Report of the Journal Editor

Journal Statistics

There were significant changes to the Journal in 2019. Its 2019 Journal Impact Factor jumped to 2.398 from 1.737 in 2018 and from 1.495 in 2017. Its 2019 CiteScore also jumped to 2.5 from 1.22 in 2018. AJPE’s social media accounts also enjoy continued success.

The number of AJPE’s Twitter followers has jumped to 1,300 in July 2019 from 813 in July 2018. AJPE’s e-table of contents (e-TOC) continues to surpass AACP’s set benchmarks for open and click rates of e-newsletters. On average, AJPE’s e-TOCs saw an open rate of 46% in 2019 (up from 45% in 2018) and a click rate of 33% in 2019 (up from 30% in 2018).

Website

The Journal launched its redesigned website on January 2, 2020. The redesigned website provides exciting new functionalities, such as a contemporary display, improved site navigation, responsive design that is mobile friendly, article tools for readers (eg, similar AJPE articles, related outside articles, social media sharing, article metrics, citation tools), analytics for most cited and most read articles, top topics, editor’s choice articles. There are pages devoted exclusively to theme issues, special collections (manuscripts related to current events—eg, COVID-19 and diversity), call for papers, reviewer FAQs, and webinars. AJPE’s Twitter account is also on the homepage enabling viewers to see AJPE’s latest tweets in real time. The new website also has a built-in e-commerce feature and slots for advertisements.

Backlog and Research Manuscript Acceptance to Publication Timeline

A focus of the Journal in 2019 was to tackle the backlog of accepted research papers that were waiting to be published in a quicker timeframe. We were able to clear the backlog in December 2019, and as such we published a total of 254 peer-reviewed and non-peer reviewed manuscripts.

The time between acceptance and publication is now 6-8 months. Previously, it was between 12 and 18 months. Beginning in January 2021, the goal is to cut this timeline further to 3-6 months.

There were 254 manuscripts published in 10 issues of Volume 83 (Table 1). In 2019, 530 manuscripts were submitted to the Journal with 480 undergoing peer review. Of the 480 manuscripts that were peer reviewed, 125 were accepted for publication (26% acceptance rate).

Transition to 12 Issues Per Year

Beginning in January 2020, the Journal switched to a monthly frequency from a 10-month frequency. Previously, the Journal was not published in the months of January and July.

Associate Editors

The Journal sincerely thanks Nancy Fjortoft, PhD, Midwestern University Chicago College of Pharmacy, for all her dedicated efforts as associate editor. Dr. Fjortoft served in this capacity for 5 years retiring at the end of the 2019.

We welcomed Melissa Medina, EdD, University of Oklahoma College of Pharmacy, as our new associate editor in November 2019. Dr. Medina’s areas of expertise are assessment, evaluation, team-based learning, metacognition, active learning, faculty development, problem solving, critical thinking, and curriculum review and mapping.

Editorial Board

In July 2019, the Journal welcomed Amy M. Franks, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences; Marina Kawaguchi-Suzuki, Pacific University Oregon; Andrea L. Porter, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Jonathan Thigpen, Notre Dame of Maryland University; and Matthew A. Wanat, University of Southern California as new members.

The Journal recognized Naser Alsharif, Creighton University; Alicia Bouldin, University of Mississippi; Susan Burton, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University; Patrick C. Hardigan, Nova Southeastern University; and Therese I. Poirier, Southern Illinois University as retiring members of the Editorial Board.

Theme Issues

The Journal published a theme issue on cultural sensitivity and global engagement in May 2019 (Vol. 83, Iss. 4). Naser Alsharif, PharmD, PhD, Creighton University School of Pharmacy and Health Professions, spearheaded this effort and served as guest editor of this issue.

Lyman Award

Each year, the best paper published in the Journal in the previous year is recognized with the Rufus A. Lyman Award. The winner is chosen based on utility and significance to pharmacy education, originality, research methodology, and writing style. The Lyman Award Committee, composed of five members appointed by the AACP president and chaired by the Journal editor, reviews all nominated manuscripts, and selects the best paper. Thirty-two papers from Volume 83 were nominated for the award.

Claire Kolar, PharmD, PhD, and Kristin K. Janke, PhD, from the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy won the award for their research paper “Aiding Transformation from Student to Practitioner by Defining Threshold Concepts for the Pharmacists’ Patient Care Process,” which was published in October 2019 (Vol. 83, Iss. 8) of the Journal.

The Editor would like to thank the following individuals for serving on the committee and for their time and hard work in reviewing the nominated papers to make this award selection: Paul P. Belliveau, MCPHS University–Worcester/Manchester; Leslie A. Hamilton, The University of Tennessee; Pramit A. Nadpara, Virginia Commonwealth University; Prashant Sakharkar, Roosevelt University; and Maria M. Thurston, Mercer University. Information about the Lyman Award can be found at https://www.ajpe.org/content/rufus-lyman-award.

Reviewer Recognition

The Journal is grateful to the 561 individuals who served as reviewers in 2019, most especially to the top 5 reviewers who are Adam Pate, University of Mississippi; Anne Kugler, Western University of Health Sciences; Spencer Harpe, Midwestern University; Amy Pittenger, University of Minnesota; and Aleda Chen, Cedarville University. The complete list of reviewers is available at https://www.ajpe.org/content/reviewer-recognition.

Thank You

The Editor remains indebted and thankful for all the associate editors, editorial board members, manuscript reviewers, authors and the AACP Board of Directors and staff for their continued efforts and support of the Journal. The success of the Journal is dependent on the diligent and dedicated efforts of these individuals.