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Instructions to Authors
The Journal is devoted to providing relevant information for pharmaceutical
educators and all others interested in the advancement of pharmaceutical education.
The Journal provides a forum for communication among pharmaceutical educators.
To be considered, manuscripts must provide useful information for the national or
international audience of the Journal. If a submission has only local or
regional relevance, its usefulness to the majority of our readers is limited.
To assure that only accurate and substantive articles are included, all
manuscripts undergo a peer review process and editorial approval prior to acceptance.
Reviews. Reviews are comprehensive, well-referenced descriptive papers on teaching
or research topics directly related to pharmacy and graduate or post-graduate education and
training. This section includes papers on the history of pharmacy education.
Research Articles. Research articles describe experimental or observational investigations that used formal methods for data collection and reporting of results.
Instructional Design and Assessment. Instructional Design and Assessment papers
describe novel methods for professional and graduate student instruction (lectures, laboratories,
practice experiences, or courses), or informational manuscripts on programmatic and curriculum
development. These articles should conform to the IDEAS format as described in an article by Poirier et al (Poirier T, Crouch M, Hak E, MacKinnon G, Mehvar R, Monk-Tutor M. Guidelines for manuscripts describing instructional design or assessment: the IDEAS format. Am J Pharm Educ. 2004;68(4):Article92).
Teachers' Topics. Teachers' Topics are invited manuscripts from the "Teachers
of the Year" at AACP member institutions.
Innovations in Teaching. Innovations in Teaching are invited manuscripts from
recipients of the AACP Innovations in Teaching Award.
Viewpoints. Viewpoints are short editorials and commentaries on educational policy,
philosophical issues, or other pertinent subjects authored by the Editor, Editorial Board, AACP
officers, or invited authors.
Statements. Statements are papers that present fully developed ideas, concepts, or
recommendations on a topic of widespread interest to pharmacy education.
AACP Reports. AACP Reports are summaries of activity of officers, delegates, and
committee chairpersons within AACP.
Letters to the Editor. Letters to the Editor serve as a forum
for the expression of ideas or for commenting on matters of interest. It is
also an avenue for critiquing or expanding on the information presented in a
previously published manuscript. Authors are required to identify themselves.
The Editor reserves the right to reject, shorten, excerpt, or edit letters for
publication.
Book and Software Reviews. Book and Software Reviews are brief documents
that provide the reader with a clear understanding of content in a book or
software program, as well as the product structure, scope, and limitations. The
reviewer should state the value or utility of the product for instruction,
research, or other academic activities.
The style specifications for the Journal
must be followed. Below are general guidelines for manuscript format and style.
If in doubt about style, authors should refer to the American Medical
Association (AMA) Manual of Style, 9th ed, or consult a recent issue
of the Journal.
Text. The text should be scholarly,
readable, clear and concise. Standard nomenclature should be used. Unfamiliar
terms and acronyms should be defined at first mention. Manuscripts that were
prepared for oral presentation must be rewritten for print. Authors of research
papers are discouraged from writing excessively long introduction or discussion
sections.
Word style. Consult a current edition of
Webster's dictionary for guidance on spelling, compounding, and word separation.
Foreign words, not in general use, should be italicized. For proper use of
chemical and biochemical terms, mathematical equations, mathematical
expressions, special symbols, subscripts, superscripts, or Greek letters,
please refer to the AMA Manual of Style.
Capitalization. The word "association" must be capitalized when referring to the American
Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. When the word "journal" is capitalized and italicized as Journal, it
can refer only to the American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education. In scientific writing, always
capitalize the following: major words in titles and headings of manuscripts,
designators (eg, Table 3), eponyms (but not the noun that follows them, eg,
Gram stain, Babinski sign), names of tests (eg, Beck Depression Inventory),
genus names of organisms (but not the name of species, varieties or
subspecies), acts of legislation (eg, Medicare), awards (eg, Nobel Prize),
proprietary names (eg, Xerox copier), the title of a person when followed by
the person's name (eg, Chair John W. Jones), official names of organizations
and institutions (eg, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), geographic
places (eg, United States of America), sociocultural designations (eg,
Republicans, French people), historical events (eg, Vietnam War).
