Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Introduction

Scope

JPharmSci focuses on two major questions of importance to pharmaceutical scientists: (i) What are the physical and biological barriers that limit the access of drugs to their therapeutic targets?; and (ii) How can drugs, excipients, traditional formulations, novel drug delivery systems and drug products be designed to maximize therapeutic efficacy? Answers to these questions have in the past and will in the future be forthcoming from research in a variety of scientific disciplines including but not limited to the following: physical pharmacy; pharmaceutics; pharmaceutical technology; drug delivery; pharmaceutical engineering; materials science; nanotechnology; animal, human, cellular and molecular biopharmaceutics; animal and human pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and pharmacogenomics; drug metabolism and transport; biotechnology; medical chemistry, including drug design and prodrug strategies; biophysical chemistry; analytical and bioanalytical chemistry; physical organic, organic, and computational chemistry; molecular modeling; immunology; biochemistry; and cell and molecular biology. The scientific content of manuscripts submitted to JPharmSci should fit into one of the following subject categories:

Drug Discovery-Development Interface
Manuscripts in this scientific category should include descriptions of quantitative and mechanistic research in pharmaceutics, biopharmaceutics, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and drug metabolism and transport that are normally conducted during the discovery of organic chemistry-based and biotechnology-based hits, leads and potential drug candidates. Research results of particular interest to the readers of JPharmSci would include those that afford valuable, new information about how a molecule's in vitro and in vivo behavior are influenced by its molecular and physico-chemical properties, traditional formulations and novel delivery systems used in lead optimization studies. This scientific category would also encompass manuscripts that describe: (i) new and novel analytical methodologies and that would facilitate and/or more accurately and completely characterize the physico-chemical and biological properties of hits, leads and potential drug candidates; and (ii) new and novel formulations strategies and drug delivery systems, including those built on bio-and nanotechnologies, that would enhance the delivery of these molecules to their pharmacological targets in animal models.

Pharmaceutical Biotechnology
Manuscripts in this scientific category should include descriptions of quantitative and mechanistic research in pharmaceutics, drug delivery and pharmaceutical technology that are normally conducted during the preclinical and clinical drug development of biotechnology-based drug candidates and drugs (e.g. peptides, proteins, antibodies, vaccines, DNA, RNA). Research results of particular interest to the readers of JPharmSci would include those that afford valuable, new information about how a molecule's in vitro and in vivo behavior is influenced by its molecular and physico-chemical properties, traditional formulations and novel drug delivery systems used in preclinical and clinical studies and the manufacturing processes that give rise to the final drug product. This scientific category would also encompass manuscripts that describe: (i) new and novel analytical methodologies that would facilitate and/or more accurately and completely characterize the physico-chemical and biological properties of biotechnology-based drug candidates and drugs; and (ii) new and novel formulations strategies and drug delivery systems, including those built on bio-and nanotechnologies, that would enhance the delivery of these types of molecules to their pharmacological targets in animals and humans.

Pharmaceutics, Drug Delivery and Pharmaceutical Technology
Manuscripts in this scientific category should include descriptions of quantitative and mechanistic research in pharmaceutics, drug delivery and pharmaceutical technology that are normally conducted during the preclinical and clinical development of organic chemistry-based drugs based drugs or drug candidates. Research results of particular interest to the readers of JPharmSci would include those that afford valuable, new information about how the in vitro and in vivo behavior of a drug molecule or formulation excipient is influenced by its molecular and physico-chemical properties, traditional formulations and novel drug delivery systems used in pre-clinical and clinical studies and the manufacturing processes that give rise to the final drug product. This scientific category also encompasses manuscripts that describe: (i) new and novel analytical methodologies that facilitate and/or more accurately and completely characterize physico-chemical and biological properties of biotechnology-based drugs and drug candidates; (ii) new and novel pro-drug strategies and formulation strategies and drug delivery systems, including those built on bio- and nanotechnologies, that enhance the delivery of these types of molecules to their pharmacological targets in animals and humans; and (iii) new and novel developments in manufacturing of drugs and drug delivery systems, including continuous manufacturing and the Quality by Design concept.

Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology
Manuscripts in this scientific category should describe quantitative and mechanistic experimental or theoretical research in nanoscale-based pharmaceuticals or diagnostics in which the innovation resides specifically in the nanoscale aspects of the work. Manuscripts reporting advances in pharmaceutical nanotechnology that are being disclosed for the first time would be of particular interest. Suitable topics in this category include advances in the fabrication of nanoscale materials with demonstrably new or significant functionality potential for pharmaceutical applications. Additional topics include improved quantitative methods of characterization of nanoscale pharmaceutical materials and mechanistic studies that contribute to an improved understanding of functionality of nanoscale-based technologies with clear therapeutic implications. The manuscript's conclusions should be supported by relevant in vitro and/or in vivo experimental data and appropriate statistical analysis. Notable exceptions to the requirement for appropriate physical and biological characterization are: (i) comprehensive and complete theoretical or computational studies; and (ii) meta-analyses of historical data or reviews of the existing literature.

Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics and Drug Transport and Metabolism
Manuscripts in this scientific category should encompass quantitative and mechanistic research normally conducted during the preclinical and clinical drug development of organic chemistry-based or biotechnology-based drug candidates or drugs that affords valuable, new information (e.g. drug-drug interactions) about the molecule's in vitro metabolism and/or in vitro absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion (ADME) and how these properties relate to the molecule's in vivo pharmacological and toxicological properties. This scientific category would also encompass manuscripts that describe new and novel analytical methodologies that would facilitate and/or more accurately and completely characterize the pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamic and drug metabolism and transport properties of these types of drug candidates and drugs in animals and humans.

Global Health
Manuscripts in this scientific category should encompass descriptions of quantitative and mechanistic research in pharmaceutics, biopharmaceutics, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and metabolism and transport properties that are normally conducted during the discovery of organic chemistry-based and biotechnology-based hits, leads and potential drug candidates and the preclinical and clinical development of drug candidates and drugs targeting diseases common in developing countries. Research results of particular interest to the readers of JPharmSci would include those that afford valuable, new information about how a molecule's in vitro and in vivo behavior are influenced by its molecular and physico-chemical properties, traditional formulations, novel drug delivery systems and manufacturing processes. The scientific category would also encompass manuscripts that describe new and novel analytical methodologies that would facilitate and/or more accurately and completely characterize the pharmaceutics, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, drug metabolism, drug delivery and manufacturing properties of these types of drug candidates and drugs in animals and humans.

Special Topic Cluster
Manuscripts in this category are part of an invited group of manuscripts that may be of multiple types including reviews, minireviews, research articles, notes, commentaries, perspectives, lessons learned, and/or workshop reports all focused on a specific research area or subject of general interest to pharmaceutical scientists. The topics and manuscripts contributed to this category are limited to invitation only and initiated by approvals from the Editors and Editor-in-Chief.

Types of article

Types of article
The Editor-in-Chief and one Editor, as well as members of the Journal's Editorial Advisory Board and independent experts, will review most manuscripts submitted to JPharmSci. However, the Editor-in-Chief and the Editors reserve the right to reject a manuscript without conducting an in-depth review if they feel that the manuscript is "out of scope" or it does not meet the minimal acceptance criteria for publication in JPharmSci.

Rapid Communications are limited accounts of significant and original experimental and/or theoretical results that fit within the scope of JPharmSci. The results must be of good quality and significance, originality, general interest and are determined by Reviewers and/or the Editor to be of urgent importance to the research area to justify accelerated publication. Authors are asked to write their manuscripts in a clear and concise manner and to include only data crucial to arriving at their final conclusions. Preferably manuscripts should not exceed 2,000 words of text and a total of 4 figures and/or tables. Extra experimental and/or theoretical data in the form of figures and tables should be deposited under Supporting Information.

Research Articles are comprehensive accounts of significant and original experimental and/or theoretical results that fit within the scope of JPharmSci. Authors are asked to write their manuscripts in a clear and concise manner and to include only data crucial to arriving at their final conclusions. Preferably manuscripts should not exceed 5,500 words of text and a total of 8 figures and/or tables. Extra experimental and/or theoretical data in the form of figures and tables should be deposited under Supporting Information.

Notes differ from Rapid Communications in that they are final reports and from Research Articles in that they are limited in scope. Authors are asked to write their manuscripts in a clear and concise manner and to include only data crucial to arriving at their final conclusions. Preferably manuscripts should not exceed 2,000 words of text and a total of 4 figures and/or tables. Extra experimental and/or theoretical data in the form of figures and tables should be deposited under Supporting Information.

Lessons Learned are articles which provide authors with a means of informing other scientists about critical issues, experiences and observations, the descriptions of which would not be appropriate for a typical Research Article, Communication, Note, Commentary or Review. Examples include, but are not limited to, key insights into an unanticipated manufacturing problem, knowledge accumulated over a career of "tricks of the trade" for a given analytical or formulation method, how to avoid a mistake that is repeated over and over again by scientists in industry and academia. Each article will be reviewed directly by an Editor who has expertise in the relevant scientific area. Because each of these articles represents the personal opinion, experience and/or insights of the author(s), data are not required (but could be described) nor does the identity of a given drug need to be divulged. Articles may contain several key references.

Errata If errors of consequence are found in the published paper, a correction of the error should be sent by the author to the Editor-in-Chief for publication in the journal's Errata Section.

Letters Forum for readers to clarify, constructively critique, challenge, or expand on material recently published in JPharmSci. Letters must be received within 3-6 months of publication of the article in question. Letters may not be used to make accusations of misconduct or personal comments to the author(s).

• Word counts and tables/figures: 250; one brief table or figure.
• References: five.
• Text headings: none.
• Abstract: none.

Invitation only articles

Authors interested in preparing Commentaries, Perspectives, Reviews, Backstory Commentaries, and Minireviews for JPharmSci are required to send an invitation request to Editor John Carpenter ([email protected]). The invitation request should include author's professional affiliation and role at institution, a brief description of the manuscript content, an abstract for the manuscript, a list manuscript author's research papers in the topic area, and a list of recent reviews on the topic in other journals.

General Commentaries, Global Health Commentaries, and Special Topic Commentaries

(by invitation only) present authors' considered opinions on scientific or technical subjects within the scope of JPharm Sci. If the Commentary is critical of the content of a Research Article, Note, or Rapid Communication published in the JPharmSci, the authors of the original article will be given the opportunity to submit a "reply" Commentary and the "critical" Commentary and the "reply" Commentary will be published back-to-back in the same issue of JPharm Sci.

