Guide for Authors
The Journal of Pharmaceutical Chemistry (JPC)
1. Introduction
The Journal of Pharmaceutical Chemistry (JPC) welcomes the submission of original, scientifically rigorous, and ethically conducted research that advances knowledge in pharmaceutical chemistry and related disciplines. The journal provides a scholarly platform for disseminating significant findings in medicinal chemistry, drug discovery and development, the synthesis and characterization of bioactive compounds, computational chemistry, molecular modelling, pharmaceutical analysis, and molecular pharmacology.
Authors are encouraged to ensure that their manuscripts demonstrate scientific originality, methodological rigour, appropriate interpretation of results, and clear relevance to the journal’s aims and scope.
Before submitting a manuscript, authors should familiarise themselves with these guidelines and the journal’s policies on publication ethics, authorship, peer review, conflicts of interest, research ethics, copyright, and the responsible use of generative artificial intelligence.
2. Types of Manuscripts Accepted
JPC considers the following categories of scholarly contributions:
2.1 Original Research Articles
Original research articles should present substantial, novel findings supported by appropriate experimental, theoretical, computational, or analytical evidence. Manuscripts should clearly establish the research rationale, describe the methodology in sufficient detail for reproducibility, present the results objectively, and discuss their significance in relation to existing scientific knowledge.
Suggested length: 4,000–8,000 words.
2.2 Review Articles
Review articles should provide a critical, comprehensive, and well-structured synthesis of the literature on a significant topic within pharmaceutical chemistry or a related discipline. Reviews should identify emerging developments, evaluate conflicting evidence, discuss methodological limitations, and highlight important directions for future research.
Suggested length: 6,000–10,000 words.
2.3 Short Communications
Short communications should report concise but significant findings, innovative chemical methodologies, or preliminary research results of sufficient scientific interest to warrant timely dissemination. Claims must be proportionate to the evidence presented, and the manuscript must contain enough methodological information to permit meaningful evaluation.
Suggested length: 2,000–3,500 words.
The stated word limits are proposed editorial guidelines. Authors should consult the current submission instructions for any category-specific requirements.
3. Manuscript Preparation and Formatting
Manuscripts should be written in clear, precise, and grammatically correct English. Authors should use consistent scientific terminology, standard chemical nomenclature, appropriate SI units, and internationally recognised conventions for presenting chemical and pharmaceutical data.
Manuscripts should be prepared in an editable Microsoft Word document (.docx), unless the submission system specifies an alternative format. Tables, figures, equations, abbreviations, and references must be presented consistently throughout the manuscript.
Authors should ensure that the manuscript is complete, logically organised, and carefully proofread before submission.
3.1 Title Page
The title page should contain:
· A concise, informative, and scientifically accurate title.
· The full names of all authors in the agreed order of authorship.
· The institutional affiliations of all authors.
· The ORCID iDs of authors who have them.
· The official institutional or professional email address of the corresponding author.
· The name and contact details of the corresponding author.
· Any relevant acknowledgements, funding information, or other declarations required by the journal.
All authors must have made an appropriate scholarly contribution, approved the submitted manuscript, and agreed to be accountable for their contributions and the integrity of the work.
3.2 Abstract
The abstract should provide a concise, self-contained summary of the study, normally between 150 and 250 words. It should identify the research background or problem, the principal objective, the essential methods, the most important findings, and the main conclusion.
Authors should avoid unsupported claims, unnecessary abbreviations, extensive methodological detail, and references that are not essential to understanding the study.
3.3 Keywords
Provide four to six keywords that accurately represent the principal subject areas, methods, and findings of the manuscript.
Keywords should complement rather than merely repeat the title. Where appropriate, authors should use established scientific terminology to improve the discoverability of their work.
Examples include Medicinal Chemistry, Drug Discovery, Molecular Docking, ADME Prediction, Bioactive Compounds, and Molecular Dynamics Simulation.
3.4 Main Text
Original research articles should ordinarily follow the structure below, adapted as necessary to suit the nature of the study.
Introduction: Establish the scientific background, identify the knowledge gap, explain the rationale for the investigation, and state the study objectives or hypotheses. Relevant literature should be critically evaluated and appropriately cited.
Materials and Methods: Describe the materials, reagents, instruments, experimental procedures, computational protocols, analytical methods, and statistical approaches used. Provide sufficient detail to permit independent evaluation and, where appropriate, reproduction of the work.
For chemical synthesis, report relevant reaction conditions, purification procedures, yields, and supporting characterization data. For computational studies, specify the software, versions, parameters, computational settings, validation procedures, and relevant limitations.
Results: Present the findings in a logical and objective manner. Use tables, figures, equations, and supplementary materials where these improve clarity. Avoid duplicating the same information unnecessarily across the text, tables, and figures.
