, skill, and
expertise in the proper management of a veterinary dental case. Case Reports also
allow assessment of the trainee’s ability to think through and perform veterinary dental
and oral surgical procedures, making clinical decisions that are supported by
published literature or for which valid justification is provided by the author.”
Case reports can be submitted prior to the submission of the completed credentials
application package; read the Pre-Approval web page for more information. Submission
for Pre-Approval review is strongly encouraged. The standard by which a case report will
be judged will be the same whether the report was submitted for Pre-Approval or with the
Credentials Application package.
Selecting Cases for Standard AVDC Case Reports
A case report is an opportunity for a trainee to show that s/he has learned dental concepts
during her/his training period, and is able to integrate these principles as they apply to
specific veterinary patients. Thus, the report is to be a well-written and well-documented
scientific paper about a case that the trainee has managed well by current standards. It
must be sufficiently detailed that it would be possible for a reader to repeat any
procedures from the description given. Specific requirements are given below.
Only one case report may be submitted per patient. If a case report is not approved, a
second case report based on the same patient cannot be submitted under a different dental
discipline.
When reviewing a case report, the Credentials Committee considers the dental and
surgical skills and diagnostic abilities of the trainee and the ability of the trainee to
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evaluate the patient as a whole, as demonstrated in the report. Approval of a case report
depends on documentation of excellence and thoroughness in managing the case from
presentation through follow-up.
It is not necessary to select a complex case, or one in which advanced technology or
procedures were used. However, since the standard required is that of an entry level
specialist, dental cases that are limited to procedures commonly performed by
veterinarians who are not dental specialists, such as routine scaling and extraction, will
likely be considered too simple for approval.
The form used by the Credentials Committee to evaluate case reports is available for your
examination (see the link to Case Report Evaluation Form in the Case Report section of
the Information for Registered Trainees web page). AVDC strongly recommends that
trainees carefully read through the Requirements for Case Reports given below and the
evaluation form before selecting a case and preparing a case report. After the case report
is prepared, AVDC recommends that the trainee and supervisor read through the
evaluation form again and then read through the case report as a self-evaluation process
prior to submission to AVDC.
As you consider whether a case you are working on may be appropriate for an AVDC
case report, keep in mind the need for documentation of the case (photographs,
radiographs), and the need for documented follow up. Keep in mind that a minimum of
one case report is required. Should one or more of your submitted case reports not be
approved, keep a “back-up” list of suitable cases with available follow-up, so that you
can promptly prepare an additional report at short notice. There is no limit to the number
of case reports that may be submitted for Pre-Approval.
Questions or comments about case reports or any other AVDC policy are to be addressed
to the AVDC Executive Secretary ([email protected]), who will respond to them or
distribute them to the appropriate committee for response.
Standard AVDC Case Report Requirements
1. The trainee must have been the primary clinician on each standard AVDC case
reports.
2. Each case report is to have a specific dental discipline category as its primary subject,
which is to be noted as the first word in its title (For example: “Endodontics:
Standard Endodontic Treatment of a Maxillary Fourth Pre-Molar Tooth in a Dog”).
The categories of items submitted for CREP review are to include three of the
following core disciplines: endodontics, oral medicine, oral surgery, radiology,
periodontics and restorative/prosthodontic dentistry. The primary subject of a
fourth CREP submission is the trainee’s choice.
3. When a trainee submits a case report to AVDC DMS, an e-mail message is
automatically sent to the Supervisor to notify him or her that a Supervisor Form is to
be submitted. Case reports cannot be approved if the completed Supervisor Form
is not received by AVDC. Even though an automatic e-mail will be sent to the
AVDC Case Report Equivalent Point Requirements - Information For Trainees
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
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supervisor, AVDC recommends that you remind your supervisor to complete and
submit the form.
