Guidelines for Manuscript Submission to China Pharmacy

 

1. Journal Introduction and Call for Papers

China Pharmacy is a national and internationally distributed pharmaceutical academic journal under the supervision of the National Health Commission of China. It is sponsored by the Chinese Hospital Association and Chongqing University Cancer Hospital. Since its establishment in January 1990, the journal has consistently taken on the responsibility of bridging the gap between drug research, production, operation, clinical application, and supervision and management. The primary audience includes personnel at various levels engaged in hospital pharmacy (pharmaceutical departments) and community pharmacy, as well as individuals involved in drug research, production, operation, clinical application, and supervision and management. This journal is published biweekly on the 15th and 30th of each month (the second half of the February 2022 issue was published on the 28th). The main columns include Pharmaceutical Hotspots (expert forums, current pharmaceutical advances, key theoretical topics, guidelines/consensus and interpretations), Pharmaceutical Management (healthcare policies, hospital pharmacy management, market analysis and bidding, community pharmacies, and practicing pharmacists), Pharmaceutical Research (basic research, formulation and process, drug analysis and testing, traditional Chinese medicine and ethnic medicine), Pharmacoeconomics (economic research, studies related to medical insurance), Drugs and Clinical Practice (medication observation, precision treatment, blood drug concentration monitoring, clinical pharmacology, adverse reactions), Evidence-based Pharmacy (systematic evaluation of clinical drug use, evidence-based research), Pharmacists and Pharmaceutical Services (medication data analysis, prescription evaluation, medication monitoring, community pharmacy), and Pharmaceutical Reviews. The scope of manuscripts mainly includes: industry-focused hot topics, key issues of concern, theoretical research with guidance for the pharmaceutical industry, research on medical policies and the problems encountered during their implementation, basic experimental research, dynamic analysis and predictions of the pharmaceutical market, as well as matters related to the market on both macro and micro levels, exchange of management experiences in hospital pharmacy, methodologies and practical applications in pharmacoeconomics research, large-scale analysis of hospital medication usage, clinical pharmacology of new drugs and imported pharmaceuticals, clinical observations of drug efficacy, supervision of drugs, inspection and testing, monitoring of adverse reactions, new advancements in drugs or pharmacy, pharmacy/pharmaceutical management in China and globally, and pharmacy store management and operation.

 

2. Submission Guidelines

2.1 Manuscripts should possess scientific, prospective, logical, practical, and guiding qualities.

2.2 Manuscripts should have clear arguments, reliable evidence, accurate data, highlighted focal points, clear structure, and concise language. When citing references, please provide the corresponding bibliography.

2.3 Manuscripts should include abstracts in both Chinese and English. The content of the English abstract should be consistent with the Chinese abstract. Author names should be presented in Pinyin, with the family name first, followed by the given name. The family name should be in all uppercase letters, while the first letter of the given name should be capitalized. The full English name of the author's institution should be written according to its official name, followed by the province (autonomous region), city (county) name, and postal code.

2.4 Manuscripts should be formatted using Word or WPS software. The case, italics, subscripts, and superscripts of foreign letters and symbols in the manuscript should be accurate and clear. Please carefully verify data, structural formulas, equations, symbols, and references within the text to avoid errors.

2.5 The review process for this journal generally takes 1 to 3 months, and the publication cycle (including the review process) is usually 4 to 6 months. If the submitted manuscript has received support from national or provincial-level natural science funds or key science and technology research projects, please provide an indication during submission and attach relevant supporting documents. These manuscripts may receive priority for publication and potential discounts on page charges.

2.6 The author is responsible for the content. According to the relevant provisions of the "Copyright Law of the People's Republic of China," the editorial department has the right to make textual modifications and deletions to submitted manuscripts. For manuscripts that require revision by the author, please complete the revisions within the specified time. If the revisions exceed the time limit without special explanation, they will be considered withdrawn or treated as new submissions.

2.7 After a manuscript is accepted, a reference letter from the first author's institution is required. The author's institution is responsible for reviewing the authenticity and confidentiality of the manuscript and ensuring that it has not been submitted to multiple submissions (including conference proceedings or dissertations). If adverse consequences arise due to false content, multiple submissions, plagiarism of others' work, or unauthorized publication of others' research results, the responsibility lies with the author and their institutions. This journal will retract the accepted manuscript and will not accept any submissions from the author for a period of 2 years.

2.8 After a manuscript is accepted for publication, the author must sign the "Copyright Transfer Agreement". From the date of signing, the author agrees to transfer the copyright and related property rights of their paper to China Pharmacy on a global basis. Manuscripts involving human clinical trials must also provide approval from the institution’s medical ethics committee and patient informed consent.

2.9 When submitting, please provide information for the first author and corresponding author, including name, professional title, final academic degree, research focus, affiliation, detailed contact address, contact number (including mobile phone and office phone), postal code, e-mail, etc., for communication, and archiving by the editorial department.