Discussion: Interpret the results in the context of existing literature, explain their scientific significance, address discrepancies and limitations, and distinguish experimentally supported conclusions from hypotheses or computational predictions. The Results and Discussion sections may be combined when appropriate.
Conclusion: Summarise the principal findings and their significance without repeating the abstract verbatim. Identify relevant limitations and future research directions where appropriate. Therapeutic or clinical implications must not exceed what the evidence supports.
3.5 Declarations
Authors should include the following statements, as applicable:
· Conflict of Interest: Disclose financial, professional, personal, or other relationships that could reasonably be perceived to influence the research. If no relevant conflicts exist, provide an appropriate declaration.
· Funding: Identify all sources of financial support, including grant names and reference numbers where applicable. If the research received no external funding, state this explicitly.
· Author Contributions: Describe individual contributions using the CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) where appropriate.
· Acknowledgements: Recognise contributions from individuals or organisations that do not meet the criteria for authorship, with their permission where necessary.
· Ethics Approval and Consent: Provide the relevant approval details and consent statements for research involving human participants, identifiable personal data, animals, or other regulated research activities, as applicable.
· Data Availability: State where supporting data can be accessed or explain any legitimate restrictions on their availability.
· Generative AI Use: Disclose material use of generative AI or AI-assisted technologies in manuscript preparation or research, in accordance with JPC's applicable AI policy.
Authors must ensure that all declarations are accurate and consistent with the manuscript and the information entered into the submission system.
3.6 References
References must be accurate, complete, and relevant to the claims they support. Authors should verify bibliographic information against the original publications and include a DOI whenever one is available.
The journal should specify one official reference style for consistent formatting. Until that style is formally established, authors should follow the instructions provided by the editorial office rather than treating ACS and Vancouver styles as interchangeable requirements.
References should be cited consistently in the text and listed in the required order. Authors must not include fictitious, unverifiable, or AI-generated references that have not been checked against reliable sources.
4. Chemical Structures, Figures, Tables, and Supplementary Materials
4.1 Chemical Structures and Reaction Schemes
Chemical structures, reaction schemes, and molecular representations must be chemically accurate, legible, and consistent with accepted scientific conventions. Authors should use suitable chemical drawing software, such as ChemDraw or an equivalent application, and maintain consistent formatting throughout the manuscript.
Structures should accurately represent bond connectivity, stereochemistry, formal charges, isotopic labels, and other chemically significant information. Compound numbering must correspond consistently across the text, figures, tables, and supplementary information.
4.2 Figures and Image Quality
Figures should be clear, legible, appropriately labelled, and suitable for publication. Authors should provide high-resolution image files and editable source files where requested.
As a general technical recommendation, raster images should normally be supplied at a resolution of at least 300 dpi at the intended publication size. Vector formats are preferable for line drawings, chemical structures, and certain diagrams when supported by the submission system.
Permitted file formats may include TIFF, PNG, JPEG, PDF, or other formats specified by the journal. Authors should confirm the current technical requirements before submission.
Figure captions should explain the content of each figure, define relevant abbreviations and symbols, and provide sufficient information for readers to understand the figure without repeatedly consulting the main text.
4.3 Tables
Tables should have concise, informative titles and clearly labelled columns. Units, abbreviations, statistical measures, and relevant experimental conditions should be explained in the table or its footnotes.
Tables should be submitted in an editable format rather than as screenshots wherever possible. Results must be reported accurately, and the same data should not be reproduced unnecessarily in multiple formats.
4.4 Supplementary Materials
Supplementary materials may include additional experimental procedures, NMR and IR spectra, mass-spectrometric data, chromatograms, computational details, molecular docking outputs, molecular dynamics analyses, datasets, code, and other supporting information.
Files should be clearly labelled, appropriately referenced in the main manuscript, and checked for completeness and consistency. Authors must ensure that supplementary files do not contain confidential information or material that they lack permission to publish.
5. Peer Review and Editorial Assessment
JPC applies a double-blind peer-review process, under which authors and reviewers are not identified to one another during the review process, subject to the journal's established procedures and any applicable exceptions.
To support anonymous review, authors should remove identifying information from the main manuscript and check document properties and file metadata. Author names, affiliations, acknowledgements that reveal identity, and other identifying details should be provided separately in the title page or designated submission fields.
All submissions are subject to an initial editorial assessment for relevance, originality, completeness, methodological quality, ethical compliance, and adherence to the journal's requirements. Manuscripts considered suitable may be sent to independent reviewers with relevant expertise.
Peer review does not guarantee acceptance. Editorial decisions are based on the available evidence, reviewers' assessments, the journal's standards, and the editor's independent judgment.