Cases selected for an AVDC standard case report do not have to be included in
the trainee’s AVDC case-log. Thus cases treated prior to registration in an AVDC
Training Program or in a period that is no longer permitted for case log purposes (i.e.
beyond the permitted six years prior to Credentials Application or during a leave of
absence) can be presented as case reports. However, for all case reports, the
techniques and materials used must meet the “standard of care” as would apply to an
entry-level veterinary dental specialist at the time of submission of the case report.
Submission: Case reports may be submitted with the Credentials Application
Package or for Pre-Approval consideration. Submission of case reports to AVDC for
Pre-Approval consideration is strongly recommended; read the Pre-Approval
document in the Information for Registered Trainees page for details. See page 8
below for further details about submission.
Case reports are reviewed by the Credentials Committee after they have been
assigned a code number by the Executive Secretary, to maintain anonymity of the
trainee during the review process. Thus, the case report must not include any
reference to the trainee’s name, practice or other identifying details.
Case reports are to be submitted as electronic files (see below for submission details).
Although subsequent submission for publication of AVDC-approved case reports is
encouraged, AVDC strongly recommends that standard AVDC case reports intended
for AVDC Credentials review are not submitted for publication until the Credentials
Committee review process is completed for that report. Case reports that have
already been subject to a peer-review process for publication in a journal are not to be
submitted as standard AVDC case reports, because the case report may no longer be
primarily the original work of the trainee (they may, however, be submitted as a
published article for CREP credit). Case reports that have been approved by the
Academy of Veterinary Dentistry or published in an un-reviewed meeting
proceedings book may be submitted to AVDC, and will be subject to the standard
AVDC Case Report review process.
When items for which AVDC-approved nomenclature is available are mentioned, the
AVDC-approved terminology is to be used. Veterinary Dental Nomenclature
approved by AVDC is available at http://www.avdc.org/Nomenclature.pdf or by
clicking the Veterinary Dental Nomenclature link on the AVDC Home page.
Content of a Standard AVDC Case Report
Case reports will normally be presented in the following sequence:
1. Title: Dental discipline category, followed by a brief description. For example:
Endodontics: Apexogenesis of a Fractured Canine Tooth in a Two Year Old Dog.
DO NOT INCLUDE YOUR NAME IN THE TITLE.
2. Introduction: Introduce the topic of your case report. A brief statement describing
why you selected this particular case may be relevant. A concise literature review is
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not required in the Introduction, though it may be appropriate depending on the
subject of the case report.
3. History:
a. Signalment.
b. Presenting problem or chief complaint, as reported by the owner.
c. Past dental history.
d. Past medical history, if relevant.
e. Describe any other relevant problems.
4. Diagnostics:
a. Include physical and oral examination findings, laboratory reports, radiographs,
MRI, etc. (when appropriate). (Relevant detailed reports can be included as
appendices).
b. Radiographs:
All radiographs relevant to the subject of the report and mentioned in the text of
the report are to be included as figures, with interpretation of the radiograph in the
text or in the legend accompanying the figure.
If a full-mouth radiograph series was taken of the patient, specific radiographs
that are not relevant to the subject of the case report do not have to be included as
figures.
c. Demonstrate attention to the patient as a whole. Report appropriate pre-operative
diagnostics and laboratory tests.
5. Diagnosis and/or Problem List:
a. Provide an accurate assessment. Use appropriate classifications, if applicable.
b. Mention differential diagnoses and their rule-outs.
c. Mention all other lesions observed in the mouth. Photographs of other lesions do
not need to be included if they are not directly relevant to the subject of the case
report. The dental chart may be included as an appendix if desired.
6. Treatment Plan:
a. Describe different modalities of treatment and their prognosis. Justify your
treatment plan based on the information available to you when you made the
decision.
b. Address any potential genetic impact of the condition.
For malocclusion cases, a report of the pre-treatment bite evaluation and a
signed Owner Consent and Release Form are to be included. To maintain
anonymity of the case report, do not include information identifying the
hospital, veterinarian and owner – fold over the hospital information part of
the form when scanning or photographing the form, or make a copy of the
form and cut out the information that is to be excluded before scanning or
photographing the form.