Perspectives (by invitation only) articles summarize the viewpoints of distinguished pharmaceutical scientists with regard to the current status and future direction of the field. Perspectives are similar in length to Commentaries and Reviews, and may be submitted only by invitation.

Reviews (by invitation only) provide a comprehensive summary of broadly-based topics of general interest to pharmaceutical scientists. Reviews are not limited as to the number of words, tables, figures and references that may be included.

Backstory Commentaries (by invitation only) provide a comprehensive historical style narrative of an academic or industrial scientist's drug, prodrug, and formulation/excipient discovery or development story. Backstory Commentaries are not limited as to the number of words, tables, figures and references that may be included.

Minireviews (by invitation only) are well-focused, well-documented examinations of timely issues in the pharmaceutical sciences. The issues may be of a controversial nature, or may address a more narrowly focused area than those typically covered in a Review. Minireviews are limited to approximately 3,000-4,000 words, including tables, figures and references.

Submission Checklist
You can use this list to carry out a final check of your submission before you send it to the journal for review. Please check the relevant section in this Guide for Authors for more details.

Ensure that the following items are present:

One author has been designated as the corresponding author with contact details:
• E-mail address
• Full postal address

All authors and their affiliations including the address of the affiliations should be listed

All necessary files have been uploaded:
Manuscript: The Manuscript file should be uploaded to the Editorial System in a Word .doc or .docx file format
• Include keywords
• All figures (include relevant captions)
• All tables (including titles, description, footnotes) should be editable (not an image) and uploaded in a .doc or .docx file format
• Ensure all figure and table citations in the text match the files provided
• Indicate clearly if color should be used for any figures in print
Graphical Abstracts / Highlights files (where applicable)
Supplemental files (where applicable)

Further considerations
• Manuscript has been 'spell checked' and 'grammar checked'
• All references mentioned in the Reference List are cited in the text, and vice versa
• Permission has been obtained for use of copyrighted material from other sources (including the Internet)
• A competing interests statement is provided, even if the authors have no competing interests to declare
• Journal policies detailed in this guide have been reviewed
• Referee suggestions and contact details provided, based on journal requirements

For further information, visit our Support Center.

Before you begin

All submitted manuscripts should contain previously unpublished original research. Submitted manuscripts should not be under consideration for publication elsewhere.

Ethics in publishing

Please see our information on Ethics in publishing.

Declaration of interest

All authors must disclose any financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence (bias) their work. Examples of potential competing interests include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations, and grants or other funding. Authors must disclose any interests in two places: 1. A summary declaration of interest statement in the title page file (if double anonymized) or the manuscript file (if single anonymized). If there are no interests to declare then please state this: 'Declarations of interest: none'. 2. Detailed disclosures as part of a separate Declaration of Interest form, which forms part of the journal's official records. It is important for potential interests to be declared in both places and that the information matches. More information.

Declaration of generative AI in scientific writing

The below guidance only refers to the writing process, and not to the use of AI tools to analyse and draw insights from data as part of the research process.

Where authors use generative artificial intelligence (AI) and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process, authors should only use these technologies to improve readability and language. Applying the technology should be done with human oversight and control, and authors should carefully review and edit the result, as AI can generate authoritative-sounding output that can be incorrect, incomplete or biased. AI and AI-assisted technologies should not be listed as an author or co-author, or be cited as an author. Authorship implies responsibilities and tasks that can only be attributed to and performed by humans, as outlined in Elsevier’s AI policy for authors.

Authors should disclose in their manuscript the use of AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process by following the instructions below. A statement will appear in the published work. Please note that authors are ultimately responsible and accountable for the contents of the work.

Disclosure instructions
Authors must disclose the use of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process by adding a statement at the end of their manuscript in the core manuscript file, before the References list. The statement should be placed in a new section entitled ‘Declaration of Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process’.

Statement: During the preparation of this work the author(s) used [NAME TOOL / SERVICE] in order to [REASON]. After using this tool/service, the author(s) reviewed and edited the content as needed and take(s) full responsibility for the content of the publication.

This declaration does not apply to the use of basic tools for checking grammar, spelling, references etc. If there is nothing to disclose, there is no need to add a statement.

Submission declaration

Submission of an article implies that the work described has not been published previously (except in the form of an abstract, a published lecture or academic thesis, see 'Multiple, redundant or concurrent publication' for more information), that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, that its publication is approved by all authors and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities where 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, including electronically without the written consent of the copyright-holder.

Use of inclusive language

Inclusive language acknowledges diversity, conveys respect to all people, is sensitive to differences, and promotes equal opportunities. Content should make no assumptions about the beliefs or commitments of any reader; contain nothing which might imply that one individual is superior to another on the grounds of age, gender, race, ethnicity, culture, sexual orientation, disability or health condition; and use inclusive language throughout. Authors should ensure that writing is free from bias, stereotypes, slang, reference to dominant culture and/or cultural assumptions. We advise to seek gender neutrality by using plural nouns ("clinicians, patients/clients") as default/wherever possible to avoid using "he, she," or "he/she." We recommend avoiding the use of descriptors that refer to personal attributes such as age, gender, race, ethnicity, culture, sexual orientation, disability or health condition unless they are relevant and valid. When coding terminology is used, we recommend to avoid offensive or exclusionary terms such as "master", "slave", "blacklist" and "whitelist". We suggest using alternatives that are more appropriate and (self-) explanatory such as "primary", "secondary", "blocklist" and "allowlist". These guidelines are meant as a point of reference to help identify appropriate language but are by no means exhaustive or definitive.