 

3. Writing Requirements for Manuscripts

3.1 Title: The title should concisely and accurately reflect the specific content of the paper. Subtitles should be avoided, and the title generally should not exceed 25 words. Unfamiliar abbreviations or codes should also be minimized.

3.2 Author Names and Affiliations: Authors should be individuals who participated in the research and can address questions related to the paper's content. They are legally responsible for the paper's content. The order of author names should reflect their contributions to the paper. Author names should be followed by their affiliations in parentheses, including the full name of the institution, province (autonomous region), city (county) names, and postal codes. If authors are from multiple institutions, annotate the first author's name with a superscript "1" and subsequent authors' names with superscripts "2," "3," "4," etc. List the corresponding institution numbers before the respective institution names. Generally, author changes (especially the first author) should not occur after submission.

3.3 Abstract and Keywords: The Chinese abstract should generally be between 300 to 500 words and should be accompanied by a corresponding English abstract. The abstract should follow a structured format, including purpose, methods, results, and conclusion (see examples from this journal's 2020 issues). Keywords should typically range from 3 to 8 and should be selected from the paper's title, abstract, and content. High-frequency keywords within the top 1% of pharmaceutical subjects are encouraged, following the standard terminology from Medical Subject Headings (MeSH).

3.4 Main Body: Aim to minimize hierarchical levels, generally not exceeding 3 levels. Numeric indicators for hierarchical levels should be followed by a space. The format is as follows:

The main body should generally have minimal levels of numbering levels, typically not exceeding three. After the numerical indicators for the hierarchy, no punctuation should be used, but there should be a space. The format is as follows:

 1 ^△△△△ (Flush left)

1.1 ^△△△△ (Flush left)

1.1.1 ^△△△△ (Flush left)

3.5 Introduction: Generally consists of 500 to 800 words, providing an overview of the theoretical basis, research approach, experimental foundation, current status in China and globally, and purpose of the paper.

3.6 The origin, specifications, or models of drugs, reagents, animals, plants, major instruments, and other materials should be specified. Nomenclature in pharmacy should follow the "Chinese Pharmacopoeia" (2020 edition) and "Chemical Nomenclature" (Science Press). Drug names should use "International Nonproprietary Names" (INN) based on the "Chinese Generic Drug Name" (Chemical Industry Press) or the approved name for new drugs by the National Medical Products Administration of China. Less common names should be accompanied by their English names.

3.7 Methods: When previously reported methods are employed, appropriate citations are recommended. Modifications to existing or substantially improved methods should be clearly outlined. For self-developed methods, detailed descriptions are encouraged for reproducibility.

3.8 Units and Symbols: Conform to standard use and writing of quantities and units, following resources such as "Application of Legal Units of Measurement in Medicine" (3rd edition) by the People's Military Medical Press. Units should be based on the "Legal Units of Measurement of the People's Republic of China" derived from the International System of Units (SI). Refer to "Quantities and Units" (Standards Press of China) for guidance. Symbols for quantities should be in italics, e.g., m (mass), t (time), V (volume), n (amount of substance), d (relative density), Ar (relative atomic weight), Mr (relative molecular weight), etc. In graphs and tables, quantities and units should be separated by a comma, e.g., "λ, nm" represents a wavelength in nanometers. Concentrations of substances are represented as mol/L, mmol/L, μmol/L, nmol/L, etc. Within a unit or combined unit, a slash (/) is used, and only one slash is allowed at most. For example, "mg/(kg·d)" should not be written as "mg/kg/d" or other variations.In the text, for instance, "IC₅₀, mol·L^-1" should be expressed as "IC₅₀, mol/L"; similarly, "AUC0-∞, In the text, for instance, "IC50, mol·L^-1" should be expressed as "IC50, mol/L"; similarly, "AUC0-∞, mol· L－1" should be written as "AUC0-∞, mg·h/L". Additionally, when indicating a range with a tilde (~), both numerical values before and after the tilde should include the percentage or per mille symbols (%, ‰) simultaneously; one must not omit the former and only write the latter. For example, it should be written as "3% ~ 5%" (not as "3 ~ 5%"). In English, the tilde should not be used; instead, a hyphen "-" should be employed to denote a range.

3.9 International Codes and Abbreviations: Use internationally recognized codes and abbreviations where possible, such as 2 min for 2 minutes, 4 d for 4 days, IU for international units, P for probability, HPLC for high-performance liquid chromatography, UV for ultraviolet, x for mean, c_max for peak concentration, Vd for apparent volume of distribution, etc.

