Strengthening Oral Health Research: Advancing Inclusivity, Equity, and Global Collaboration

The global oral health research community is expanding, yet important structural challenges remain in how knowledge is produced, shared, and recognized. Researchers working in oral health and dental science often face uneven access to funding, publishing opportunities, research infrastructure, and international collaboration networks. These barriers are particularly pronounced for early career researchers, scholars in low- and middle-income countries, and investigators from underrepresented or marginalised groups. As the field moves toward more collaborative and interdisciplinary models, there is growing recognition that strengthening oral health research requires not only advancing scientific output, but also improving the conditions, systems, and cultures in which researchers work and publish.This Research Topic focuses on the people and structures that shape oral health research. It aims to examine the academic, institutional, and publishing landscapes that influence who participates in oral health scholarship, whose perspectives are represented, and how knowledge circulates globally. Contributions are encouraged that explore issues such as equity in oral health research, authorship and leadership, barriers to participation in international publishing, mentorship and career pathways, and the representation of diverse regions and communities within the oral health literature.We particularly welcome work that critically examines disparities in the global distribution of research funding, editorial representation, peer review participation, and publication outcomes across regions and institutions. Studies exploring the experiences of oral health researchers navigating these systems—including early-career scholars, women in science, Indigenous researchers, and researchers working in resource-limited settings—are highly relevant. Research on how collaborative networks, training programs, and institutional partnerships can strengthen research capacity and support more equitable participation in global scholarship is also encouraged.In addition, this collection seeks perspectives on how the scholarly communication ecosystem—including open science practices, research assessment frameworks, and publication models—can better support inclusivity and fairness in oral health research. Analyses of mentorship structures, leadership development, and international partnerships that enable sustainable and equitable collaboration are particularly welcome.By focusing on the researchers themselves and the systems that shape their participation in knowledge production, this Research Topic aims to foster a more inclusive, representative, and globally connected oral health research community. Ultimately, strengthening these foundations will help ensure that oral health scholarship reflects diverse perspectives and better supports the needs of populations worldwide.The scope includes, but is not limited to, the following themes:• Equity and representation in oral health research, authorship and leadership• Barriers to publishing in international oral health and dental journals• Cultural and language barriers in oral health research participation • Biases towards LMIC authors and LMIC author led manuscripts in oral health and dental journals• Decolonising oral health research environment• Experiences of early career researchers in oral health scholarship• Gender, geographic, and institutional disparities in the oral health research landscape• Research capacity development and mentorship in oral health academia• Building sustainable international research collaborations and networks• Editorial board diversity and peer review participation in dental journals• Open science, open access, and equitable publishing models in oral health• Academic career pathways in dental and oral health research• Institutional and funding structures shaping oral health research participation• Supporting researchers in low and middle income countries• Interdisciplinary collaboration and global knowledge exchange in oral health research• Strengthening inclusive research capacity, methodological capability, and knowledge translation within oral health• Equitable access to training, mentorship, and research infrastructure• Participatory and community-engaged research approaches• Integration of diverse cultural, linguistic, and social perspectives in research design• Translation of oral health research into policy, guidelines, and clinical practice across diverse contexts Topic editors: Sally Hanks, Prashanti Eachempati, Sumanth Kumbargere Nagraj, Laura Gartshore Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/79098/strengthening-oral-health-research-advancing-inclusivity-equity-and-global-collaboration