Reporting sex- and gender-based analyses

Reporting guidance
For research involving or pertaining to humans, animals or eukaryotic cells, investigators should integrate sex and gender-based analyses (SGBA) into their research design according to funder/sponsor requirements and best practices within a field. Authors should address the sex and/or gender dimensions of their research in their article. In cases where they cannot, they should discuss this as a limitation to their research's generalizability. Importantly, authors should explicitly state what definitions of sex and/or gender they are applying to enhance the precision, rigor and reproducibility of their research and to avoid ambiguity or conflation of terms and the constructs to which they refer (see Definitions section below). Authors can refer to the Sex and Gender Equity in Research (SAGER) guidelines and the SAGER guidelines checklist. These offer systematic approaches to the use and editorial review of sex and gender information in study design, data analysis, outcome reporting and research interpretation - however, please note there is no single, universally agreed-upon set of guidelines for defining sex and gender.

Definitions
Sex generally refers to a set of biological attributes that are associated with physical and physiological features (e.g., chromosomal genotype, hormonal levels, internal and external anatomy). A binary sex categorization (male/female) is usually designated at birth (""sex assigned at birth""), most often based solely on the visible external anatomy of a newborn. Gender generally refers to socially constructed roles, behaviors, and identities of women, men and gender-diverse people that occur in a historical and cultural context and may vary across societies and over time. Gender influences how people view themselves and each other, how they behave and interact and how power is distributed in society. Sex and gender are often incorrectly portrayed as binary (female/male or woman/man) and unchanging whereas these constructs actually exist along a spectrum and include additional sex categorizations and gender identities such as people who are intersex/have differences of sex development (DSD) or identify as non-binary. Moreover, the terms ""sex"" and ""gender"" can be ambiguous—thus it is important for authors to define the manner in which they are used. In addition to this definition guidance and the SAGER guidelines, the resources on this page offer further insight around sex and gender in research studies.

Changes to authorship

Authors are expected to consider carefully the list and order of authors before submitting their manuscript and provide the definitive list of authors at the time of the original submission. Any addition, deletion or rearrangement of author names in the authorship list should be made only before the manuscript has been accepted and only if approved by the journal Editor. To request such a change, the Editor must receive the following from the corresponding author: (a) the reason for the change in author list and (b) written confirmation (e-mail, letter) from all authors that they agree with the addition, removal or rearrangement. In the case of addition or removal of authors, this includes confirmation from the author being added or removed.
Only in exceptional circumstances will the Editor consider the addition, deletion or rearrangement of authors after the manuscript has been accepted. While the Editor considers the request, publication of the manuscript will be suspended. If the manuscript has already been published in an online issue, any requests approved by the Editor will result in a corrigendum.

Language (usage and editing services)
Please write your text in good English (American or British usage is accepted, but not a mixture of these). Authors who feel their English language manuscript may require editing to eliminate possible grammatical or spelling errors and to conform to correct scientific English may wish to use the Language Editing service available from Elsevier's Language Services.

Online Submission and Peer Review

Authors should ensure that papers conform to the scientific and style instructions given below. In order to expedite the publication process the Journal requires that manuscripts be submitted online at https://www.editorialmanager.com/xphs

Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences has a completely digital submission, review, and production process. We therefore ask for production-quality files at the time of submission of your manuscript. This will speed the production and distribution of your work across a variety of print and electronic platforms. If you don't follow the simple guidelines given below, your submission will be returned to you for additional revision. This will of course delay review and, in the event that your work is accepted, would delay publication. Therefore we ask that you pay careful attention at this time and we thank you for your cooperation.

If you have not already done so, create an account for yourself in the system at the submission site, https://www.editorialmanager.com/xphs by clicking on the "Register Now" button. Please follow on-screen instructions and the system will guide you through the submission process.

You are also able to exit/re-enter at any stage before finally "submitting" your work. All submissions are kept strictly confidential. You may contact the Journal's Assistant Editor, Robert Dawdy at [email protected] or tel. 636-293-9844.

Copyright

Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to complete a 'Journal Publishing Agreement' (see more information on this). An e-mail will be sent to the corresponding author confirming receipt of the manuscript together with a 'Journal Publishing Agreement' form or a link to the online version of this agreement.

Subscribers may reproduce tables of contents or prepare lists of articles including abstracts for internal circulation within their institutions. Permission of the Publisher is required for resale or distribution outside the institution and for all other derivative works, including compilations and translations. If excerpts from other copyrighted works are included, the author(s) must obtain written permission from the copyright owners and credit the source(s) in the article. Elsevier has preprinted forms for use by authors in these cases.

Author rights
As an author you (or your employer or institution) have certain rights to reuse your work. More information.

Elsevier supports responsible sharing
Find out how you can share your research published in Elsevier journals.

