A brief history of JADA The monthly Journal of the American Dental Association emerged from humble beginnings in the early 20th century to become the nation's premier dental journal – a reliable, peer-reviewed source of information on dentistry and dental science.
It all started in 1913 when the ADA – known then as the National Dental Association – introduced a quarterly Official Bulletin, which soon proved inadequate. Just two years later, The Journal of the National Dental Association, still a quarterly, was born. In 1917, the Journal expanded to a monthly publication, with a lengthy subscription list that soon placed it at the forefront of dental literature.
The Journal's ascendancy spurred a number of other, long-respected dental periodicals to cease publishing. The once venerable Dental Register stopped the presses for good in 1923. And even the Dental Cosmos, long the bellwether of dental journalism, disappeared in 1938. One year later, the Journal adopted its current title, The Journal of the American Dental Association, or JADA.
Just after World War II, JADA became a semi-monthly publication. The goal was to reduce the bulk of each issue and to boost readership and advertising revenues. But that experiment failed, and The Journal returned to a monthly publication in 1948.
Over the decades, JADA has changed with the times and the shifting needs of its readers. Most recently, in 1991, The Journal underwent a major facelift and reorganization aimed at improving its appeal to its primary audience: dentists in clinical practice.
Today's JADA offers a wide range of information for ADA-member dentists:
- peer-reviewed research on current and developing topics in dentistry;
- clinical information in such areas as biomaterials, pharmacology, and cosmetic and esthetic dentistry as well as general dental practice;
- reports on the increasingly important relationship between dental health and overall health;
- news and views on the issues of the day;
- explorations of practice building and legal topics;
- a continuing education program;
- a monthly feature on the Internet and the World Wide Web, with special emphasis on the Association's own Web site, ADA.org.
Judging from the feedback received, the Journal is meeting the needs of its readers. Yearly independent readership studies consistently rank JADA as the nation's best-read dental journal. And ADA members rank it among the most important benefits of Association membership.