3.10 Radioactive Nuclides or Elements: The elemental symbols should be in regular typeface with the first letter capitalized. The mass number should be placed in the upper left corner of the element symbol. The valence of an element, ion, or group should be indicated in the upper right corner, with the numeral preceding the sign, and the "+" or "-" symbol for positive or negative valence, or cations and anions, following afterward. For example, it should be written as Mg²⁺ (not as Mg⁺⁺ or Mg⁺²), PO^3-₄.

3.11 Punctuation: Use proper punctuation and adhere to the guidelines set by the National Standard of the People's Republic of China--General rules for punctuation (GB/T15834-2011). Each punctuation mark occupies one space, the dash "——" occupies two spaces, the hyphen "−" one-fourth of a space, and the tilde "~" one space. The ratio sign"∶" should be centered within the space, and the colon ":" should be at the bottom, occupying one-fourth of a space.

3.12 Numbers: Arabic numerals should be used wherever possible within the text. This includes centuries, decades, years, months, days, times, and all forms of counting and measurement. The year should not be abbreviated; for example, 1989 should not be written as 89. Avoid using phrases like "this year" or "next year." When a number exceeds four digits before or after the decimal point, it should be grouped in threes, starting from the decimal point, without using commas as separators. For example, 8473.23357 should be written as 8 473.233 57, not 8,473.233,57. A leading "0" must be included for pure decimals. Effective digits of a value should be written out in full, such as "0.400, 0.300, 2.350," not ".4, .3, 2.35." The number of effective digits for values within the same article should be as consistent as possible.

 

3.13 Figures and Tables: Figures and tables should be concise and avoid repetition of text. Photographs (black and white only) should be clear with appropriate contrast. Each figure should have a figure number and a title in both Chinese and English, with the title centered below the figure. If there is over one illustration, the figure numbers should be consecutive, such as Figure 1, Figure 2, etc. If there is only one illustration, it should be numbered as Figure 1. The figure title should be brief and accurate, without a period at the end. There should be a space between the figure number and the title. If there are figure captions, they should also be translated into English; the Chinese and English captions should be sequentially placed above the Chinese figure title. For coordinate graphs, the scales, quantities, and units of the vertical and horizontal axes should be complete and placed outside the axes, generally centered. The labeling of the horizontal axis should be recorded from left to right, and the vertical axis from bottom to top (the right side of the vertical axis should be the same as the left side). Each table should have a table number and a title in both Chinese and English, with the title centered above the table. If there is over one table, the table numbers should be consecutive. If there is only one table, it should be numbered as Table 1. The table title should be clear and concise, without a period at the end, with a space between the table number and the title. The structure of the table should be simple and self-explanatory. Tables should use a three-line format with open ends. Units should be marked for parameters within the table. If adjacent cells contain the same numbers or content, they should not be represented with phrases like "same as above" or "same as left" or similar words or symbols, but should be marked individually. Blank spaces within a table represent unmeasured or unavailable data, a slash "/" can represent undetected (which needs to be explained in the text or table note), and "0" represents a measured result of zero. Data within the table should be clearly written and carefully checked to ensure accuracy. Items within the table that require explanation or notes can be briefly described in text below the table line, along with an English translation; there should be no period at the end of the figure or table notes. Figures and tables should be placed at the corresponding positions in the text and introduced by phrases such as "see Table 1 (Figure 1)," rather than being grouped at the end of the document.

 

3.14 Discussion: The discussion should highlight the authors' new findings, conclusions, and viewpoints, and clarify the limitations of the study. Do not conduct a literature review or repeat the content of the introduction. Avoid making far-reaching speculations, immature judgments, or conclusions that the data in this paper is insufficient to draw. If there are sufficient reasons, hypotheses and suggestions can be proposed, but they must be appropriate.

 

3.15 Acknowledgments: Acknowledgments should only be made to those who have made substantial contributions to the research and writing of the paper, such as participants in the research, providers of materials and technology, and collaborators. Authors are responsible for obtaining written consent from those acknowledged. The content of the acknowledgments should be placed at the end of the text and enclosed in parentheses.

 

3.16 References: References should primarily consist of literature from the past five years and should be verified against the original text. In the text, references should be cited using a sequential numbering system, with the numbers in Arabic numerals enclosed in square brackets and superscripted (if the number belongs to the content of the text, then no superscript is needed). At the end of the document, references should be listed in the order they appear in the text, with the numbers in Arabic numerals enclosed in square brackets, followed by a space and no punctuation. After each reference, please indicate the type of document in English uppercase letters enclosed in square brackets (e.g., Books [M], Conferences [C], Collections [G], Newspapers [N], Journals [J], Dissertations [D], Reports [R], Standards [S], Patents [P], Databases [DB], Computer Programs [CP], Electronic Bulletins [EB], Archives [A], Maps [CM], Data Sets [DS], Others [Z], Tapes [MT], Disks [DK], CDs [CD], Online [OL]; for specific formats, please refer to the examples in each issue of this journal in 2020). If there are three or fewer authors in a reference, list all authors; if there are more than three, add ", et al" (in English) or ", 他" (in Japanese) after the third author.

