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Aims and Scope of the journal will be welcomed from anywhere in the world. The language of the journal is English. All manuscripts should
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the work was carried out, and that, if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in English or in any other language,
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This journal
is an international medium for the publication of original research reports and authoritative reviews on pharmaceutical and biomedical
analysis. It covers the interdisciplinary aspects of analysis in the pharmaceutical and biomedical sciences, including relevant developments
in analytical methodology, instrumentation, computation and interpretation. Submissions on novel applications focussing on drug purity
and stability studies, pharmacokinetics, therapeutic monitoring, metabolic profiling; drug-related aspects of analytical biochemistry
and forensic toxicology; quality assurance in the pharmaceutical industry are welcome.
Since poorly selective UV-VIS methods (including
derivative spectrophotometric and multi-wavelength measurements), basic electroanalytical methods (including potentiometric, polarographic
and voltammetric), etc. are well established, studies in such areas are accepted for publication in exceptional cases only, if a unique
and substantial advantage over presently known systems is demonstrated. Studies reported should be supported by a demonstration of the
application of the method to real samples. No papers dealing with the determination of drugs in biological samples based merely on spiked
samples are acceptable. In determining the suitability of submitted articles for publication, particular scrutiny will be placed on the
degree of novelty and significance of the research and the extent to which it adds to existing knowledge in pharmaceutical and biomedical
analysis. In all submissions to the journal, authors must address the question of how their proposed methodology compares with previously
reported methods. A substantial body of work cannot be fractionated into different shorter papers.
The journal is directed towards
the needs of academic, clinical, government and industrial analysis and presents a unique forum for the discussion of current developments
at the interface between pharmaceutical, biochemical and clinical analysis.
Submission: Submission to this journal proceeds
totally online. Use the following guidelines to prepare your article. Via the homepage of this journal (http://www.elsevier.com/journals)
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of the article which is used for the reviewing process. Authors, Reviewers and Editors send and receive all correspondence by e-mail
and no paper correspondence is necessary.
Manuscripts must be double-spaced on one side only, with at least 2.5 cm (1 inch)
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addresses in full.
Full instructions how to use the online submission tool are available at the online submission website of the journal
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Peer Review: All manuscripts
will be assessed by two
independent Reviewers. Reviews will be assessed by one
independent Reviewer. Authors will be informed of the
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permission is given, of their identities.
Proofs: Proofs must be returned to the Publisher
within the time period
specified, after which the Editors reserve the right to make any necessary corrections to a
paper prior to publication.
Only necessary amendments will be accepted at this
stage and any changes not of a typographical nature may be charged to the
Author.
Electronic Offprints (E-offprints)
The corresponding author, at no cost, will be provided with a PDF file of
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A number of the commonly accepted abbreviations
that may be used without further definition are described in the journal's list of abbreviations. Any other terms
to be abbreviated should
first be defined and then followed immediately by the abbreviation
in parentheses. Articles should be written in the past tense
and in theimpersonal style (I, we, me, us, etc. are to be avoided, except in theAcknowledgements section).
The
following types of papers will be considered for publication:
Reviews: Authors wishing to submit a review should send a short
synopsis to one of the editors before starting detailed work on a
manuscript. The structure and presentation of a review article will
normally be at the author's
discretion. Reviews may be relatively short, i.e. dealing with a limited subject, or longer and
more general
in nature.
Full Length Research Papers: These papers should describe in detail original
and important pieces of work in the
fields covered by the Journal. Each paper should be set
out as follows:
Title: This should be as brief as possible consistent
with clarity. Authors'
names should be given with full addresses. The name of the corresponding author,
to whom reprints will
be addressed, should be marked with an asterisk and the corresponding author's telephone number; fax number and email address should
be indicated.
Keywords: The detailed subject index of the journal is compiled annually
with the aid of keywords furnished
by authors. These keywords (or key phrases) must be
carefully selected to reflect the scope of the paper. General words (e.g. immunoassay,
chromatography) should be avoided in favour of more specific terms (e.g. enzyme
immunoassay, reversed-phase chromatography). Normally
six keywords or key phrases will
be sufficient.
Abstract: This should be a concise self-contained summary of the principal
results of the work described, together with any essential experimental details.