Role of the funding source

You are requested to identify who provided financial support for the conduct of the research and/or preparation of the article and to briefly describe the role of the sponsor(s), if any, in study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the article for publication. If the funding source(s) had no such involvement, it is recommended to state this.

Open access

Please visit our Open Access page for more information about open access publishing in this journal.

Submission

Confirmation of manuscript content must accompany initial submission. Manuscripts submitted to the Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences should contain significant, unpublished and original data not being considered simultaneously for publication elsewhere. All authors should be aware of and in agreement with the submission of this manuscript and share responsibility for its content. The manuscript should provide full and appropriate credit to those who contributed to the underlying hypothesis and the generation and interpretation of the experimental data. Related research in the field should be acknowledged in the manuscript through appropriate literature citations. Manuscripts should be devoid of any forms of plagiarism with respect to ideas, data, words, graphic materials or other forms of communication. All authors should be aware that this manuscript will be checked for plagiarism using CrossCheck anti-plagiarism software.

Scientific Misconduct Issues. An alleged violation of any of these basic rules of scientific ethics will be investigated confidentially in accord with the procedures set forth in the American Medical Association Manual of Style: A guide for Authors and Editors (10th Edition). If the violations are deemed to be sufficiently serious, the Editor-in-Chief will request that the authors provide a written explanation. If the authors do not provide an explanation or the explanation is unsatisfactory, such that the Journal's Editorial Team believes that the evidence clearly shows that scientific misconduct did occur, the Editor-in-Chief would promptly reject the manuscript or proceed to retract a published manuscript. In addition, the Editor-in-Chief reserves the right to notify the authors's institution for the violation of the Journal's scientific ethics policy. The Editor-in-Chief also reserves the option to request the author's institution iniate a formal investigation into the alleged violation of scientific ethics and to report back to the Journal in a timely manner. If the formal institutional investigation confirms scientific misconduct, the Editor-in-Chief will promptly reject a pending manuscript or proceed to retract a published manuscript. Further, JPharmSci Editorial Team reserves the right to impose punitive actions (e.g. ban on publishing in the Journal) on authors proven to have violated any of the basic rules of scientific ethics.

Preparation

(a) General Considerations. In order to expedite peer review, authors are required to submit their manuscripts online at https://www.editorialmanager.com/xphs. (See Online Submission and Peer Review above for details about the online submission process.)

Authors should write manuscripts in clear, concise English. The responsibility for all aspects of manuscript preparation rests with the authors. Authors should note that extensive changes or rewriting of the manuscript will not be undertaken by the editors.

There are no page charges for publication in the Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences.

(b) Suggested Reviewers. The Journal requires that submitting authors suggest at least four reviewers, up to a maximum of six reviewers, two of which must be Editorial Advisory Board (EAB) members; one must be a Scientific Advisor. Please include suggested reviewers' contact information. A list of Editorial Advisory Board (EAB) members and a list of Scientific Advisors can be found by clicking on the corresponding link.

Editorial Advisory Board Members Keywords List

Scientific Advisors Keywords List

Conflicts of Interest: Reviewers. Reviewers should not evaluate a manuscript authored or co-authored by a person with whom the reviewer has personal or professional relationships that might bias their judgment of the manuscript's scientific merits. Reviewers should be sensitive to the appearance of potential conflicts of interest when the content of the manuscript relates directly to the reviewer's published or unpublished research. If in doubt, the reviewer should immediately notify the appropriate Editor and seek their advice on whether to proceed with the review. Reviewers should also be sensitive to the appearance of potential conflict of interest when the manuscript describes results from experiments using patented technologies, which are competitive with patented technologies invented by the reviewer or the reviewer's employer.

Article structure

Text
Submit your text in DOC format (preferred font size: 10 pt Helvetica). Do not embed figures or tables in this document. These should be submitted as separate files.

(c) Title. Titles are of great importance for current awareness and for information retrieval. The wording of titles should be chosen carefully to provide information on the contents and to function as "points of entry" for information retrieval. Symbols, formulas, or arbitrary abbreviations should not be included in the title, except chemical symbols to indicate the structure of isotopically labeled compounds.

(d) Abstract. The abstract should briefly (80-200 words) present, in one paragraph, the problem and experimental approach and state the major findings and conclusions. It should be self-explanatory and suitable for reproduction without rewriting. Footnotes or undefined abbreviations may not be used. If a reference must be cited, complete publication data must be given.

(e) Keywords. Please provide up to 10 keywords that reflect the scientific content of your manuscript. These keywords must come from the Journal's official keyword list. In addition to facilitating indexing of articles, our keyword system assists in the assignment of qualified reviewers for your manuscript. In addition, each member of our Editorial Advisory Board has selected keywords that are applicable to their own work.

(f) Highlights. The Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences requires three to five bullet points capturing what makes your manuscript novel, or any new methods you have used. Please include terms that readers of your article would search for online to increase manuscript discoverability.

(g) Abbreviations. Abbreviations are used without periods. Standard abbreviations should be used throughout the manuscript. All nonstandard abbreviations should be kept to a minimum and must be defined in the text following their first use and in a footnote at the beginning of the manuscript.

