Nikolaos Donos on guiding JCP’s next phase

Professor Nikolaos Donos (UK) outlines his vision as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Clinical Periodontology (JCP) focusing on maintaining scientific rigour, while strengthening clinical relevance and supporting emerging areas of research.

Question: You are taking the helm of a journal with a remarkable legacy and strong reputation. How do you see your role in building on this continuity while also shaping the next phase of JCP?

Nikolaos Donos: As editor-in-chief (EiC) of JCP, my main responsibility is to oversee its growth and maintain its standards. The journal’s reputation is built on thorough research, clinical and translational studies, and editorial integrity. This strong foundation must be upheld and strengthened.

Continuity does not mean stasis. As EiC I would like JCP to remain both authoritative and adaptive by being firmly grounded in the standards, tradition, and scientific integrity that have defined the journal, while being fully responsive to emerging directions in periodontology, implant dentistry, and related disciplines.

My vision is for JCP to continue setting the standard for rigorous, clinically meaningful scholarship. This requires a sustained commitment to a strong and fair peer review process, to attracting influential contributions, and to ensuring that the journal remains open to important developments across the field. We will broaden the journal’s scope where this strengthens its mission, including interdisciplinary research, innovative methodologies, and underrepresented areas of clear clinical relevance.

It is my intention for JCP to be a journal that is not only respected for the quality of its science but also valued for its relevance to daily clinical practice. Improving accessibility and engagement is therefore essential so that JCP addresses everyday clinical problems and actively shapes discussion within the scientific and clinical community.

Q: What is your vision for JCP over the next five years, both in terms of scientific scope and its role within the periodontal community?

ND: My vision for JCP is to consolidate its position as the leading journal at the interface of science and clinical periodontology by strengthening the integration of high-quality clinical research with mechanistic, translational, and interdisciplinary studies in existing and emerging areas of research.

Equally important is the JCP’s role within the EFP and the broader periodontal community. As well as reporting on new data, JCP should become a platform which shapes the scientific trends in our field, through scientific excellence, promotion of the next generation of researchers, and by enhancing patient care and treatment outcomes in periodontology and implant dentistry.

Q: JCP has evolved from a primarily clinical journal to one that also embraces basic, translational, and interdisciplinary research. How do you see this balance developing further?

ND: I consider, the journal’s evolution toward a broader scientific scope is both deliberate and necessary. Basic science, translational research, and clinical application should not be seen as separate areas but as parts of a single continuous pathway that improves patient care.

Research on disease pathology and tissue healing provides insight into the biological mechanisms driving periodontal breakdown and regeneration. These findings can directly inform the development of new diagnostic markers, risk assessment tools, and targeted therapies. In turn, clinical studies can test these approaches in patients, refine them, and raise new questions for the laboratory.

As editor-in-chief, my aim is to ensure that JCP is the place where these connections are made clear and meaningful. This involves curating content that explicitly bridges discovery and application, and supporting a peer review process with the range of expertise needed to evaluate such interdisciplinary work. The goal is to promote research that not only advances science but also translates into better clinical decisions and improved patient care.

Q: What emerging areas of research do you believe will shape the future of periodontology, and how should the journal reflect and support these developments?

ND: Periodontology enters an era where scientific boundaries are expanding well beyond traditional paradigms, and the most important advances will derive when biology, technology, systems-level understanding and clinical application (both diagnostic and therapeutic) are integrated.

Several domains stand out. First, the focus on host–microbiome interactions, which is closely linked to personalized medicine and is supported by advances in multi-omics, will expand our understanding of disease susceptibility, progression, and resolution.

Second, the interface between periodontal disease and systemic health will remain a major driver in periodontal research. The next steps should include mechanistic, longitudinal, and interventional studies that move towards causality and everyday clinical relevance.

Third, regenerative and tissue engineering therapies in which biomaterials science, stem cell biology, and bioactive signaling systems are interlinked will be a major area of development, leading to true restoration of function and tissue structure.

Furthermore, we will see the continued development of artificial intelligence (AI), advanced imaging, and data-driven diagnostics, which will influence both research and clinical workflows.

For JCP, the imperative is to embrace these research areas and actively support methodologically rigorous, clinically meaningful research in them. The JCP strategy will include promoting interdisciplinary submissions, ensuring acceptance of well-designed clinical trials with robust methodology, inviting systematic reviews and, of course, publishing the EFP consensus reports that define clinical application.

Q: JCP is consistently ranked among the leading journals in dentistry. What are the key factors that will help maintain (and hopefully grow) its scientific impact and relevance?

ND: Maintaining JCP’s impact will largely depend on our core editorial priorities that ensure high-quality submissions. The editorial team, will ensure scientific rigour, clinical relevance and strategic direction, underpinned by a robust, respectful and efficient peer-review process.

Furthermore, we will foster interdisciplinary and translational research in emerging areas and, through invited authoritative systematic reviews and consensus reports, be able to shape the scientific agenda in our field. Scientific impact is measured not only by citations but also by research that guides clinical practice and advances the fields of periodontology and implant dentistry.

Q: What advice would you give to authors (especially early-career researchers) who aim to publish in JCP today?

ND: For JCP, it is important to focus on clear, clinically meaningful hypotheses while ensuring that a robust research methodology and research governance are followed.

For early-career researchers, my advice would be to prioritize quality over quantity. A well-designed study that advances understanding will always have a greater impact and be well-received by reviewers in JCP.

Q: How do you see the relationship between JCP and the broader activities of the EFP, such as clinical guidelines, workshops, and congresses, evolving?

ND: JCP and EFP have a synergistic relationship. JCP is the primary scientific platform that not only disseminates the outcomes of EFP workshops, S-3 Clinical guidelines, etc., but also enhances their impact through its editorial independence and peer-review process.

By closely aligning JCP with EFP, the journal makes high-impact publications widely accessible, reinforcing EFP's role in scientific exchange within the dental community.

Q: Scientific publishing is changing rapidly, from open science to digital dissemination and AI. How should JCP adapt to remain accessible, relevant, sustainable and authoritative?

ND: JCP will be proactive in adapting to changes and new developments in scientific publishing whilst safeguarding its core standards. Furthermore, it will continue to embrace open access reporting, which, in a sense, leads to the democratization of scientific findings

Changes in scientific publishing will necessitate new practices. Digital dissemination can be effective in increasing exposure of scientific findings without diluting scientific depth.

AI could play an increasingly important role in supporting workflows and the peer review process, but caution is required to ensure that AI is applied responsibly, so that research integrity, authorship rights, and scientific originality are protected.

JCP will not compromise on quality, and its authority will rely on the fundamental values of rigorous peer review, editorial independence/integrity, and its strength in curating research manuscripts that are both scientifically/methodologically robust and clinically impactful.

Journal of Clinical Periodontology