Introduction: This should be a concise statement
of the background to the work presented,
including relevant earlier work, suitably referenced. The importance of the subject and
reasons
for the readers' presumed interest should be indicated.
Experimental (or Materials and Methods): This section should
contain reasonably detailed accounts of materials and experimental procedures, and/or
references to previously published methods used.
Sufficient information should be provided
to permit repetition of the work by other workers. When describing mixed solvents for
chromatography,
extraction or other purposes, the following convention must be adopted:
solvent A–solvent B–solvent C (a:b:c, v/v/v) or (a:b:c,
w/w/w) where a:b:c are
the proportions (by volume or weight as appropriate) of the components A, B and C,
respectively.
The method
of preparation of buffers should be clearly expressed, with the pH value and
molarity stated in parentheses, e.g. sodium acetate (pH
4.7; 0.1 M). For mixed solvent
systems, it should be clearly stated whether the pH value quoted is the pH of the original
aqueous
component or the apparent pH (i.e. pH*) of the mixed solvent system. Typical
examples of mobile phases employed in liquid chromatography
might be:acetonitrile–sodium octylsulphate (10 mM)–sodium acetate (pH 4.7;0.1 M)
(25:25:50, v/v/v), and acetonitrile–sodium
octylsulphate (10 mM)–sodium
acetate (0.1 M)(25:25:50, v/v/v )(pH* 4.7). Discussion of the optimisation procedure for the proposed
method / assay should be given in detail.
Results: The important results of the work should be clearly stated and illustrated
where necessary by tables and figures. The latter should be kept to the minimum
consistent with clarity. In particular figures showing
linear analytical response curves are
generally unnecessary, and will be deleted. The details of slope, intercept, standard error of
slope, standard error of intercept, concentration range and number of standards are essential
and they should be given in the text or
tabulated. This section may also contain experimental
detail such as that obtained when describing the development of new analytical
procedures. It should include all relevant validation data, e.g. Specificity (Selectivity), Precision (repeatability, intermediate precision,
reproducibility), Accuracy, Linearity, Range, Limit of detection, Limit of quantitation, Robustness, Ruggedness. Discussion:
The results, and their wider implications, should be fully
discussed. In some cases, this section may conveniently be combined with the
Results section. Conclusions: Where appropriate, a section may be
included, which concisely summarizes the principal
conclusions of the work and highlights the wider implications. This
section should not merely duplicate the abstract.
Acknowledgments:
Where necessary, these should be given at the end of the
paper. References:
Responsibility for the accuracy of bibliographic
citations lies entirely with the authors.
Citations in the 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. Unpublished results
and personal communications should not be in the reference list, but may be mentioned in the text. The Author(s) should make clear that
there is new valuable information in the submitted manuscript . Citation of a reference as 'in press' implies that the item has been
accepted for publication.
Citing and listing of web references. As a minimum, the full URL should be given. Any further
information, if known (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.
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, J. Sci. Commun. 163 (2000) 51-59.
Reference
to a book:
[2] W. Strunk Jr., E.B. White, The Elements of Style, third ed., Macmillan, New York, 1979.
Reference to a chapter
in an edited book:
[3] G.R. Mettam, L.B. Adams, in: B.S. Jones, R.Z. Smith (Eds.), Introduction to the Electronic Age, E-Publishing,
Inc. New York, 1994, pp. 281-304.
Journal names should be abbreviated according to CAS (Chemical Abstracts Service).
Use
of the Digital Object Identifier (DOI) The digital object identifier (DOI) may be used to cite and link to electronic
documents. The DOI consists of a unique alpha-numeric character string which is assigned to a document by the publisher upon the initial
electronic publication. The assigned DOI never changes. Therefore, it is an ideal medium for citing a document, particularly 'Articles
in press' because they have not yet received their full bibliographic information.
The correct format for citing a DOI is shown as follows
(example taken from a document in the journal Physics Letters B):
doi:10.1016/j.physletb.2003.10.071
When you use
the DOI to create URL hyperlinks to documents on the web, they are guaranteed never to change.
Tables: Should each
be typed on a separate page, numbered in sequence with
the body of the text. Tables should be headed with a short, descriptive caption.
They should
be formatted with horizontal lines only: vertical ruled lines are not required. Any annotation
to the headings or to the
tabulated items must be numbered and added in sequence at the foot
of the table.
