Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences & Technology Management (ISSN 2395-6399) is a peer reviewed, open access journal and is an official publication of SVKM’s NMIMS (Deemed to be University), Mumbai.
1. Scope and Editorial Policy
1.1 Journal Scope
The Journal invites original research work dealing with multidisciplinary areas including, but not limited to, drug discovery, novel drug delivery systems (NDDS), pharmaceutical biotechnology, preclinical pharmacology, toxicology, formulation and pharmaceutical analysis. The main objective of the Journal is to publish studies related to 1) the design, synthesis and evaluation of new chemical entities (NCEs) as therapeutic agents, with main emphasis on the diseases of the tropical countries; 2) design, development and evaluation of novel drug delivery systems; 3) development and applications of methods and techniques involving marine biotechnology, enzyme immobilization, novel peptide design, enzyme kinetics, enzyme assays, etc.; 4) development of animal models of the disease and testing of NCEs, acute and subacute toxicity studies and drug metabolism studies; 5) preformulation studies of the New chemical entities (NCEs), evaluation of the polymorphic forms, etc.; 6) development and validation of the analytical and bioanalytical methods; 7) computational studies leading to the enhanced understanding of the structure-activity relationships (SAR), mechanisms of action and related areas; 8) Novel pharmaceutical technology management, HR management, Innovative process management and Advanced sales & marketing strategies.
1.2 Manuscript Categories
Manuscripts can be submitted as Original Research Articles, Review Articles, or Short Communications by email to JPSTM.SPTM@nmims.edu
1.2.1 Original Articles are full length articles involving a significant amount of research work.
1.2.2 Review Articles are a precise account of a topic of current interest related to the scope of the journal. The length of the review article is limited to 3000 words. They are subject to the same editorial review system. The authors are encouraged to submit an abstract detailing the topic and its impact on the related research area. Once the abstract is accepted by the Editor, the full length article can be submitted.
1.2.3 Short Communications are smaller in length and limited in scope compared to the Original Research Articles and mainly focused on a methodology or an interesting finding which needs further exploration.
1.3 Intellectual Property (IP) Issues
Authors need to resolve all intellectual property issues before submitting the article to the Journal. Acceptance and publication will not be delayed for any such pending or unresolved issues.
1.4 Ethical Considerations
Editors, reviewers, and authors are expected to adhere to Ethical Guidelines to Publication of Life Sciences Research.
1.5 Issue Frequency
The Journal intends to publish four issues in a year.
Manuscripts must present original research work including the concept, need, results and discussion leading to a meaningful conclusion. It is inappropriate to reuse wording from other publications, including one's own previous publications, whether or not that publication is cited. Corresponding authors must obtain the consent of all coauthors before submission of manuscripts. Suspected plagiarism should be reported immediately to the editorial office. Report should specifically indicate the plagiarized material within the manuscripts.
2. Preparation of Manuscript
2.1 Use of word processing software
It is important that the file be saved in the native format of the word processor used. The text should be in single-column format. Keep the layout of the text as simple as possible. Most formatting codes will be removed and replaced on processing the article. In particular, do not use the word processor's options to justify text or to hyphenate words. However, do use bold face, italics, subscripts, superscripts etc. When preparing tables, if you are using a table grid, use only one grid for each individual table and not a grid for each row. If no grid is used, use tabs, not spaces, to align columns. The electronic text should be prepared in a way very similar to that of conventional manuscripts. To avoid unnecessary errors you are strongly advised to use the "spell-check" and "grammar-check" functions of your word processor.
2.2 Article Structure
2.2.1 Introduction
State the objectives of the work and provide an adequate background, avoiding a detailed literature survey or a summary of the results.
2.2.2 Materials and Methods
Provide sufficient detail to allow the work to be reproduced. Methods already published should be indicated by a reference: only relevant modifications should be described.
2.2.3 Results
Results should be clear and concise.
2.2.4 Discussion
This should explore the significance of the results of the work, not repeat them. A combined Results and Discussion section is often appropriate. Avoid extensive citations and discussion of published literature.
2.2.5 Conclusions
The main conclusions of the study may be presented in a short Conclusions section, which may stand alone or form a subsection of a Discussion or Results and Discussion section.
2.3 Essential Title Page Information
Concise and informative. Titles are often used in information-retrieval systems. Avoid abbreviations and formulae where possible.