Abbreviations. In instances where repeated
use of an organization or chemical name would become awkward, an official or
accepted abbreviation may be substituted. The abbreviation should be placed in
parentheses immediately following the first use of the name in the main body of
the text. Abbreviations of common pharmaceutical organizations do not require
periods or spaces between letters (eg, AMA). Abbreviations of "eg,"
"ie," and "viz" should not be seperated by periods. The names of US states and countries should
be spelled out when they stand alone (eg, “…pharmacists throughout the United
States...”). When the name of a state follows the name of a city or town, it should be abbreviated and periods should
not be used (eg, Boston, Mass). Postal abbreviations for states are not used. Refer to the
AMA Manual of Style for a list of proper abbreviations. The abbreviation “US”
may be used as a modifier only when it directly precedes the word it modifies
(eg, US health policies). Otherwise, it
should be spelled out (eg, “…the population of the United States”). The names of all other cities, states,
provinces, and countries should be spelled out when they occur within the text
of the article.
Numbers. Numbers must be written as Arabic
numerals unless they occur at the beginning of a sentence, in which case the
number should be spelled out. The
exception to this rule is when the number “one” is used in isolation within the
text and substituting an Arabic number would seem awkward (eg, “there was only
one logical solution to the problem”). A number containing a decimal must be styled as an Arabic number. All
fractions must be written as decimal equivalents.
Measurements. The metric system will be
used for all measurements; however, conventional units should be used instead
of SI units. Do not use periods when abbreviating units of measure.
Reference numbers. These numbers should be
superscript Arabic numerals placed at the end of the sentence, outside the
final period or other punctuation. Subsequent citations to the same reference
must be indicated by the same number originally assigned to that reference. Do
not place parentheses around the reference numbers.
Personal Communications. If the source of
material referred to in an article is from a personal communications, it should
be referenced as such in parentheses immediately following reference to the
material, followed by the date (eg, written communication, October 2, 2002).
Hypertext Links. Authors may identify
uniform resource locators (URLs) for Internet web sites that provide the reader
with additional information on the topic addressed in the manuscript. Although
URLs are an important feature of electronic publishing, authors are encouraged
to be selective in their choice of sites to include. Do not include URLs for
web pages with newspaper or journal articles that will be removed or archived
to another web page. Links to pharmaceutical manufacturers or other sources of
product information are acceptable; however, providing a URL to the reader
should not be substituted for adequate discussion within the manuscript itself.
Do not include links to sites that are not accessible without a password.
Within the document, each page of the manuscript
should be arranged and numbered consecutively in the following order: title
page, abstract, footnotes, text, references, tables, figure legends, and
illustrations.
The title page should have the following
information: a concise title, name of each author, terminal degree,
academic/professional title and affiliation, and city and state where located.
If an author has relocated to another institution, please include his/her
affiliation during the time the author worked on the manuscript. At the lower
left of the page, indicate the name of the corresponding author and provide
his/her mailing address, telephone number, facsimile number, and e-mail
address. At the bottom of the title page, indicate 3 to 5 keywords.
Each manuscript must include an abstract of 100
to 150 words. For Research Articles,
the abstract should include a brief (1 to 3 sentences) statement for each of
the following sections: Objectives, Methods, Results, and Conclusions. For Instructional Design and Assessment
papers, the abstract should include a statement for the following sections:
Objectives, Design, Assessment, and Conclusion. Each section within the abstract should be flushed left, followed
by a period and the statements summarizing that section.
The use of subheadings to divide the text is
encouraged. Primary headings should be in bold capital letters and should
contain no more than 35 characters or spaces. Secondary headings should be in bold title case and appear above the
paragraph. Tertiary headings should be
in bold with only the initial letter capitalized. Tertiary headings should end with a period and should appear
before the beginning of the first sentence in that section.