List of Figure Legends: A list of Figure
Legends must be submitted on a
separate sheet to accompany the figures. Each legend must give a concise description of the
figure concerned,
together with any essential experimental detail not described in the text. In
particular, the key to any symbols or distinctive line
formats used on the figure must be
given.
Illustrations:.
Graphic files should be uploaded via the online submission page
of this journal via http://ees.elsevier.com/jpba.
General points
• You may be asked to supply high-quality printouts of your artwork, in case conversion of the electronic artwork is problematic.
• Make sure you use uniform lettering and sizing of your original artwork. • Save text in illustrations as "graphics" or
enclose the font. • Only use the following fonts in your illustrations: Arial, Courier, Helvetica, Times, Symbol. •
Number the illustrations according to their sequence in the text. • Use a logical naming convention for your artwork files,
and supply a separate listing of the files and the software used. • Provide all illustrations as separate files. •
Provide captions to illustrations separately. • Produce images near to the desired size of the printed version. •
Mark the appropriate position of a figure in the article.
You are urged to visit this site; some excerpts from the detailed information are given here.
Formats:
Regardless
of the application used, when your electronic artwork is finalised, 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: Colour or greyscale 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 (colour or greyscale):
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: • Supply embedded graphics in your wordprocessor (spreadsheet, presentation) document;
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that are too low in resolution; • Submit graphics that are disproportionately large for the content.
Non-electronic
illustrations
Number illustrations consecutively in the order in which they are referred to in the text. They should accompany
the manuscript, but should not be included within the text. Clearly mark all illustrations on the back (or - in case of line drawings
- on the lower front side) with the figure number and the Author's name and, in cases of ambiguity, the correct orientation. Mark the
appropriate position of a figure in the article.
Captions: Ensure that each illustration has a caption. Supply captions on a separate
sheet, 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.
Line drawings: The lettering
and symbols, as well as other details, should have proportionate dimensions, so as not to become illegible or unclear after possible
reduction; in general, the figures should be designed for a reduction factor of two to three. The degree of reduction will be determined
by the Publisher. Illustrations will not be enlarged. Consider the page format of the journal when designing the illustrations. Do not
use any type of shading on computer-generated illustrations.
Photographs (halftones):
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intensity. Sharp, glossy photographs are required to obtain good half tones. References to the illustrations should be included in appropriate
places in the text by Arabic numerals and the approximate position of the illustration should be indicated in the margin of the manuscript.
Each illustration should have a caption, all the captions being typed (with double spacing) together on a separate sheet.
Colour
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charge, that these figures will appear in colour on the web (e.g., ScienceDirect and other sites) regardless of whether or not these
illustrations are reproduced in colour in the printed version. For colour reproduction in print, you will receive information regarding
the costs from Elsevier after receipt of your accepted article. Because of technical complications which can arise by converting colour
figures to 'grey scale' (for the printed version should you not opt for colour in print) please submit in addition usable black and white
illustrations corresponding to all the colour illustrations.
For further information on the preparation of elctronic artwork, please
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Preparation of supplementary data: Elsevier now accepts electronic
supplementary material to support and enhance your scientific research. Supplementary files offer the Author additional possibilities
to publish supporting applications, movies, animation sequences, high-resolution images, background datasets, sound clips and more. Supplementary
files supplied will be published online alongside the electronic version of your article in Elsevier web products, including ScienceDirect
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Short Communications:
These should describe complete and original pieces of research whose length and/or importance do not justify a full-length paper. The
format is the same as that for a full-length Research Paper, except that the total number of figures and/or tables should not
normally exceed six. The approximate length should be 10 pages of double-spaced type- script, including Tables and Figures, Keywords
are essential. The Editors reserve the right to publish as a Short Communication a paper originally submitted as a full-length Research
Paper.
For further information please visit this journal's homepage at http://www.elsevier.com/journals. From here
you can also track accepted articles (http://www.elsevier.com/trackarticle) abd set up e-mail alerts to inform you of when
an article's status has changed, as well as detailed artwork guidelines, copyright information, frequently asked questions and more.
Contact details for questions arising after acceptance of an article, especially those relating to proofs, are provided when an article
is accepted for publication.
