Systematic and Scoping Reviews in Oral Biology and Microbiology

Despite the remarkable advances in molecular methods to generate data on microbial sequencing or biomarker identification, there is an urgent need to systematically compare results across the literature. Systematic and scoping reviews are upright designs to address biological questions and are likely to produce a high level of evidence for cross-study comparison, as a key to informing the real gap in the oral biology science and to tracing biological connections between oral diseases and microbial composition and oral biomarkers.

This Research Topic aims to shed light on the significance of these research designs in the field of oral microbiology and oral biomarkers. Authors are welcome to submit systematic reviews, scoping reviews, and critical reviews debating the following areas, but not limited to:

- identification of biomarkers for oral diseases in saliva, gingival crevicular fluid, and blood
- the oral microbiome in disease and health
- the detection of pathogens in saliva and gingival crevicular fluid, including viruses
- the response of the oral microbiome to antimicrobials, probiotics, and prebiotics
- the relationship between dysbiosis and inflammation in the oral cavity

The Research Topic welcomes reviews with or without meta-analysis (or network meta-analysis) including in vitro, in vivo, and clinical data. To be eligible for this Research Topic, systematic reviews must be reported according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) checklist, or its extension for scoping reviews. It is expected a systematic search of primary studies in at least three literature databases, clear eligibility criteria, and a study protocol registration in a public database. Quantitative or qualitative analysis can be presented answering a focused research question.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Classification
• Clinical Trial
• Community Case Study
• Curriculum, Instruction, and Pedagogy
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Classification
• Clinical Trial
• Community Case Study
• Curriculum, Instruction, and Pedagogy
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Review
• Study Protocol
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: oral disease, biomarkers, saliva, oral microbiome, antimicrobials

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.