7. Treatment:
a. Describe the anesthetic and patient support protocols, including:
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i. Pre-op, intra-op and post-op drugs (generic name, with trade name and name
and city of manufacturer in footnote), dosages and route of administration.
ii. IV fluid support.
iii. Body temperature support.
iv. Monitoring techniques and frequency.
v. Pay particular attention to any need for pain recognition and management.
b. Describe the oral-dental procedures in detail, including:
i. Technique, instruments and materials, using correct terminology (generic name
of materials in the text, with trade name and name and city of manufacturer in
footnote). Treatments and materials used must be currently accepted
techniques supported by published references cited in the case report, or,
if an alternative or novel technique or material was used, thorough
justification must be provided by the author, with supporting references if
available. If you performed a technique that could be considered non-standard,
describe the variation in detail, and justify your selection here or in the
Discussion.
ii. For procedures involving surgery, describe the incision (location, type, length)
and pertinent anatomical landmarks. Describe suture pattern and material.
iii. Include dosages and routes of administration of any medications used or
prescribed. Indicate generic names (with trade names and name of
manufacturer and city in footnotes). If an antibiotic drug is used, justification
must be included.
iv. Include radiographs with interpretation of the radiographic findings in
endodontic, periodontic, restorative, orthodontic and surgical cases. For
endodontic cases, also include and label selected intra-operative radiographs.
v. Describe the recognition, severity and management of any complications.
vi. If other lesions were treated, briefly summarize the treatment. Photographic
documentation of treatment of lesions not directly relevant to the subject of the
case report is not required.
8. Post-operative care:
Describe instructions given to the client, including medication dispensed for home
use and dental home care procedures.
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Follow-up:
a. Describe the timing, extent of examination and results of follow-up examination.
Six months is the minimum follow-up period required for endodontic,
orthodontic, periodontal surgery, oncologic surgery and other oral surgery cases.
Three months is the minimum period required for restorative and prosthodontic
cases. Longer follow-up is encouraged if it will augment the case report.
Appropriate follow-up radiographs and clinical images are to be included. Include
assessment of the treatment and your short- and long-term prognoses.
a. Were any other treatments recommended or given since your described
procedures?
b. Describe compliance with and efficacy of oral home-care instructions.
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10 Discussion:
a. If appropriate, briefly review the literature on the disease condition and/or
procedure that is the subject of your case report.
b. Discuss important aspects of the diagnostic work-up, technique and results.
c. If you had to change your treatment plan during the therapy or if, looking back on
your case, you think another therapy, material or technique would have given
better results, discuss those points.
d. Comment on the results, short and long term. Did it/will it work? Why?
e. If applicable, discuss the likelihood of recurrence of pathology, or the ethics of
providing the type of treatment used (orthodontics, genetic problems), etc.
f. Provide references to support your statements. (See under Format and Editorial
Details, below). Be clear about what is theory or anecdote (yours or someone
else’s) and what is established fact.
g. Discuss any unusual features of or difficulties encountered during the case. Was
the case different from what was expected? How did you manage any problems or
complications encountered?
11. Conclusion (optional):
What conclusion, if any, can be drawn from this case?
Format and Editorial Details for a Standard AVDC Case Report
1. Case reports must be written in English.
2. To maintain anonymity of the trainee, standard AVDC case reports must not include
any reference to the trainee’s name, practice or institution, or other identifying details.
3. Text: Use 1.5 line spacing, 12 point Times New Roman font, 1 inch margins on
8.5”x11” paper throughout. Pages are to be numbered in the top right-hand corner.
4. The text of each case report is to be no more than 12 printed pages (not including
the title page). References are limited to two pages. Foot-notes can be included on a
separate page. Figures can be included on separate pages; each figure is to have a
figure number and legend adjacent to the image, and the figure number and page
containing the figure are to be cited within the main text.
5. Include “margin line numbering” to facilitate reporting of comments by the
reviewers. In MS Word, click Page Layout, then Line Numbering, then Continuous.
The line number will be inserted in the left side margin.