Any special funding received for research that is
the subject of the manuscript should be included under a section entitled
"Acknowledgments" at the end of the text. If the authors wish to thank colleagues or others who provided
assistance with their research or manuscript preparation, those acknowledgments
also should be included under this section. Any statements concerning liability for the content of the manuscript
may be included here as well (eg, "the ideas expressed in this manuscript are
those of the author and in no way are intended to represent the position
of…").
References to a published source should be provided for all information in the
manuscript that contains dates, facts, or opinions other than those of the
author. Authors are responsible for the
accuracy and completeness of all citations. References should be numbered consecutively in the order in which the
information contained in the referenced publication appears or is referred to
in the manuscript. Do not create a
second abbreviated reference or use "ibid" to refer to information
cited in a previous reference. Instead, if information from the same source is
referred to a second time in the manuscript, cite the same reference number
originally assigned to that source. For detailed information on reference style,
refer to the section on Stylistic Concerns.
Each journal citation must include the surnames
and complete initials of all authors. For manuscripts with 7 or more authors,
the first 3 authors should be listed, followed by “et al.” The names of all
periodicals cited must be abbreviated in accordance with abbreviations adopted
by the National Library of Medicine and used in Index Medicus. An
example and special instructions for specific types of references are provided
below. For additional guidance, please refer to the American Medical
Association Manual of Style, 9th ed, or to a recent issue of the Journal.
Journal articles. For references to
journal articles, first list the names of the authors beginning with the last
name of the first author, followed by his/her initials. The authors' names are
followed by the title of the article. The first letter of the title is
capitalized, but the remainder of the title should be in lower case letters,
except for the first letter of proper names. A period should be placed after
the title. Next, give the properly abbreviated title of the journal being
referenced. The title of the journal should be in italics followed by a period.
One space should be left between the journal and the year of publication. A
semicolon should be placed after the year of publication, followed by the
volume number in which the article appeared. After the volume number, place a
colon followed by the number of the first page of the article, then a dash,
then the number of the last page of the article, followed by a period. If the
article does not appear on consecutive pages, use a semicolon between each
segment of pages (eg, 172-175;179-183;199.)
Example:
Stratton TP, Cochran GA. A rural geriatric experience. Am J Pharm Educ.
1990;62:151-5.
Reference to a book. List the last name of
the first author of the book, followed by the first and middle initial if
given, just as in a journal reference. The names of all authors of the book
must be listed. Place a period after the last author's initials. Next, state
the title of the book using standard rules for capitalization within titles. A
period should be placed at the end of the title. If more than one edition of
the book has been published, then the edition number must be given. An ordinal
number should be used to indicate the edition number (eg, 9th), followed by a
space and "ed." Next, provide the city and state where the publisher
is located. Use the abbreviations for states provided in the AMA style manual
rather than postal abbreviations. A colon should separate the city and state
from the name of the publisher. The full name of the publisher should be given,
followed by a semicolon. Next, provide the year of publication, followed by a
colon and the page or page numbers referenced.
Example:
Martin AN. Physical Pharmacy. 4th ed. Philadelphia, Penn: Lea &
Febiger; 1993:268.
Reference to a chapter in a book. To
reference a single chapter in a book, first list the authors and state the
title as you would if citing a journal article. The chapter title should be
followed by the word "In" followed by a colon. Next, list the name(s)
and initials of the editors of the book, followed by a comma and the
abbreviation “ed” or “eds” if more than one editor, followed by a period. Next
include the title of the book, location of the publisher, publisher’s name,
year of publication and page numbers in the same format as for a reference to
an entire book (see previous example).
Example:
Lyon RA, Titeler M. Pharmacology and biochemistry of the 5-HT2 receptor. In:
Sanders-Bush E, ed. The Serotonin Receptors. Clifton, NJ: Humana
Press;1989: 59-88.