Where the family name may be ambiguous (e.g., a double name), please indicate this clearly. Present the authors' affiliation addresses (where the actual work was done) below the names. Indicate all affiliations with a lower-case superscript letter immediately after the author's name and in front of the appropriate address. Provide the full postal address of each affiliation, including the country name and, if available, the e-mail address of each author.
Clearly indicate who will handle correspondence at all stages of refereeing and publication, also post-publication. Ensure that phone numbers (with country and area code) are provided in addition to e-mail address and complete postal address. Contact details must be kept up to date by the corresponding author.
If an author has moved since the work described in the article was done, or was visiting at the time, a 'Present address' (or 'Permanent address') may be indicated as a footnote to that author's name. The address at which the author actually did the work must be retained as the main, affiliation address. Superscript Arabic numerals are used for such footnotes.
2.4 Abstract
A concise and factual abstract is required. The abstract should state briefly the purpose of the research, the principal results and major conclusions. An abstract is often presented separately from the article, so it must be able to stand alone. For this reason, References should be avoided, but if essential, then cite the author(s) and year(s). Also, non-standard or uncommon abbreviations should be avoided, but if essential they must be defined at their first mention in the abstract itself.
2.5 Graphical abstract
Submission of Graphical abstract is optional. Authors may supply a graphical abstract at the time the paper is submitted. The abstract should summarize the contents of the paper in a concise, pictorial form designed to capture the attention of a wide readership and for compilation of databases. The graphical abstract is posted online only. Carefully drawn figures that serve to illustrate the theme of the paper are desired. Authors may also provide appropriate text, not exceeding 30 words. The content of the graphical abstract will be typeset and should be kept within an area of 5 cm by 17 cm (189 x 642 pixels), images should have a minimum resolution of 300 dpi and line art should be between 1000 dpi and 1200 dpi. Authors must supply the graphic separately as an electronic file.
2.6 Keywords
Immediately after the abstract, provide a maximum of 6 keywords, using American spelling and avoiding general and plural terms and multiple concepts (avoid, for example, 'and', 'of'). Be sparing with abbreviations: only abbreviations firmly established in the field may be eligible. These keywords will be used for indexing purposes.
2.7 Abbreviations
Abbreviations that are unavoidable must be defined at their first use in the manuscript. Ensure consistency of abbreviations throughout the article.
2.8 Acknowledgements
Collate acknowledgements in a separate section at the end of the article before the references and do not, therefore, include them on the title page, as a footnote to the title or otherwise. List here those individuals who provided help during the research (e.g., providing language help, writing assistance or proof reading the article, etc.). If funds were granted for the research, include the funder’s details.
2.9 Database linking
The Journal encourages authors to connect articles with external databases, giving their readers one-click access to relevant databases that help to build a better understanding of the described research. Please refer to relevant database identifiers using the following format in your article: Database: xxxx (e.g., TAIR: AT1G01020; CCDC: 734053; PDB: 1XFN).
2.10 Artwork
2.10.1 Electronic artwork
General points
Formats
Regardless of the application used, when your electronic artwork is finalized, please "save as" or convert the images to one of the following formats (note the resolution requirements for line drawings, halftones, and line/halftone combinations given below):
EPS: Vector drawings. Embed the font or save the text as "graphics".
TIFF: color or grayscale photographs (halftones): always use a minimum of 300 dpi.
TIFF: Bitmapped line drawings: use a minimum of 1000 dpi.
TIFF: Combinations bitmapped line/half-tone (color or grayscale): a minimum of 500 dpi is required.
DOC, XLS or PPT: If your electronic artwork is created in any of these Microsoft Office applications please supply "as is".
Please do not:
2.10.2 Color artwork
Please make sure that artwork files are in an acceptable format (TIFF (or JPEG), EPS (or PDF), or MS Office files) and with the correct resolution. If, together with your accepted article, you submit usable color figures then these figures will appear in color on the Web at no additional charge (e.g., ScienceDirect and other sites) regardless of whether or not these illustrations are reproduced in color in the printed version. For color reproduction in print, you will receive information regarding the costs after receipt of your accepted article. Please indicate your preference for color: in print or on the Web only.
Please note:
Because of technical complications which can arise by converting color figures to 'gray scale' (for the printed version should you not opt for color in print) please submit in addition usable black and white versions of all the color illustrations.
Figure captions
Ensure that each illustration has a caption. Supply captions separately, not attached to the figure. A caption should comprise a brief title (not on the figure itself) and a description of the illustration. Keep text in the illustrations themselves to a minimum but explain all symbols and abbreviations used.