6. Reports that do not meet the requirements in items 1-5 above will be returned to
the trainee unreviewed. The report can be revised and resubmitted, but the review
will be delayed as a result of not meeting the formatting requirements
7. When items for which AVDC-approved nomenclature is available are mentioned, the
AVDC-approved terminology is to be used (click the Veterinary Dental
Nomenclature link on the AVDC web-site Home Page).
References:
1. A reference is a statement made in a published source (e.g. journal article, textbook or
meeting Proceedings book).
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2. References are to be limited to 2 pages, using 1.5 line spacing, 12 pt font, 1 inch
margins, Times New Roman font.
3. Number references consecutively in the order in which they are first mentioned in the
text. Identify them in the text as arabic numbers either as superscript or in
(parentheses).
4. References are to be specific citations (author, page number, journal volume or book
title, year) of work that is in the public domain. If several separate items are
referenced in a book or an article, list the book or article in the Reference list once,
and insert the page number with the reference citation in the text of the report, e.g.
…..endodontic file3(page 45).
5. Other attributable but unpublished statements are to be used sparingly, with the
source identified in a foot-note.
Submitting a Case Report
All standard AVDC case reports are to be submitted electronically to the AVDC
Executive Secretary via DMS.
Submission details:
a. Formats: The case report is to be submitted as a single file with images embedded in
the file. The file can be either a Word or an Acrobat .pdf file. If submitting as a .pdf
file and radiographs are included, be sure to use the High Quality Print setting in
Adobe Acrobat, to prevent pixilation of the radiographs.
b. Maximum file size is 50 MB. Contact the Executive Secretary prior to submission if
the finished file size will be greater than 50 MB.
c. Name the file that you will upload to DMS: YourLASTNAME,FirstName
CaseReport Category, Short Title, Year. E.g. WILLIAMS,Chuck, CaseReport,
Endo, Standard Endo of #104, 2008.
d. Radiographs may be included in a case report as digital dental radiography images, or
as an image obtained by photographing a non-digital radiograph directly from a viewbox using a digital camera. Recommendations to improve the quality of photographed
images:
Use a camera with macro focus option so that only the radiograph is framed.
Black out the unwanted areas on the view-box (use two right angle pieces of black
poster-board to vary the frame size).
Check that the long axis of the lens is perpendicular to the radiograph surface.
Turn off the camera flash.
Turn off the lights in the room.
Use a tripod, because a long exposure time may be needed (be sure to place the
radiograph close to the edge of the radiograph viewer to maintain the camera axis
perpendicular to the plane of the film).
e. Log in to DMS, click Begin a New Document for Submission to DMS and follow the
on-screen instructions. DO NOT INCLUDE YOUR NAME IN THE “TITLE” LINE
ON THE DMS SCREEN, as this line is seen by the reviewers.
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Publication of AVDC Case Reports
Once a case report submitted as an AVDC Credentials case report has completed AVDC
review, trainees are encouraged to consider submitting the report to the Journal of
Veterinary Dentistry or to another journal if the content merits publication. Unusual cases
or management of complications are examples of reasons for considering publication of
the case report. A case report involving standard technique may also make a useful
submission for the Foundations, Step-by-Step or Veterinary Dentist At Work features in J
Vet Dent. Individual radiographs from a case report may make appropriate submissions
for the Veterinary Dental Images feature in JAVMA.
Once AVDC action on the case report is completed, you and your mentor are welcome to
edit the case report in whatever manner is appropriate for publication, and the author list
on the manuscript submitted for publication can include other individuals in addition to
the trainee who submitted the original AVDC case report. It is expected that the
published case report will differ from the case report as submitted to AVDC, as a result
of changes made by the author and because of editorial changes required by the journal.
Published or Submitted Articles or Book Chapters as Alternatives to
Standard Case Reports
Introduction:
Only articles or book chapters published in English will be accepted for review for CREP
points.
The Credentials Committee will determine:
whether a submitted CREP item is appropriately categorized,
whether the content is of sufficient quality for AVDC acceptance,
the number of CREP points to be awarded for an approved submission.