 

For names written in different scripts, the surname should come before the given name; for Chinese names in Pinyin, the surname and given name should be separated by a space, with all letters in uppercase; for foreign names, the surname should be in full uppercase, and the initials of the given names should be in uppercase without periods. If the same reference is cited repeatedly in the same article, the same number should be used. Punctuation within the references should be written strictly following the requirements of this journal; in Chinese references, the period is a solid dot, not an empty circle.

 

Examples of the reference format for this journal are as follows, please use these as a standard when submitting:

 

Journals: [Number] Author(s). Article Title[J]. Journal Name, Year, Volume(Issue): Start page - End page.

 

Example: [1] 阮毅铭，梅全喜，关健缨，等.漆大姑水提物外用对慢性皮炎-湿疹模型小鼠的改善作用研究[J].中国药房，2018，29（11）：1536-1541.

 

[2] TALREJA D, SINGH PK, KUMAR A, et al. In vivo role of TLR2 and MyD88 signaling in eliciting innate immune responses in staphylococcal endophthalmitis[J]. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci, 2015, 56(3): 1719-1732.

 

Books: [Number] Author(s). Book Title[M]. Edition. Place of publication: Publisher, Year: Start page - End page.

 

Example: [3] [3] 王顺年，李健，吴新荣，等.临床合理用药指南[M].3版.北京：人民军医出版社，2015：41-43.

 

[4] KOHN LT, CORRIGAN JM, DONALDSON MS. To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System[M]. Washington: National Academy Press, 1999: 12-17.

 

4. Handling of Manuscript Submission, Revisions, and Rejections

4.1 Submission: This journal only accepts online submissions through the "China Pharmacy Network" (http://www.china-pharmacy.com). Authors should register on the "China Pharmacy Online Submission System" by clicking on "Online Submission" on the homepage or directly accessing "http://user.china-pharmacy.com." Registered authors should use their mobile phone number for registration and remember the password, as they will need to log in to this system to track the progress of their manuscripts and submit revised versions.

4.2 Revisions: Editors will upload the manuscript requiring revisions on the "China Pharmacy Online Submission System." Authors should address each revision comment and upload the revised version through the system. Once the revised manuscript meets the publication standards, the editor will notify the author to send the reference letter from the institution, the signed "Copyright Transfer Agreement", and proof of funding within the specified time to the editorial office.

 4.3 Rejections: The journal follows a "Five-Review" process, and each review stage may result in a rejection. All rejected manuscripts will be returned through the "China Pharmacy Online Submission System."

 

5. Page Charges and Author's Remuneration

5.1 Page Charges:

Page Charges Calculation Method for China Pharmacy

The calculation of page charges for China Pharmacy primarily considers factors such as the academic value, writing quality, funding level, manuscript processing cycle, and number of pages. Specifically, the basic page charge is capped at 700 RMB per page. The academic and writing values are categorized into high, medium, and low tiers based on manuscript quality, each corresponding to different APC adjustments. The funding value offers varying degrees of discounts based on the level of funding support, from highest to lowest. The processing cycle value is calculated based on the duration from manuscript submission to the intended publication date, with appropriate reductions made for submissions exceeding a certain period. The page value is determined by the number of pages in the article, with incremental costs added for articles exceeding 5 pages. The final page charges must be confirmed and paid by the manuscript's first author, with the relevant invoice included when the journal is mailed out. Special circumstances apply: articles with the first author being an academician are exempt from page charges, for manuscripts from editorial board members or invited/soliciting manuscripts, etc., the page charges can be appropriately reduced.

5.2 Author's Remuneration: Authors of published manuscripts will be paid remuneration according to the journal's standards. The first author will also receive two copies of the current issue of the journal. As the journal is included in databases and online platforms such as China Pharmacy Network, CNKI, Wanfang Data, VIP Journal Database, and Chaoxing Database, the copyright usage fee will be included in the remuneration for articles published in the journal. If there are any objections to this, please specify during submission. The journal currently pays the remuneration through bank transfers. Authors are required to provide their bank account details and personal information promptly through the submission system.

 

6. Contact Information

Editorial Office of China Pharmacy

Address: 8th Floor, Sihuan Building, No. 129 Daping Main Street, Yuzhong District, Chongqing, China; Postal Code: 400042

Editorial Office of China Pharmacy Phone:+86 (23) 63830521, +86 (23) 63830907

New Media and Journal Affairs Department Phone: +86 (23) 68586727, +86 (23) 68586827

Online Submission Website: http://user.china-pharmacy.com

Journal Website: http://www.china-pharmacy.com

E-mail: info@china-pharmacy.com

 

 

 

Editorial Office of China Pharmacy