Experts recently published an article, The Granada Statements, to discuss how journals can strengthen pharmacy practice as a scientific discipline. The paper, created by a group of clinical and social pharmacy practice journal editors, contains 18 recommendations to increase the visibility and quality of new research.
“[The statements] will promote the visibility of pharmacy and peer reviewed journals, the visibility of pharmacy practice, the impact of the of the research that we had, and its exposure, to lay press to other professions and to improve the research that was ultimately published in pharmacy practice,” said Shane Desselle, RPh, PhD, FAPhA, professor of social and behavioral pharmacy at the Touro University California College of Pharmacy, in an interview with Pharmacy Times.
The statements can be broken down into 6 categories: appropriate use of terminology, impactful abstracts, required peer reviews, journal scattering, effective use of publication performance metrics, and appropriate selection of the best pharmacy practice journal.
Pharmacy Times: Call for Papers
Pharmacy Times Oncology EditionTM and Pharmacy Times Health-System EditionTM are seeking to expand our current coverage offerings to include peer reviewed research about clinical topics and treatment of different disease states.
The publications are seeking to focus more on a wide range of therapeutic categories in the oncology and health-system pharmacy space to help educate readers and translate innovative clinical discoveries into improved health outcomes for patients. This new focus on clinical research seeks to accelerate adaptation of new therapeutics, techniques, and technologies from the publication’s pages to the clinical setting.
The clinical manuscripts sought will examine different treatments for and management of the different disease states and pharmacologic interventions. Of particular interest are papers that highlight the role of the pharmacist within the overall health care team and provide insight into the impact pharmacists have on patient outcomes. These submissions will be peer-reviewed and published in upcoming editions of Pharmacy Times Oncology Edition and Pharmacy Times Health-System Edition.
Some clinical topics of interest include:
- Transitions of Care
- Immuno-oncology
- Hematology
- Breast Cancer
- Lung Cancer
- Leukemia/Lymphoma
- Ovarian Cancer
- Melanoma
- Head and Neck Cancer
- Antimicrobial stewardship
- Cardiovascular disease
- Renal disease
- Metabolic disease
- 340B
- Biosimilar adoption
- Immunizations
- HIV and pre-exposure prophylaxis
To send in research paper submissions or if you have any questions, please email Davy James (djames@pharmacytimes.com) or Alana Hippensteele (ahippensteele@mjhlifesciences.com).
The appropriate use of terminology in publishing
Within appropriate use of terminology are 2 statements—first, clinical and social pharmacy practice researchers establish a commonly accepted and consistent glossary. Additionally, standardized terminology should be used in published pharmacy practice and social pharmacy articles.
Impactful abstracts
Under impactful abstracts, clinical and social pharmacy practice researchers should use existing medical subject headings (MeSH) terms in titles and abstracts, and that the affiliated reviewers and journal ensure that authors included the most appropriate MeSH terms.
Required peer reviews
Researchers, educators, supervisors, journal editors, publishers, and peer reviewers in clinical and social pharmacy practice can improve systems of peer review by reducing the duration of the publication processes; increasing researcher involvement in the peer review process; mentoring students to serve as peer reviewers; balancing an editor’s articles submitted for external peer review with desk rejected articles; rewarding the efforts of peer reviewers; and giving constructive, quality reviews to peer reviewers within proper timeframe.
Journal scattering
Statements in this category push clinical and social pharmacy practitioners to increase efficient peer review, whereby researchers should prioritize pharmacy practice and social pharmacy journals for their “best” paper; educators and supervisors promote pharmacy practice journal centeredness among their students; and journal editors choose to prioritize clinical and social pharmacy practice articles.
Using the metrics wisely
These statements suggest that clinical and social pharmacy practice researchers use individual-based metrics to assess the performance, researchers consider the importance of the references in their published papers and bibliographies, educators and supervisors educate undergraduate and postgraduate students in the responsible use of metrics, and stakeholders consider broader bases of metrics to connote quality and achievement.
Selecting the most appropriate pharmacy practice journal
Lastly, statements in this category emphasize that clinical and social pharmacy practice journal editors help authors select the most appropriate journal to submit their scholarly work early in the process. Additionally, authors should heed the advice and direction coming from journal editors, editorial boards, and reviewers to improve the quality of their work and team morale.
Conclusion
Pharmacy practice is a scientific discipline that looks at the varying practical aspects of pharmacy and its impact on health care systems, medicine use, and patient care. Although the practice has undergone many changes over the years, there has not been a concrete way to identify social and clinical practices within the entire discipline.
The Granada Statements, named after the editors’ meeting place, aim to reinforce social and clinical pharmacy practices as a scientific disciple and improve publication patterns. They will help to “establish appropriate expectations for how to go about reporting their research findings and ultimately getting them published,” and can be especially useful to new student researchers, Desselle said.
“By attracting the best papers that we possibly can into pharmacy practice journals, it helps those pharmacy practitioners who are involved in research, and it helps the whole discipline,” Desselle said in the interview.
Reference
Fernandez-Llimos F, Desselle S, Stewart D, et al. Improving the Quality of Publications in and Advancing the Paradigms of Clinical and Social Pharmacy Practice Research: The Granada Statements. Pharmacy Education, 23(1), p. 109–117. https://doi.org/10.46542/pe.2023.231.109117