AVDC permits delayed submission of a CREP journal article following submission of an
otherwise complete credentials application. See Delayed Submission of CREP Articles,
below.
Authorship:
Must the CREP item be substantially or only the work of the AVDC trainee
submitting the article?
The trainee must be the solo or first author of the article. The trainee’s Supervisor is to
submit a report describing the involvement of the trainee in producing the CREP item.
The CREP Solicited Article Supervisor Form, the CREP Unsolicited Article Supervisor
Form and the CREP Book Chapter Supervisor Form are available for download in the
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CREP-Case Report section of the Information for Registered Trainees page on the web
site.
AVDC recognizes that original research projects or major prospective case report series
may be primarily the work of a trainee or of the trainee’s supervisor or others. If the
report from the supervisor states that the trainee is the author of an article that is primarily
the work of the supervisor or others, the article will be considered under the trainee’s
name but will not receive the full CREP credit. For example, an original research article
whose content is approved by AVDC and that resulted from a project on which the
trainee was an active team member but not the project leader, one CREP point would be
awarded instead of two CREP points. CREP items will not be reviewed by AVDC if a
CREP Article or Book Chapter Supervisor Report has not been submitted.
Approval Decision:
The AVDC Credentials Committee decision whether to award CREP points for a journal
article is independent of the decision of the journal to accept or reject the article, except
that the content of articles accepted by or published in JAVMA, J Vet Dent, J Am Anim
Hosp Assoc, Am J Vet Res, J Small Animal Pract, J Comp Orthop and Tramatol, J
Feline Medicine & Surgery, J Vet Internal Medicine, Veterinary & Comparative
Oncology, Veterinary Pathology, Veterinary Radiology & Ultrasound and
Veterinary Surgery (as evidenced by a copy of the published article or by a letter of
acceptance from the Editor accompanied by the manuscript as submitted to the journal)
will be automatically approved for CREP points; for these articles, the Credentials
Committee review will be limited to determining the number of CREP points to be
awarded.
AVDC will consider articles in additional peer-reviewed journals for CREP review.
The forms used by the Credentials Committee to review a solicited or unsolicited journal
article are available to trainees in the Case Report section of the Information for
Registered Trainees page of the AVDC web site.
External Review: An AVDC Credentials Committee review team member may request
review of an article by an outside expert (e.g. microbiologist, statistician) when content of
an article is beyond his or her range of expertise.
Except for articles already published in approved journals (see above), the Credentials
Committee will consider the content and the writing skills evident in the article in
deciding whether to approve an article for CREP.
Items Permissible for Submission for CREP points
A.
Articles that may earn up to 2 CREP points per approved item:
i. An article resulting from an original research project, prospective case series
or involved retrospective case series that has been submitted to a peerreviewed journal and for which the trainee is the lead investigator and sole
or first author.
ii. The Credentials Committee will determine whether the submission meets the
standard of content required for approval of a 2 CREP submission, and
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whether the supervisor has justified that the trainee is the ‘primary author’; the
Credentials Committee may elect to approve the article for one CREP point
instead of two.
B. Items that may earn up to one (1) CREP point per approved item:
i. Article reporting a study of a case or retrospective study of a small series of
cases submitted or published in a peer-reviewed journal.
ii. Review article submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. To
qualify for CREP, review articles are to include mention of all directly
relevant previously published original content articles, and conclusions or
recommendations that the author draws from the review.
iii. Book chapter – see below for specific details for book chapters.
C. Items that may earn 0.5 (one-half) CREP point per approved item:
i. “Veterinary Dentist At Work” (VDaW) or “Step-by-Step” (SbS) photo essay
with explanatory figure legends or a ‘Foundations’ article submitted to the
Journal of Veterinary Dentistry or to an alternative peer-reviewed journal.