Thesis or Dissertation. For references to theses or
dissertations, place the title of the thesis or dissertation in italics.
Include the location of the institution, its name, and the year the thesis or
dissertation was completed.
Example:
Thorn MD. A Comparative Review of the Statistical and Research Quality of
the Medical and Pharmacy Literature [masters thesis]. Chapel Hill:
University of North Carolina, 1982.
Reference to a Web Site. For references to
journals, e-magazines, or other publications on the Internet, state the names
of the authors, title of the article, publication title, and volume and
publication date in the same format as you would for a journal reference. For
references to other information, give the title of the web page, followed by
the name of the organization or web site that published the information. For
all references to online material, the author should include “Available at:”
followed by the uniform resource locator (URL) for the page of the web site
referenced (eg, www.hcfa.gov/stats.htm), followed by a period. Finally, write
“Accessed” followed by the month, day, and year on which the information was
obtained from the site, followed by a period.
Example:
Healthy People 2010, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services. Available at: http://health.gov/healthypeople.
Accessed January 20, 2002.
Unpublished Works. References to unpublished material such as
articles or abstracts presented at professional meetings but not published,
provide the name of the meeting where the article was presented.
Articles in Press. For references to
information in books or articles that are currently in press, provide all of
the available information for the reference. In place of page numberS,
designate that the publication is "in press."
Example:
Adamcik B, Hurley S, Erramouspe J. Assessment of pharmacy students' critical
thinking and problem-solving abilities. Am J Pharm Educ. 1996;60:in
press.
Tables. Table should be created in
Microsoft Word© table format. Data must
be placed in separate cells of the table to prevent text and numbers from
shifting when the table is converted for publication on the Internet. You can insert empty cells to create
spacing. Footnotes should be placed at
the bottom of the table inside a single row or cell and should be indented. The
following symbols are used to indicate footnotes: first footnote should be
indicated by an asterisk (*); second, by a dagger (†); third, double dagger (‡);
fourth, section mark (§); fifth, parallel mark (||), etc. Refer to a current
issue of the Journal for more examples of table style.
Tables should not duplicate information provided
in the text. Instead, tables should be used to provide additional information
that illustrates or expands on a specific point the author wishes to make. Each
table should be self-explanatory and begin on a separate page in the document.
Tables should be numbered using Arabic numbers according to the order in which
they are referred to in the text. The table number and a concise title should
be placed above the body of the table.
Figures. Figures should be numbered using
Arabic numbers, based on the order in which they are presented in the text.
Figure legends should be concise and self-explanatory. All illustrative
materials for the figures should be submitted as high-resolution gif or jpg
files. The key to any symbols in a graph or chart should be included as part of
the illustration itself, rather than in the legend. If figures contain
illustrations that have been published elsewhere, a letter of permission to
reprint from the original publisher must accompany the manuscript.
Type of
Figure |
Acceptable Quality |
Preferred Quality |
Color Mode |
File Formats |
| Graph or diagram w/ text |
300 dpi |
1200 dpi or higher |
CMYK (color);
Grayscale (halftones and black and white) |
.bmp, .eps*, .jpg, or .tiff |
| Photographs |
300 dpi |
1200 dpi or higher |
CMYK (color);
Grayscale (halftones and black and white) |
.bmp, .eps, .jpg, .png, .tff, or .wmf |
Web Page
(screen capture) |
72 dpi |
300 dpi or higher |
RGB |
.bmp, .gif, or .jpg |
*If using EPS, save with “fonts included” and use TIFF preview.
A graphic image embedded into a MS Word file has a resolution of only 72 dpi (computer screen resolution). As a result, when printed, the graphics will look fuzzy. If possible, send graphics with a resolution of at least 300 dpi. Preferably, save the original image at a high resolution (ie, 1200 dpi or higher) and with the image quality set at maximum. Each high-resolution graphic image should be saved and submitted in a separate file from the manuscript text.
