Instructions For Authors

INTRODUCTION

Hong Kong Pharmaceutical Journal (HKPJ) is the official publication of the Pharmaceutical Society of Hong Kong, the Practising Pharmacists Association of Hong Kong and the Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Hong Kong. It is a journal of the pharmacists, for the pharmacists and by the pharmacists. The Journal is currently divided into several sections: Editorial Comment; News & Short Communications; Pharmacy Practice; Drugs & Therapeutics; Primary Care, Over-the-Counter & Health; Herbal Medicines & Nutraceuticals; Pharmaceutical Technology and New Products. It publishes review articles or original papers relevant to these different fields of pharmacy. In addition to the regular three issues of the Journal per year, there are issues dedicated solely to reports on special function of the society. The Aims and Scope of the Journal are published on the inside back cover of each issue.

Submission of Manuscript

Submission of a paper implies that it has not been published previously, that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, and that if accepted it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in English or in any other language, without the written consent of the publisher. Authors are specifically discouraged from submitting papers as fragmented studies of a particular topic. A manuscript must be indicated which section it is belonged. Upon received, it will be screened by a Sectional Editor of HKPJ for initial consideration before it is sent out for further review or comment.

 

For submission:

Authors are encouraged to submit manuscripts to the editorial committee of HKPJ via editor@hkpj.org. In creating the electronic version of their manuscript, authors are requested to follow the guidelines for submitting files. The paper should be submitted as a single file, prepared with a standard word-processor such as Microsoft Word, with embedded tables and graphics. Please note that any embedded graphics must also be submitted as separate, original files. The preferred formats for graphics files are tiff or postscript. All correspondence between Editor and author is performed by email. Authors are reminded that the copyright of their article or paper is automatically transferred to HKPJ once it is accepted for publication in the journal.

Suggested Referees

Please submit, with your manuscript, the names and addresses of two potential referees. You may also mention persons who you would prefer not to review your paper.

Editorial Authority

The Editors of HKPJ reserve the right to make alterations to manuscripts submitted for publication. Such alterations will be made if manuscripts do not conform with the accepted scientific standards or if they contain matter which in the opinion of the Editors is unnecessarily verbose or unclear. Alterations may be queried, but this will inevitably delay publication.

Preparation of Manuscript

The manuscript is required to be written in English, with numbered pages, single-spaced, using suitable font, and in a suitable word-processing format. Please do not use options such as automatic word breaking, justified layout, double columns or automatic paragraph numbering (especially for numbered references). However do use bold face, italic, subscripts, superscripts etc. The Editors reserve the right to adjust style to certain standards of uniformity. If authors are unfamiliar with HKPJ, they should consult a recent copy (or the free online sample copy available from www.pshk.hk) to see the conventions currently followed for guidance in preparing submissions. For more information on any of the requirements, please contact editor@hkpj.org

The content of manuscripts must be arranged as follows: (1) Title Page with authors name(s) and address(es); (2) Abstract; (3) 4 to 6 Key Word Index, (4) Introduction, (5) Methods; (6) Results; (7) Discussion; (8) Conclusions or Concluding Remarks; (9) Acknowledgments; (10) References and (11) Legends, Formulae, Tables and Figures.

TITLE PAGE and AUTHOR NAMES:

Titles must be as brief as possible, consistent with clarity, and should not exceed 10 words in length. Author names should be typed right underneath the article title. Each author should identify himself or herself with Surname in capital letters, followed by the first name. An asterisk should be placed following the name of the author to whom correspondence inquiries should be made. Full postal addresses must be given for all co-authors. Superscript letters; a, b, c should be used to identify authors located at different addresses.

 

An Author’s background box at the end of each article is mandatory to include the author’s job title and the affiliated institute or organization. Full details of telephone, fax numbers and e-mail address should also be indicated for the corresponding authors. No academic or professional membership title is allowed.

ABSTRACT:

The abstract should be on a separate page and briefly describe the results obtained and conclusions reached, not the methods used, or speculations on any other matter. They are not expected to be a complete summary but only an outline of the main findings. The abstract should be contained within 250 words and should be readable without reference to the rest of the paper.

KEY WORDS:

Authors must give four to six “key words” or phrases, which identify the most important subjects covered by the paper.

INTRODUCTION

should give the minimum historical data needed to give appropriate context to the author’s investigation and its relationship to other similar research previously or currently being conducted. Specific term (genus, species, authority) of all experimental works must be given at first mention and preferably be in the form adopted by the International Scientific Community.

METHODS:

These should be described in sufficient details to leave the reader in no doubt as to how the results are derived. Statistical analysis and power calculation (if applicable) should be included here. Chemical nomenclature, abbreviations and symbols must follow IUPAC rules. Whenever possible, avoid coining new trivial names; every effort should be made to modify an existing name.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION:

These sections should be carefully prepared with discussions of the results being compared with existing and/or previous knowledge within the field.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:

This section is used to provide brief credit for scientific and technical assistance, and in recognition of sponsorship through financial support and any other appropriate form of recognition. References: All publications cited in the text should be presented in a list of references following the text of the manuscript. In the text refer to the author’s name (without initials) and year of publication (e.g. “Since Peterson (1993) has shown that ...” or “This is in agreement with results obtained later by Kramer.(4)” For two authors both authors are to be listed, with “and” separating the two authors. For more than two authors, use the first author’s surname followed by et al.

REFERENCES:

Authors are responsible for the accuracy and completeness of their references and for correct text citation. The list of references should be arranged according to the order of their appearance in the text. HKPJ uses Vancouver style references, as outlined in the ICMJE sample references.

ILLUSTRATIONS:

All illustrations should be provided in camera-ready form, suitable for reproduction (which may include reduction) without retouching. Illustrations (figures, tables, etc.) should be prepared for either single or double column format. For online submission illustrations should be included in the manuscript and also be submitted separately as high resolution files.

Illustrations should be drawn on separate pages and prepared with good contrast (black on a white background). Lettering in tables, figures, etc: lettering in formulae, figure axes etc. must be large enough to be legible after reduction. Chemical drawings should be drawn according to convention.

Tables must be typed on separate pages, numbered consecutively, given a suitable caption and arranged to be viewed vertically. Tables should not duplicate results presented elsewhere in the manuscript (e.g. in graphs).

Half-tone photographs must have good contrast. Original photographs (or high resolution graphic files of at least 500 dpi) must be supplied as they are to be reproduced. Please note that photocopies of photographs are not acceptable. Authors are encouraged to submit their works in colour as there is no charge for colour print.

Errata and Corrigenda to publish articles will be included, at the discretion of the Section Editors and the publisher.

There is no page charges for HKPJ.

Proofs and Articles in Press

Proofs will be despatched via e-mail to the corresponding author, by the Publisher and should be returned with corrections as quickly as possible, normally within 48 hours of receipt. Proofreading is solely the author’s responsibility. Authors should ensure that corrections are returned in one communication and are complete, as subsequent corrections will not be possible. Any amendments will be incorporated and the final article will then be published online as an Article in Press.

Copyright

Upon acceptance of an article, Authors will be assumed to transfer copyright unconditionally to HKPJ. This transfer will ensure the widest possible dissemination of information. 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.

Author enquiries

For enquiries relating to the submission of articles (including electronic submission) please send your query by email to editor@hkpj.org

HKPharmJ

Tel: 23763090

Email: editor@hkpj.org

Room 1303, Rightful Centre, 12 Tak Hing Street, Jordon, Kowloon, Hong Kong