If the article has not already been accepted by or published in the Journal of
Veterinary Dentistry, the Credentials Committee will determine whether it is
in VDaW, SbS or Foundations style and determine whether the content is
appropriate for AVDC approval for CREP.
ii. “Diagnostic Images in Veterinary Dental Practice” (DIVDP) report
submitted to JAVMA or to an alternative peer-reviewed journal. If the article
has not already been accepted by or published in JAVMA, the Credentials
Committee will determine whether it is in DIVDP style and determine
whether the content is appropriate for AVDC approval for CREP.
D. Book Chapters Permissible for Submission for CREP points
i. Book chapters will only be considered for CREP item review if the trainee is
the sole author or first author of the chapter.
ii. No more than one CREP point can be counted towards the four CREP point
requirement by submission of a book chapter.
iii. Book chapters may only be submitted in final form, either as submitted to
the publisher following review by the Editor or as a scanned copy of the
chapter in the published book.
iv. A separate Book Chapter Supervisor Form is to be used. It is available in
the CREP-Case Report section of the Information for Registered Trainees
page of the web site.
v.
A separate Book Chapter Review Form will be used by the Credentials
Committee when reviewing book chapters, to ensure standard review of
content, references etc.
E. Other Articles:
The Credentials Committee may, at its discretion, consider articles published or
submitted for publication in other formats in peer-reviewed journals. There must
be a veterinary dental focus to the article.
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Submitting a CREP Item
The item will be reviewed blind (the reviewers will not be aware of the names of the
authors, and the Executive Secretary will redact the Supervisor Report before it is
forwarded to the review team so that blindedness is maintained).
AVDC accepts that an item that has already been published may have been read by
members of the review team, and thus blindedness may not be possible to maintain for
items that have already been published.
Confirmation of Submission: It is not necessary to obtain and submit a letter from a
journal editor confirming receipt of the submission by the journal. The CREP Supervisor
form requires the Supervisor to confirm that the article has been submitted to the journal
named in the Supervisor form.
For an article that has been submitted to a journal but not yet published:
Submit the manuscript electronically after deleting the author name(s) and address(es)
from the cover page and replacing any identifying comments such as …referred to the
XYZ University Teaching Hospital… with ….referred to *******…. The article is to be
submitted as a single Word document with embedded images, or as a single .pdf file.
Maximum file size 50 MB. Contact the Executive Secretary before submitting the item if
the number of images causes the file size to be greater than 50 MB. Name the file
YourLASTNAME,FirstName CREP Journal, ShortTitle; for example: EMILY,Peter,
CREP Article, JAVMA, Malocclusion management.
For articles that have already been accepted or published:
Submit a scanned copy of the publisher’s copy-edited proof or of the published article as
a single .pdf format file, naming the file as noted above. Blank out the authors’ names
and addresses prior to scanning the article.
For book chapters:
Submit a single .pdf format file of the version as submitted to the publisher following
review by the Editor, a publisher’s proof copy-edited version of the chapter or a scanned
copy of the published chapter. Blank out the authors’ names and addresses prior to
scanning the chapter.
Delayed Submission of a CREP Article
If a trainee has completed all other training program requirements, submission of a CREP
article to complete the CREP requirement after the credentials application deadline is
permitted, with the following stipulations:
1. Delayed Submission is available only for a ‘2 point CREP Article’, as defined in
this CREP document. The purpose of Delayed Submission is to encourage AVDC
residents to undertake research or clinical investigation projects that may not be
able to be completed during the residency program period, because of the nature
of the project.
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2. A completed Request for Delayed Submission of a Publication form must be
submitted at the time that the Credentials Application is submitted. The form is
available as a link in the 2014 Publications Requirements section of the
Information for Registered Trainees web page. The Request for Delayed
Submission of a Publication form will be redacted by the Executive Secretary, so
as to permit anonymous review by the Credentials Committee chair.
3. The maximum time permitted for delayed submission of the article is two years
from the July 15 Credentials Application deadline of the original credentials
application, except that if a candidate has passed the certification examination, the
candidate will be allowed an additional year for a total of 3 years to submit a
paper on the same topic or an article on another topic.