2.11 Tables
Number tables consecutively in accordance with their appearance in the text. The title of the table should be above the corresponding table. Place footnotes to tables (if required) below the table body and indicate them with superscript lowercase letters. Be sparing in the use of tables and ensure that the data presented in the tables does not duplicate results described elsewhere in the article.
2.12 References
Citation in text
Please ensure that every reference cited in the text is also present in the reference list (and vice versa). Any references cited in the abstract must be given in full. Include the names of all the authors if there are six or less. If there are more than seven authors include the first three followed by et.al. Unpublished results and personal communications are not recommended in the reference list, but may be mentioned in the text. If these references are included in the reference list they should follow the standard reference style of the journal and should include a substitution of the publication date with either 'Unpublished results' or 'Personal communication'. Citation of a reference as 'in press' implies that the item has been accepted for publication.
Web References
As a minimum, the full URL should be given and the date when the reference was last accessed. Any further information, if known (DOI, author names, dates, reference to a source publication, etc.), should also be given. Web references can be listed separately (e.g., after the reference list) under a different heading if desired, or can be included in the reference list.
References in a Special Issue
Please ensure that the words 'this issue' are added to any references in the list (and any citations in the text) to other articles in the same Special Issue.
2.13.1 Reference Style
Text: Indicate references by number(s) in square brackets in line with the text. The actual authors can be referred to, but the reference number(s) must always be given.
Example: '..... as demonstrated [3,6]. Barnaby and Jones [8] obtained a different result ....'
List: Number the references (numbers in square brackets) in the list in the order in which they appear in the text.
Examples:
Reference to a journal publication:
[1] J. van der Geer, J.A.J. Hanraads, R.A. Lupton, The art of writing a scientific article, J. Sci. Commun. 163, (2010), pp. 51–59.
Reference to a book:
[2] W. Strunk Jr., E.B. White, The Elements of Style, fourth ed., Longman, New York, 2000.
Reference to a chapter in an edited book:
[3] G.R. Mettam, L.B. Adams, How to prepare an electronic version of your article, in: B.S. Jones, R.Z. Smith (Eds.), Introduction to the Electronic Age, E-Publishing Inc., New York, 2009, pp. 281–304.
2.12.2 Journal Abbreviations Source
Journal names should be abbreviated according to:
List of title word abbreviations: http://www.issn.org/2-22661-LTWA-online.php; NLM Catalog (Journals referenced in the NCBI Databases): http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nlmcatalog/journals;
CAS (Chemical Abstracts Service): via http://www.cas.org/content/references/corejournals.
2.13 Video data
The Journal accepts video material and animation sequences to support and enhance your scientific research. Authors who have video or animation files that they wish to submit with their article are strongly encouraged to include links to these within the body of the article. This can be done in the same way as a figure or table by referring to the video or animation content and noting in the body text where it should be placed. All submitted files should be properly labeled so that they directly relate to the video file's content. In order to ensure that your video or animation material is directly usable, please provide the files in one of our recommended file formats with a preferred maximum size of 50 MB. Video and animation files supplied will be published online in the electronic version of your article in The Journal. Please supply 'stills' with your files: you can choose any frame from the video or animation or make a separate image. These will be used instead of standard icons and will personalize the link to your video data.
Note:
Since video and animation cannot be embedded in the print version of the journal, please provide text for both the electronic and the print version for the portions of the article that refer to this content.
2.14 Supplementary data
The Journal accepts electronic supplementary material to support and enhance your scientific research. Supplementary files offer the author additional possibilities to publish supporting applications, high-resolution images, background datasets, sound clips and more. Supplementary files supplied will be published online alongside the electronic version of your article in the Journal. In order to ensure that your submitted material is directly usable, please provide the data in one of our recommended file formats. Authors should submit the material in electronic format together with the article and supply a concise and descriptive caption for each file.
2.15 Submission checklist
The following list will be useful during the final checking of an article prior to sending it to the journal for review. Please consult this Guide for Authors for further details of any item.
Ensure that the following items are present:
One author has been designated as the corresponding author with contact details:
All necessary files have been uploaded, and contain:
Further considerations
2.18 Additional information
Sources of commercial products need not be listed unless unique. Published methods need not be restated but must be referenced. Where the reference is to papers under review or in press, copies should be provided to the Editor to facilitate review. Full chemical names of drugs/ polymers/ exipients, etc. should be given. Trade names should not be used. Appropriate statistical analysis of data should be provided
Full chemical names of drugs/polymers/excipients, etc. should be given. Trade names should not be used. Appropriate statistical analysis of data should be provided.