6. Publication Ethics and Research Integrity
JPC expects all submitted work to comply with recognised principles of research integrity and responsible scholarly publishing.
Authors must ensure that their submissions:
· Represent original work and appropriately acknowledge prior research.
· Have not been published previously in a form that constitutes duplicate publication and are not under simultaneous consideration by another journal, except where explicitly permitted by the journal.
· Do not contain plagiarism, fabricated data, falsified results, deceptive image manipulation, or misleading attribution.
· Include appropriate ethical approval and consent documentation where required.
· Accurately disclose funding, conflicts of interest, and author contributions.
· Comply with applicable copyright, licensing, privacy, and data-protection requirements.
Suspected breaches will be assessed in accordance with the journal's publication-ethics procedures. Where appropriate, JPC may request clarification, supporting data, corrections, or further documentation, or take other proportionate editorial action.
7. Plagiarism and Similarity Screening
Submitted manuscripts may be screened using similarity-detection tools as part of the journal's editorial assessment.
A similarity score alone does not establish plagiarism or misconduct. Editors must assess the nature, source, context, and extent of overlapping material, taking appropriate account of legitimate quotations, technical terminology, references, and methodological descriptions.
Authors are responsible for ensuring that all sources are properly acknowledged and that any reused text, figures, tables, or other material complies with applicable attribution and permission requirements.
8. Generative Artificial Intelligence Policy
JPC permits responsible use of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies, subject to its applicable AI policy.
AI systems must not be listed as authors. Authors remain responsible for the accuracy, originality, validity, and integrity of all submitted content, including material generated or modified using AI.
Material AI assistance in drafting, rewriting, translating, generating figures, or conducting research must be disclosed where required by the journal's policy. AI used as part of the research methodology should be described in the relevant Methods section with sufficient technical detail.
AI must not be used to fabricate data, generate fictitious references, misrepresent experimental findings, conceal plagiarism, or manipulate scientific images deceptively. Authors must independently verify AI-assisted claims, references, calculations, chemical structures, and research interpretations.
9. Copyright, Open Access, and Licensing
JPC provides open access to its published content in accordance with the journal's applicable publishing and licensing arrangements.
Before submission, authors should consult the journal's current copyright and licensing policies to understand the applicable terms governing publication, distribution, reuse, and author rights.
Authors must ensure that they have the necessary permissions for third-party material and that any applicable licence conditions are satisfied.
Open access should not be interpreted as automatic permission for unrestricted reuse of every published item. The specific licence and copyright terms applicable to an article should be consulted before its content is reused.
10. Submission Procedure
All manuscripts should be submitted through the journal's official online submission system.
Authors should complete the following steps:
1. Register or log in: Create an account on the JPC website or access an existing account.
2. Start a new submission: Select the appropriate manuscript category and complete the required submission fields.
3. Enter manuscript information: Provide the title, abstract, keywords, author details, affiliations, and other requested metadata.
4. Upload manuscript files: Submit the de-identified main manuscript, separate title page where required, figures, tables, and supplementary files.
5. Complete declarations: Provide the necessary information concerning authorship, funding, conflicts of interest, research ethics, and AI use, as applicable.
6. Review and confirm: Check the uploaded files and entered information before formally completing the submission.
Authors should retain a copy of all submitted files and the confirmation of submission.
The editorial office may return incomplete submissions for correction before they proceed to editorial assessment.
11. Pre-Submission Checklist
Before completing a submission, authors should confirm that:
· The manuscript falls within the aims and scope of JPC.
· The work is original and is not simultaneously under consideration elsewhere, unless an explicitly permitted exception applies.
· All authors have approved the submitted version and agreed to the authorship order.
· The manuscript follows the applicable formatting and structural requirements.
· The abstract, keywords, figures, tables, and references are complete and accurate.
· Chemical structures, analytical data, and computational methods are reported appropriately.
· The main manuscript is de-identified for double-blind review.
· All necessary declarations and ethics approvals are included.
· Material AI use has been disclosed where required.
· Permissions for third-party material have been obtained where necessary.
· All supplementary files are complete and correctly identified.
12. Contact and Technical Support
For questions concerning manuscript preparation, submission requirements, or the online submission process, authors should consult the journal's official website and contact the editorial office through its verified contact details.
Journal: The Journal of Pharmaceutical Chemistry (JPC)
Publisher: AK Verion Press
Official website: https://ojs.test71.xyz/index.php/JPC/JournalofPharmaceuticalChemistry
Authors are encouraged to ensure that their submissions are complete, transparent, scientifically rigorous, and consistent with JPC's editorial and ethical standards before submission.
We appreciate the contributions of researchers and pharmaceutical scientists whose work advances knowledge in pharmaceutical chemistry, drug discovery, and related disciplines.
