This document is published in the January issue of each volume. Please visit http://jcp.sagepub.com and click on the “Submit a Manuscript” icon to reach these instructions at any time.

All manuscripts must be submitted online to The Journal of Clinical Pharmacology (JCP) through SAGE Track, as follows:

Accessing SAGE Track: Go to http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jocp. Please see “User Tutorial for Authors” for complete instructions on creating an account and submitting a manuscript. For further assistance, e-mail Marjory Spraycar, Editorial Manager, m.spraycar@verizon.net.

Uploading your article to SAGE Track: The manuscript should be submitted in Microsoft Word. Tables and figures, in separate files, should follow the manuscript file. Each table should include a title and appropriate footnotes. Figure legends should be included in a separate file sequenced before the figure files.

Figures should be provided in either the native file or JPEG. Please do not submit TIFF files or embed figures in the manuscript. All figures should be at least 300 dpi. When loading figures, you will be prompted to answer questions about each one. We suggest selecting the first choice to all the questions to expedite the process. If you are unsure of a question at any time, select the “Help” button found in the top right hand section of your Web browser.

When you have completed the submission, please record the manuscript number assigned. If you need further information at any time, this number will be requested. You may log back into the system periodically to see the status of your article. From your inbox, choose “My Manuscripts.”

Contributor form (formerly the copyright transfer process): After acceptance, authors will receive instructions for completing the JCP Contributor Agreement, in which they agree to grant an exclusive license to publish the work to SAGE Publications, while retaining the copyright for themselves. In the case of author-owned works, forms are completed and submitted online according to instructions sent at the time a manuscript is accepted. Authors submitting works for hire must select the checkbox “Work made for hire for employer/Work done in the course of employment” and will need to collect a company signature on a separate PDF form, which will be provided at the time of acceptance. The company-signed form must be sent as a scanned document by e-mail or fax per instructions at the time of acceptance. All submissions—whether work-for-hire or author-owned—must include a completed agreement. In both cases, only the corresponding author must sign. It is the journal’s policy not to accept any changes or addenda to the form as published.

Financial disclosure: Authors must disclose all financial involvements (including stock ownership or options that are unrelated to primary employment, consultancies, honoraria, research grants, and royalties) connected with the work or its sponsors, as well as all sources of support, including government and industry support. All information should appear on the title page of the submitted manuscript and match the information provided on item 2 of the Contributor form, Declaration of Competing Interests and Financial Disclosure. The disclosure information will be published with accepted manuscripts as Acknowledgements. If there are no disclosures, that information will be stated as well.

Editorial content: JCP publishes original papers, editorials, commentaries, therapeutic reviews, brief reports, and Letters to the Editor. Manuscripts are invited that deal with the effects of drugs in humans. These include, but are not limited to, the general categories of pharmacokinetics and drug disposition, pharmacodynamics, clinical trials and design issues, pharmacogenomics, pharmacoepidemiology, pharmacovigilence, and human pharmacology. A new area of emphasis for submissions is the validation and use of biomarkers in drug development. Articles should be clearly written and well organized. Priority will be given to new developments in the field.

SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS

Corresponding author: One author should be designated as the corresponding author to correspond with the editorial staff, receive galley proofs, and handle reprint requests. That author’s primary affiliation, complete mailing address, telephone numbers, fax number, and e-mail address should be included.

Cover letter: In a letter, describe the submission, the category in which it belongs, and its contribution to the medical literature.

Title page: Include the name and address of the corresponding author, the address for reprints, and an indication of which authors, if any, are Fellows of the American College of Clinical Pharmacology (FCP). The primary affiliations of all authors must be listed, as should any financial interest disclosures. Please provide 3 to 5 keywords on the title page. At the bottom of this page, provide the word count for the Introduction and Discussion sections, the aggregate number of Figures and Tables included, and the number of References cited in the manuscript.

Abstract: All reports except Editorials, Brief Reports, and Letters to the Editor must include an abstract of 200 words or less.

Introduction: The maximum length for original articles will be 500 words.