(h) QSAR/QSPR. All manuscripts dealing with quantitative structure activity relationships (QSAR) and quantitative structure property relationships (QSPR) must identify individual chemical structures using Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) SciFinder. To aid authors in the use of CAS SciFinder for structure searching, please click here for a Commentary written by Dr. Christopher Lipinski describing the procedure. This Commentary appears in Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences 91(12):2470-2472.

(i) Experimental Section. The experimental procedures should be described in sufficient detail to enable others to repeat the experiments. Names of products and manufacturers [with city, state, and country (if other than the U.S.)] should be included only if alternate sources are deemed unsatisfactory. Brand names may be used only once in the manuscript. For subsequent designation, use "formulation A", product B", etc. Novel experimental procedures should be described in detail, but published procedures should merely be referred to by literature citation of both the original and any published modifications. The purity of key compounds and descriptions(s) of the method(s) used to determine purity should be included in this section. For buffers, use terminology such as "20 mM potassium phosphate buffer (pH 7.7) containing...". Also, state w/v or v/v when appropriate.

Identification of and precautions for handling hazardous chemicals and dangerous procedures should be placed at the beginning of the section. An example would be "Caution: The following chemicals are hazardous and should be handled carefully; (list of chemicals and handling procedures or references)".

Manuscripts containing data generated from animal and/or human studies must specify the committee and the institution that approved the experimental protocols used to generate these data.

(j) Results. The results should be presented concisely. Tables and figures should be designed to maximize the presentation and comprehension of the experimental data. Attention should be paid to the matter of significant figures (usually, no more than three). The same data should not be presented in more than one figure or in both a figure and a table. As a rule, interpretation of the results should be reserved for the discussion section of a Research Article, but under some circumstances it may be desirable to combine results and discussion in a single section.

(k) Discussion. The purpose of the discussion is to interpret the results and to relate them to existing knowledge in the field in as clear and brief a fashion as possible. Information given elsewhere in the manuscript should not be repeated in the discussion. Extensive reviews of the literature should be avoided.

(l) References. Literature references must be numbered in one consecutive series by order of mention in the text, with numbers as unparenthesized superscripts. The accuracy of the references is the responsibility of the author. The complete list of references should be typed double-spaced on separate page(s) at the end of the manuscript and follow the format shown. All references should include titles.

For journals: Yoneto K, Li SK, Higuchi WI, Jiskoot W, Herron JN. Fluorescent probe studies of the interactions of 1-alkyl-2-pyrrolidones with stratum corneum lipid liposomes. J Pharm Sci 1996;85(5):511-517.

For edited books: Rall TW, Schleifer LS. Drugs effective in the therapy of the epilepsies. In: Gilman AG, Goodman LS, Rall TW, Murad F, eds. The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics, 7th ed., New York: Macmillan Publishing Co.; 1985:446-472.

For web references: Health Care Financing Administration. 1996 statistics at a glance. Available at: http://www. hcfa.gov/stats/stathili.htm. Accessed December 2, 1996.

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.

For submitted manuscripts: List as "in press" only if formally accepted for publication; otherwise, use "unpublished results" after the names of authors.

(m) Supplementary material

Elsevier 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 Elsevier Web products, including ScienceDirect: https://www.sciencedirect.com 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. For more detailed instructions please visit our artwork instruction pages at https://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions. The Supplementary material format of this journal can accommodate and make readily available almost any type of supplementary figures or data (e.g., reproductions of spectra, experimental procedures, tabulated data, expanded discussion of peripheral findings, etc.). The author should include a Supporting Information Available statement that describes the material at the end of the printed manuscript text. Consult a current issue of the Journal for the proper wording of this statement. Supporting Information should be clear and of high contrast (suitable for direct photoreproduction) and submitted in quadruplicate on 8.5- × 11-in. paper. All pages of Supporting Information must be consecutively numbered. Captions or legends for figures, spectra, etc., must appear directly on the figure.

(n) Acknowledgments. This section should acknowledge financial support, technical assistance, advice from colleagues, gifts, etc. Permission must be received from persons whose contribution to the work is acknowledged in the manuscript.

(o) Spectral Data. It may be desirable to include such data for representative compounds in a series, for novel classes of compounds, and in structural determinations. Usually, it is not desirable to include routine spectral data for every compound in the manuscript. Papers where interpretations of spectra are critical to structural elucidation and those in which band shape or fine structure needs to be illustrated may be published with spectra included. When such presentations are deemed essential, only pertinent sections should be reproduced.

(p) Experimental Data. Experimental methods must be referenced or described in sufficient detail to permit the experiments to be repeated by others. Detailed descriptions of experimental methods should be placed in the experimental procedures section. Data may be presented as numerical expressions in tables or in graphical form with no duplication of information in the text. If tables or figures include a minimal number of experimental values (< four), the data should be presented in the text. Units should be abbreviated without punctuation and with no distinction between singular and plural forms (e.g., 1 mg, 25 mg).If possible, statistical significance of the experimental data should be provided. Statistical probability ( p ) in tables, figures, figure legends and text should be expressed as * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, and *** p < 0.001. For multiple comparisons within a table, footnotes italicized in lower case, superscript letters should be used and defined in the table legend. References to statistical methods of calculation should be provided. If statistical limits cannot be provided, the number of determinations and some indication of the variability and reliability of the results should be provided. For animal experimental data, doses and concentrations should be expressed as molar quantities (e.g., mmol/kg, mM) when comparisons are made between compounds having large differences in molecular weights. The routes of administration of test compounds and vehicles used should be indicated. For animal and human studies, authors must specify the committee and the institution that approved the experimental protocols used to generate these data.