4. The article must be submitted to the selected peer-reviewed journal before or at
the same time as submission for AVDC Credentials review.
5. Delayed submission articles will be reviewed as for any other Pre-Approval item they will not be identified as a ‘delayed submission’ article.
6. A trainee/resident whose credentials application (including an approved 2 point
CREP article delayed submission request) is approved is a candidate for the
AVDC examination. However, if the candidate passes the examination, s/he will
not be recognized as a diplomate and will not receive the diploma or be able to
refer to her- or him-self as a veterinary dental specialist until the delayed
submission article is approved by the normal Credentials Committee approval
process. Acceptance for publication in an AVDC-approved journal (see below)
will result in AVDC approval of the article without need for Credentials
Committee review, subject to review by the Credentials Committee Chair to
determine the CREP point value of the article. Approval by an AVDC Credentials
Review team as a 2 point CREP article does not have to await notification of
acceptance for publication by the journal to which the article was submitted.
AVDC Process Following Submission
All standard AVDC case reports and CREP items will be evaluated blindly, whether
they are sent for Pre-Approval review or as part of a Credentials Application Package.
The CREP item is assigned a code number by the Executive Secretary, and a .pdf file
is made available to a Credentials Committee review team via DMS.
Review team members use the appropriate review form to ensure consistent review
by team members. The blank review forms (one for standard case reports, one for
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CREP articles and one for CREP book chapters) are available to trainees in the CREP
- Case Report section on the Information for Registered Trainees web page.
Comments and recommendations are forwarded by the review team members to the
Chair of the Credentials Committee, who reviews the team’s comments. If three or
four members recommend approval, the CREP item is approved and an Approval
Certificate is sent to the trainee. If two members recommend approval and two do
not, the Chair reviews the CREP item and review team comments and casts a
deciding vote.
The Credentials Committee may, at its discretion, request a response from the trainee
if there are minor specific issues that would otherwise prevent approval of a case
report or article. This Clarification Requested notification is sent to the trainee via
DMS email. A final decision will be withheld until a response to the Clarification
Request is received from the trainee. A 10 day window is available for responding to
an Action Required notification. If a response, or a note requesting an extension as a
result of exceptional circumstances is not received, the item will be returned
unreviewed and will not be eligible for resubmission.
For case reports or articles that are Not Approved, the Committee prepares a list of
reasons for non-approval.
The trainee is informed of the results of the review by the Executive Secretary,
including reasons for non-approval.
The AVDC will, whenever practical, report the results of the review within 10 weeks
of receipt of the case report or article.
Options if a Case Report or CREP Item is Not Approved
Resubmission of a Not Approved case report or CREP item is not permitted.
Rebuttal Option
Following receipt of a non-approval decision, the trainee may submit a Rebuttal, which
is to include reasons why the trainee considers each of the major concerns listed by the
Credentials Committee to be inappropriate. A maximum of 30 days is permitted for
receipt by the Executive Secretary of a Rebuttal.
A Rebuttal is not considered as an appeal by AVDC, and is sent to the members of the
Credentials Committee review team who originally reviewed the item.
Additional images may be included in or with the Rebuttal file. Name the Rebuttal file
YourLASTNAME,FirstName Case Report or CREP Codenumber Rebuttal and
upload it to DMS as a Miscellaneous Document.
The Rebuttal file will be forwarded to the review team as a blinded document – do not
mention your name in the Rebuttal file.
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If the rebuttal does not result in approval of the case report, the trainee has the right to
request that the original case report or CREP article and the rebuttal are considered as an
Appeal of an Adverse Decision, which will be handled according to the procedures stated
in the AVDC Appeals document. If a rebuttal is submitted and not approved, the 20 day
window for submission of an appeal starts when the trainee is notified of the nonapproval of the rebuttal. Appeal
The trainee may elect to submit a formal Appeal to the AVDC Executive Secretary. The
appeal is to be received within 20 days of receiving electronic notification of an
adverse decision. The Appeal procedure is described in the Appeals document, available
in the document list in the Information for Registered Trainees web page.