ADA News and The Journal of the American Dental Association are the dental profession’s best-read publications and both are well ahead of their nearest competition, an independent survey of U.S. dentists shows.
Using a formula to determine average issue readership percentages for 14 leading dental publications, the yearly PERQ/HCI FOCUS study calculated 2007 readership scores of 65 percent for ADA News and 63 percent for JADA. The third-ranked publication lagged some 10 percent behind with a score of 53 percent, having slipped even further from its ratings last year.
Among those who receive ADA publications, 96 percent read JADA and 94 percent read ADA News.
"We are delighted that our publications have maintained their top rankings over the years," said Laura A. Kosden, publisher and associate executive director, American Dental Association Publishing Division. "A great deal of effort goes into identifying content that meets the needs of our readers and, we hope, the profession as a whole."
New Jersey-based PERQ/HCI is an independent research firm that surveys the health care publishing industry. The 2007 FOCUS survey was mailed to a sample of 1,200 randomly selected U.S. dentists, including ADA members and nonmembers.
Some selected findings from the 2007 FOCUS survey were that
- – 99 percent of dentists in practice 16 to 25 years who receive JADA read it;
- – more readers read the advertisements in ADA News and JADA than in any other dental publication (ADA News and JADA were in first and second place, respectively);
- – more dentists visited JADA and ADA News Web sites than any other dental publication’s Web site (JADA and ADA News were in first and second place, respectively).
The survey also asked dentists qualitative questions, such as whether they save a publication for future reference, clip and save articles, or pass the publication along to a colleague for a reference. Findings included the following:
- – both JADA and ADA News rank among the top three dental publications dentists are most likely to pass along to a colleague;
- – JADA ranked well above all other dental publications in terms of overall quality;
- – more dentists save JADA for future reference than any other dental publication.
"Without Dr. Glick’s dedicated leadership as JADA editor, The Journal could not have reached these impressive new rankings," Ms. Kosden noted.
