The Pharmacy Management Journal:

Journal content:

The journal welcomes contributions which are of interest to health services professionals involved with management aspects of pharmacy. These can be specific for secondary care and primary care separately or address issues relevant to both.
Length of papers:

The preferred length for an article is approximately 3,000 words although shorter articles are also welcomed.

How to set out your article:

Present your article in a typewritten form and number the pages. A title of up to eight words (in upper and lower case) and the name of the author (Christian name and surname) with the job title, department, address of organisation and email contact details should also appear (upper and lower case).

A summary of up to 150 words giving a bullet point out-line of content (up to 5 bullet points) should appear for the introduction.

Use frequent short subheadings to help continuity. Start the first word with a capital and then use lower case for the remainder. If there are any abbreviations in your article, place them in brackets after the full title on the first occasion they are used.

Send your article as an electronic version attached to an e-mail.

Illustrations:

Photographs, diagrams, charts etc. as illustrative components of an article greatly enhance any printed page. Photographs will be selected by Pharmacy Management to illustrate articles. Authors are, however, encouraged to provide photographs which might be used at the discretion of the Editor. These should be provided electronically and can be sent after the article is accepted for publication but the Editor should be informed at the time of submission if it is the intention to provide such material.

Photographs must only be provided on the basis that you are the owner and that you have obtained permission from anyone shown in the photograph that their image may be published in the Journal.

Ensure the photo has a clean, uncluttered background - simple is best. It is important to portray a professional image. Look out for untidy desks, irrelevant objects on desks or walls (eg scruffy posters, promotional material), grubby white coats etc, etc! To avoid unintended promotion of products, names on containers should not be capable of being read in the photograph.

For a portrait photo

1) Select a photo where the subject's face is positioned towards the top of the frame (but not cut off!)
2) Cutting a picture of the subject out of a larger photo is acceptable, so long as the head size is 2cm or more.
3) Check any harsh lighting since this can be unflattering). Any outdoor portrait shots are best taken on an overcast day (the sun causes dark shadows on faces)

For group photos

1) Ensure that all the subjects are aware that the photo is being taken and are looking alert and interested.
2) Ensure that no-one is in a distracting or inappropriate pose eg yawning, eyes shut!
3) Ensure that the subject is not too far away. Make sure it is in good focus.

Above all, think, "Is this the image you want to promote for pharmacy?"

References:

The Vancouver style of using a number in the text should be used (see the section on "Help and Advice for examples". References in the paper must be numbered as unbracketed superscript in the order in which they appear in the text. The list of references at the end of the paper should give all the authors’ names and initials unless there are more than 6, in which case 'et al' is used for subsequent names. This is followed by the title, abbreviated according to the 'List of Journals Indexed' in Index Medicus, the year of publication, the volume number and the first and last page numbers. References to books should give the names of any editors, place of publication, publisher and year, in place of the journal information.

Useful reading lists or websites may be quoted where appropriate. In the case of websites, it should be made clear if these are subject to restricted access.

Acceptance of papers:

Confirmation that a submitted paper has been safely received will be given to the author, normally within a week of receipt. All papers offered to the journal are refereed prior to acceptance for publication. The team of referees includes members of the Editorial Board and appropriate specialists in a particular field. The Editor's aim is to reply within one month of receipt of the original manuscript to confirm if it has been accepted for publication. Authors will be informed if amendments are required before a paper is accepted for publication. The decision of the Editor is final.

The Editor will advise of the likely publication date, taking account of constraints on space, at the time of confirmation of acceptance. The general aim will be to publish papers within two forthcoming editions of the Journal but where this is not possible, the option of publication on the Pharmacy Management web site rather than in a later edition will made available.

Papers are also submitted to the College of Pharmacy Practice for accreditation. Any changes at this stage will be conveyed to the author.

The editing process might necessitate making changes to fit house style and/or reducing the length of an article. Once the Journal content is available in proof form, authors will be sent a copy for final confirmation of content and acceptance of any changes made.
Copyright:

It is a condition that papers submitted to Pharmacy Management will not have been previously published will not be submitted for publication elsewhere. The author must agree that copyright will be transferred to the Journal, which will reserve copyright to articles it publishes.

Fees to authors:

The fee for a published article is £300 payable at the time of publication. Letters and comments to the Editor are not generally paid for.

Other contributions:

All contributions are welcome, large or small, including letters and comments to the Editor. Where considered appropriate and at the Editor’s discretion these might either be published in the Journal or made available on the Pharmacy Management website.
Help and advice:

Pharmacy Management has published two articles to assist those who wish to write for Journals generally or Pharmacy management specifically. They can be accessed by clicking the article title below or provided on request.

1) Leach RH. Preparing a Paper for Publication. Pharmacy Management. October 2004; 20:4:2-4

2) Leach RH. Preparing a Paper for Pharmacy Management.January 2005;21:1:2-3

Potential authors who need any further assistance in writing a paper or who wish to confirm in advance if a topic would be of interest should contact the Editor.

Competing interests:

Any competing interests (eg sponsorship by a pharmaceutical company) should be disclosed and indicated in the paper.

Submission of material:

All material should be sent electronically to:

Email: Alex Bower

Mr A C Bower, EDITOR
Editor's Office
Pharmacy Management
25 Appleby Avenue
Scotton
Knaresborough HG5 9LZ