Original (first generation) graphics are the preferred files to work with because they have the highest resolution (ie, at this point the image has not been compressed to reduce its size). If necessary, high-resolution graphics can be reduced to a lower resolution for use on the web and within the .pdf files. However, low-resolution graphics cannot be improved and may result in poor online and printed images.
In general, an image can be categorized as either a photograph or a graphic (eg, line drawing of a chemical process, a map depicting pharmacy sites, a bar graph). Always save photographs in “RGB” mode. For optimum conversion results, save all color graphics in “CMYK” mode and all black-and-white graphics in “grayscale” mode.
Use the chart to choose an appropriate file format. Caution: never save a JPEG file in CMYK mode; use RGB (computer monitor display) mode. If a graphic image has been saved in RGB mode and must be converted back to CMYK mode for printing, there may be a change to the color resulting in less than satisfactory final graphics.
Use Arial font for any lettering within the graphic images. Figures, symbols, lettering and numbering should be clear and large enough to be legible when reduced. The minimum font size that should be used is 10 pt and the maximum is 14 pt. As a general rule, the original graphic should be 8 inches in width, large enough to span both columns of a Journal page. (Note: high-resolution graphics will appear larger on a computer screen than they actually are. Refer to the “image size” dialog box in the graphic software program to determine the graphic’s actual size.)
Use a professional graphics program such as Adobe PhotoShop to edit and/or save photographs and graphics. Because of difficulties with exporting graphics from Microsoft PowerPoint, please send the original graphic (the one imported into PowerPoint), saved in an acceptable file format, such as jpg or eps (see chart for more options). However, if the graphic was created in PowerPoint, send it as a PowerPoint file.
Please submit your manuscript using AJPE’s Editorial Manager online tracking
system at
http://ajpe.edmgr.com. Log in using your user name and password, and then
follow the step-by-step on-screen instructions for uploading your files. If you
do not know your user name and password or need us to create an account for you,
please send an e-mail to
ajpe@cop.sc.edu and we will respond as quickly as possible.
NOTE: When you attempt to log in, you may get an alert message stating
Editorial Manager requires browser cookies (a tiny file placed on your computer
so the site will remember who you are). Option 1: If you're using Internet
Explorer, go to Tools > Internet Options > Privacy. Move the setting to "low" (ie,
accept first-party cookies asking for personal information but no third-party
cookies). Option 2: If you do not wish to change your browser settings, simply
click OK in response to the message, then log in twice (the first time it will
not work because there's no cookie to access, but the second time it will accept
the information and open Editorial Manager).
If for any reason it is not possible for you to submit your paper using
AJPE’s Editorial Manager site as outlined above, send your manuscript as an
e-mail attachment to
ajpe@cop.sc.edu and we will assist you. If you do not have e-mail access,
you may send manuscripts and related files, such as graphics, on a floppy disk,
CD-ROM, or Zip disk, to the following address: Karen Shipp, Assistant Editor,
American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, Coker Life Sciences Bldg.,
Room 109, 715 Sumter St., Columbia, SC 29208.
Manuscript submitted to the Journal should
be unpublished and not under consideration elsewhere. Under the terms of the
Copyright Revision Act of 1976 (Public Law 94-533) it is necessary to have the
rights of the authors transferred to the publisher in order to provide for the
widest possible dissemination of professional and scientific literature. A transfer of copyright
form must be received by the Editor before a manuscript can be accepted for
publication.
For all research manuscripts (including educational research), the author should
indicate in the cover letter that the research has been reviewed and approved by
the appropriate human research or ethics review committee, or that it has been
determined to be exempt from such review. For research that has undergone such
review and approval, a statement to that effect should be included in the methods
section.
With the Journal's transition to an electronic format, tangible page
proofs of the article will no longer be mailed to authors for approval. Instead
the author will receive an e-mail with instructions on how to access the final
copy of his or her article online, in a secure location, before it is published
electronically.
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