About
The American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy (AJHP) is the official publication of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP). It publishes peer-reviewed scientific papers on contemporary drug therapy and pharmacy practice innovations in hospitals and health systems. With a circulation of more than 43,000, AJHP is the most widely recognized and respected clinical pharmacy journal in the world.
Vision
AJHP is the premier source for impactful, relevant, and cutting-edge professional and scientific content that drives optimal medication use and health outcomes.
Mission
The mission of AJHP is to advance science, pharmacy practice, and health outcomes.
Articles in AJHP are abstracted and indexed in PubMed and many other scientific databases. The views expressed by authors of contributions in AJHP do not necessarily reflect the policy of ASHP or the institution with which the author is affiliated unless this is clearly specified. Policy statements and official positions of ASHP are clearly labeled as such. Authors, reviewers, editorial board members, contributing editors, and AJHP editors are required to declare potential conflicts of interest regarding manuscripts submitted for publication.
AJHP Section and Columns
The AJHP sections that include unsolicited papers are described here for readers, prospective authors, and reviewers. Not every section is represented in every issue.
Word limits, which appear after Section and Column names, refer to the major text and do not include the abstract, reference list, or key points. Allowances for graphics (tables or figures) are in addition to word limits and refer to the estimated final size in the printed journal. For every page of the graphics allowance not used, 600 more words of the text are allowed (except in Letters).
Sections of AJHP
Clinical Reviews (4,000 words plus 3 pages of graphics): Literature reviews that focus primarily on a drug or disease and its treatment, with emphasis on pharmacotherapy. Drug reviews are detailed, analytic reviews of the clinical use of new drugs. Evaluative literature reviews are preferred to reviews that are simply descriptive.
Therapy Updates (4,000 words plus 3 pages of graphics): Concise analytic reviews of narrowly defined, important topics in pharmacotherapy; not intended to be comprehensive reviews of drugs or of diseases and their treatment. Articles that focus on new or emerging standards in drug therapy receive priority.
Clinical Consultations (4,000 words plus 3 pages of graphics): Brief advice on how to handle specific drug therapy problems. The answers are based on a systematic review of the literature that focuses on the specific question.
Case Reports (2,500 words plus 2 pages of graphics): Articles that (1) describe unusual drug reactions or pharmacotherapy-related issues or uses, or (2) provide valuable information particularly for teaching purposes. Cases encountered by clinical practitioners, residents, or students, and referred to drug information centers may be especially appropriate. Papers should clearly present the case and include all pertinent and appropriate patient information, establish a causal relationship with objective measurement, explain the case’s contribution to the literature, and describe how the lessons from the case can be applied.
Primers (4,000 words plus 3 pages of graphics): Intended as introductions to various fields of knowledge that are of interest to pharmacists in health systems. Can be reviews of basic information in areas related to the pharmacy (e.g., pharmaceutics or physiology) or those further from the mainstream of pharmacy (e.g., advances in non-drug healthcare technology).
Reports (Clinical Research Reports, Practice Research Reports, descriptive reports) (3,500 words plus 3 pages of graphics): Articles that (1) report original research, including clinical research on the effects of drugs in humans, surveys, drug stability studies, and evaluations of innovative pharmaceutical services and (2) describe (without substantive evaluations) innovative pharmaceutical services.
Notes (2,500 words plus 2 pages of graphics): Includes (1) practical innovations or solutions to everyday practice problems, (2) updates or elaborations on work previously published by the same authors, (3) confirmations of research findings previously published by others, and (4) short research reports, including practice surveys, of modest scope or interest. The text should be concise, and the number of references, tables, and figures should be limited.
Case Studies (3,500 words plus 3 pages of graphics): Approaches to managing practice-related problems in health systems. Problem-solving, not hypothesis testing, is emphasized.
Commentaries (2,000 words plus 2 pages of graphics): Well-reasoned expressions of opinion on issues related to drug therapy, clinical research, the role of pharmacists in society, or healthcare (especially policy matters related to pharmaceutical services and to the therapeutic use of drugs).
Medication-Use Technology (3,500 words plus 3 pages of graphics): Describes experiences with and implications of new technologies applied in the medication-use process, including but not limited to computerized prescriber order entry, barcoding, electronic medical records, and other automation. Papers should focus on selection, planning, implementation, resources, integration of existing information, and lessons learned.
Pharmacy Abroad (2,000 words): Brief, informal, and topical communications related to the pharmacy in other countries. Contributions from pharmacists who live or have traveled abroad are welcome.
Reflections (2,000 words): Short contributions about the non-technical sides of life. Satirical writings, literary pieces, histories, and essays about family life, work, nature, art, literature, entertainment, travel, or modern society. Submissions are evaluated mainly for the quality of the writing.
AJHP Columns
Letters (750 words plus 1 page of graphics, but no additional text allowed if graphics not used): A forum for rapid exchange of ideas among readers of AJHP. Liberal criteria are applied in the review of submissions to encourage contributions to this column. The Letters column includes the following types of contributions: (1) comments, addenda, and minor updates on previously published work, (2) alerts on potential problems in practice, (3) observations or comments on trends in drug use, (4) opinions on apparent trends or controversies in drug therapy or clinical research, (5) opinions on public health issues of interest to pharmacists in health systems, (6) comments on ASHP activities, and (7) human interest items about life as a pharmacist. Reports of adverse drug reactions must present a reasonably clear description of causality. Short papers on practice innovations and other original work are included elsewhere in AJHP.
The following conditions must be adhered to: (1) the body of the letter must be no longer than two typewritten pages, (2) the use of references and tables should be minimized, (3) the number of authors should be no more than three, (4) the authors’ names, affiliations, and mailing addresses must be typed at the end of the letter in the format used by AJHP, and (5) the entire letter (including references, tables, and authors’ names) must be typed double-spaced.
Alternative Therapies (2,000 words plus 1 page of graphics): Short reviews of herbals and other “nutraceuticals” for which there is some scientific evidence of effectiveness.
Frontline Pharmacist (2,000 words plus 1 page of graphics): Provides pharmacists an opportunity to share their experiences and pertinent lessons related to day-to-day practice. Topics include workplace innovations, cooperating with peers, communicating with other professionals, dealing with management, handling technical issues related to pharmacy practice, and supervising technicians.
Informatics Interchange (2,000 words plus 1 page of graphics): Provides readers an opportunity to share their experiences with information technology in pharmacy. Topics should focus on the use of information technology in the medication use process, informatics pearls, informatics education and research, and information technology management.
Management Consultation (2,000 words plus 1 page of graphics): Provides readers with advice, in question-and-answer format, on common management problems from pharmacists practicing in health systems. Questions should be narrow in scope, such that they can be answered in approximately 500 words.
New Practitioners Forum (2,000 words plus 1 page of graphics): Features articles that address the special professional needs of pharmacists early in their careers as they transition from students to practitioners. Authors include new practitioners or others with expertise in a topic of interest to new practitioners.
Pharmacy Student Forum (2,000 words plus 1 page of graphics): Features articles that address the unique needs of students throughout the school as they transition into new practitioners. Authors include students and others with expertise in a topic of interest to students.
Q & A (2,000 words plus 1 page of graphics): Features ASHP staff responses to inquiries from pharmacists in health systems. Through this column, more practitioners can benefit from the answers prepared by the staff. The column may also include answers solicited from others, including government agencies such as OSHA, FDA, and DEA.