Formatting of funding sources
List funding sources in this standard way to facilitate compliance to funder's requirements:

Funding: This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health [grant numbers xxxx, yyyy]; the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle, WA [grant number zzzz]; and the United States Institutes of Peace [grant number aaaa].

It is not necessary to include detailed descriptions on the program or type of grants and awards. When funding is from a block grant or other resources available to a university, college, or other research institution, submit the name of the institute or organization that provided the funding.

If no funding has been provided for the research, it is recommended to include the following sentence:

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

If experimental data on proprietary compounds (i.e. compounds whose chemical structures are not available in the public domain) and/or using proprietary procedures (i.e. experimantal procedures and/or components of procedures that are not described in the public domain) are provided in a manuscript, authors should carefully read the next two paragraphs.

Traditionally, scientific papers must reveal sufficient information for the work to be repeated by others. That tradition led to the policy that JPharmSci has applied to manuscripts that contain information on proprietary small molecules. This policy essentially states that information pertaining to proprietary (small molecule) compounds can be published providing that, in the opinion of the reviewers and editors, the paper would be publishable based solely on the information derived from studies of known compounds. Thus, information on proprietary compounds has been considered to be supplemental while the decision to publish or not has relied on compounds for which structures were disclosed.

Studies of proprietary proteins and other biologicals pose a difficult situation for JPharmSci. In some cases, complete structures may not have been determined or, even if the structure is available, compounds having identical structures may be difficult for others to generate (e.g., the amino acid sequences of immunoglobulin hypervariable regions). Yet, interesting studies of proprietary biologicals can nevertheless be envisioned that may be deemed to have sufficient value that the failure to reveal detailed structural information should not be a deterrent to publication. Therefore, the journal will determine the acceptability of such papers on an individual basis. Decisions of acceptability will be made using the following criteria: (a) the structural information provided is adequate for the purpose of evaluating the paper using rigorous scientific standards; (b) the structural information provided is sufficient to enable others to verify the results by conducting essentially the same experiments; and (c) the work is judged to be of sufficient importance that a lack of complete structural information does not significantly detract from its scientific contributions.

(q) Tables. Tabulation of experimental results is encouraged when this leads to more effective presentation or to more economical use of space. Please submit tables as editable text and not as images. Number tables consecutively in accordance with their appearance in the text and place any table notes below the table body. Be sparing in the use of tables and ensure that the data presented in them do not duplicate results described elsewhere in the article. Please avoid using vertical rules. Tables should be created with a word processor and saved in either DOC or RTF format. Do not embed tables in your text. Tables should be on separate pages and saved as one file in DOC format. Provide a brief title with each table and a brief heading for each column. Clearly indicate the units of measure (preferably SI). Data should be rounded to the nearest significant figure. Explanatory material referring to the whole table is to be included as a footnote to the title (a). Footnotes in tables should be given lower case letter designations and cited in the tables as italicized superscripts. Tables that require special treatment, such as insertion of arrows or other special symbols under or over alphanumeric characters, or contain many structures should be submitted as camera-ready copy.

(r) Artwork. The quality of the illustrations printed in your paper depends on the quality of the originals you provide. Electronic submission of illustrations is required.

Electronic artwork
General points
• Make sure you use uniform lettering and sizing of your original artwork.
• Embed the used fonts if the application provides that option.
• Aim to use the following fonts in your illustrations: Arial, Courier, Times New Roman, Symbol, or use fonts that look similar.
• Number the illustrations according to their sequence in the text.
• Use a logical naming convention for your artwork files.
• Provide captions to illustrations separately.
• Size the illustrations close to the desired dimensions of the published version.
• Submit each illustration as a separate file.
• Ensure that color images are accessible to all, including those with impaired color vision.

A detailed guide on electronic artwork is available.
You are urged to visit this site; some excerpts from the detailed information are given here.
Formats
If your electronic artwork is created in a Microsoft Office application (Word, PowerPoint, Excel) then please supply 'as is' in the native document format.
Regardless of the application used other than Microsoft Office, 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 (or PDF): Vector drawings, embed all used fonts.
TIFF (or JPEG): Color or grayscale photographs (halftones), keep to a minimum of 300 dpi.
TIFF (or JPEG): Bitmapped (pure black & white pixels) line drawings, keep to a minimum of 1000 dpi.
TIFF (or JPEG): Combinations bitmapped line/half-tone (color or grayscale), keep to a minimum of 500 dpi.
Please do not:
• Supply files that are optimized for screen use (e.g., GIF, BMP, PICT, WPG); these typically have a low number of pixels and limited set of colors;
• Supply files that are too low in resolution;
• Submit graphics that are disproportionately large for the content.

For best results, submit illustrations in the actual size at which they should appear in the journal. Original illustrations which do not need to be reduced to fit a single or double column will yield the best quality. Lettering should be no smaller than 6 points. (Helvetica type works well for lettering.) Lines should be no thinner than 0.5 point. Lettering and lines should be of uniform density. If you must submit artwork that must be reduced, use larger lettering and thicker lines so that, when reduced, the artwork meets the above-mentioned parameters. Avoid using complex textures and shading to achieve a three-dimensional effect. To show a pattern, choose a simple cross-hatch design.

Color artwork. All color figures will be reproduced in full color in the online edition of the journal at no cost to the authors. Authors are encouraged to submit color illustrations that highlight the text and convey essential scientific information. For best reproduction, bright, clear colors should be used. Dark colors against a dark background do not reproduce well; please place your color images against a white background whenever possible.

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 Elsevier will ensure, at no additional charge, that these figures will appear in color online (e.g., ScienceDirect and other sites). Further information on the preparation of electronic artwork.

In addition to the above resolution guidelines, color figures must be submitted in a CMYK color. Do not submit color figures as RGB.

Chemical Structures. Structures should be produced with the use of a drawing program such as ChemDraw. Authors using the current versions of ChemDraw, ChemIntosh, and ChemWindows will find the necessary parameters incorporated into these programs ("JOC Document" under the Windows menus for ChemDraw and "Reduce 60% for JOC Style" under the Options menu for ChemIntosh/ChemWindows). In ChemDraw version 4.5, files should be saved in TIFF format to allow use of electronic files in production.

(s) Nomenclature. It is the responsibility of the authors to provide correct nomenclature. All nomenclature must be consistent and unambiguous and should conform with current American usage. Insofar as possible, authors should use systematic names similar to those used by Chemical Abstracts Service, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, and the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

The chemical names for drugs should be used. If the terminology is unwieldy, nonproprietary names of drugs may be used throughout the manuscript after the first mention and identification. Formally adopted nonproprietary names listed in United States Adopted Names (USAN) should be used. In cases in which a name has not been assigned by USAN, the International Nonproprietary Names (INN), approved by the World Health Organization, should be used. Trade names and laboratory codes should not be used except as additional information.

(t) Analyses. Adequate evidence to establish identity and purity should be provided for new compounds. When possible, this should include elemental analysis. The purity of compounds used for biological testing should be stated with a description of the method used to evaluate it.

(u) Hazardous Materials. All hazardous chemicals should be clearly identified as such. Precautions for handling dangerous materials or for performing hazardous procedures should be explicitly stated and referenced.

Data references
This journal encourages you to cite underlying or relevant datasets in your manuscript by citing them in your text and including a data reference in your Reference List. Data references should include the following elements: author name(s), dataset title, data repository, version (where available), year, and global persistent identifier. Add [dataset] immediately before the reference so we can properly identify it as a data reference. The [dataset] identifier will not appear in your published article.

Preprint references
Where a preprint has subsequently become available as a peer-reviewed publication, the formal publication should be used as the reference. If there are preprints that are central to your work or that cover crucial developments in the topic, but are not yet formally published, these may be referenced. Preprints should be clearly marked as such, for example by including the word preprint, or the name of the preprint server, as part of the reference. The preprint DOI should also be provided.

After acceptance

Proofs

One set of page proofs (as PDF files) will be sent by e-mail to the corresponding author (if we do not have an e-mail address then paper proofs will be sent by post) or a link will be provided in the e-mail so that authors can download the files themselves. To ensure a fast publication process of the article, we kindly ask authors to provide us with their proof corrections within two days. Elsevier now provides authors with PDF proofs which can be annotated; for this you will need to download the free Adobe Reader, version 9 (or higher). Instructions on how to annotate PDF files will accompany the proofs (also given online). The exact system requirements are given at the Adobe site.
If you do not wish to use the PDF annotations function, you may list the corrections (including replies to the Query Form) and return them to Elsevier in an e-mail. Please list your corrections quoting line number. If, for any reason, this is not possible, then mark the corrections and any other comments (including replies to the Query Form) on a printout of your proof and scan the pages and return via e-mail. Please use this proof only for checking the typesetting, editing, completeness and correctness of the text, tables and figures. Significant changes to the article as accepted for publication will only be considered at this stage with permission from the Editor. We will do everything possible to get your article published quickly and accurately. It is important to ensure that all corrections are sent back to us in one communication: please check carefully before replying, as inclusion of any subsequent corrections cannot be guaranteed. Proofreading is solely your responsibility.

Publication Online. Articles accepted for publication in the Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences will be posted as Articles in Press as soon as author corrections to proofs are received and incorporated. This can occur anywhere from 2 to 6 weeks well in advance of the cover date of the online issue. Authors should take this into account when planning their intellectual and patent activities related to an article. The actual date on which the article is posted online is recorded in a separate line in the PDF of the article.

Offprints

The corresponding author will, at no cost, receive a customized Share Link providing 50 days free access to the final published version of the article on ScienceDirect. The Share Link can be used for sharing the article via any communication channel, including email and social media. For an extra charge, paper offprints can be ordered via the offprint order form which is sent once the article is accepted for publication. Corresponding authors who have published their article gold open access do not receive a Share Link as their final published version of the article is available open access on ScienceDirect and can be shared through the article DOI link.

Author inquiries

Visit the Elsevier Support Center to find the answers you need. Here you will find everything from Frequently Asked Questions to ways to get in touch.
You can also check the status of your submitted article or find out when your accepted article will be published.