Table and figure preparation: Figures and tables should be numbered in the order in which they are discussed in the text. The aggregate total for original articles must not exceed six items. Excess illustrations may be provided as a supplementary file for electronic access only (see the next section). Figures submitted in color will be automatically converted to black and white for print publication; they will be converted back to color in the final online version of an article at no charge to authors. Any color used in figures should be in contrasting shades to avoid grayed out images, and mention of specific colors in figure captions should be avoided. For authors who wish pay for color printing, the charges are $800 for the first page and $200 for each subsequent page of color.

Supplementary online material: Excess illustrations or other materials may be provided to publish online only. Because supplementary material is not copyedited or typeset, it should be submitted as complete PDF files, exactly as it is to be viewed. List article title and authors (or lead author) at the top of the page, and include captions for any tables and figures, as well as any supplemental references and notes. Supplementary tables and figures should be numbered beginning with an "S" (Supplemental Table S1) to distinguish them from regular tables/figures; references to supplemental materials within the main article should also follow this numbering system.

Drug nomenclature: All drugs and therapeutic agents must be referred to by their accepted generic or chemical name. The name should not be abbreviated. Code numbers should be used only when a generic name is not yet available. In that case, the chemical name and a figure giving the chemical structure of the drug are required. A proprietary/trade name may be used one time in the “Methods” section of a report to designate a particular preparation used in a study. In Editorials or Commentaries, the Editor may elect to allow 1 parenthetical use of a trade name following the first mention of the generic name, if this is felt to be scientifically pertinent and not promotional.

Requirements for referencing analytic methods in original reports: Analytic methods that are not referenced to archived peer-reviewed publications must include specific core information, such as the detector and monitoring settings, internal standards, and assay performance parameters. Specific sample preparation details are not required, but a general synopsis is requested.

Human subject protection: It must be explicitly stated that an investigational review board (IRB) approved the study protocol, and the specific IRB should be named in the “Methods” section. For studies with large numbers of sites, such as population pharmacokinetic studies, the Editor may at his discretion append the specific sites in an online version because of space considerations. In those cases, a notation to that effect will be included in the “Methods” section of the paper.

Discussion: The maximum length for original articles is 1200 words.

References: Notation within the text should be in sequential numeric superscript. References should appear at the end of the manuscript using the format of the American Medical Association Manual of Style (10th edition) and should contain all authors of the original report unless there are more than 6 authors, in which case the first 3 authors should be listed, followed by “et al.” For original articles, the references limit is 40 citations.

REQUIREMENTS FOR OTHER SUBMISSIONS

“Brief Reports”: As above, but no abstract, fewer than 3000 words of text, and a limit of 2 (total) figures and/or tables.

Letters to the Editor: Letters for consideration may address articles previously published in JCP or issues felt to be of importance to JCP readers. Authors are urged to keep letters to fewer than 500 words, although longer letters may be accepted at the discretion of the Editor. Letters must be submitted through SAGETrack; authors must complete a copyright transfer and financial disclosure agreement, as described above.

Highlights and Book Reviews: Summaries of important papers relevant to clinical pharmacology can be sent directly to the Highlights and Book Reviews section editor or to the editorial office (m.spraycar@verizon.net) for forwarding and subsequent consideration. Summaries should be limited to approximately 250 words. Publishers should send inquiries regarding books for possible review to the editorial office for consideration.

Sponsored Supplements: Issue supplements are occasionally published, and the costs are borne by outside sponsors. Contents must undergo peer review, and final approval rests with the Editor. More information can be obtained by contacting the editorial office or SAGE Publications.

PEER-REVIEW PROCESS

Initial review: If a manuscript is selected for review, it will be sent to at least 2 reviewers. A decision will then be sent to the author through SAGE Track, generally within 4 weeks. The JCP review system is not blinded. The Editor will recuse himself from all proceedings involving manuscripts in which there is a conflict of interest for him, and the resulting process for those manuscripts will be blinded from the Editor. All attempts are made to identify potential conflicts of interest before reviewer assignment; however, reviewers should excuse themselves if an assignment with a conflict of interest is made.

Revised manuscripts: Revised manuscripts must also be submitted through SAGE Track. In the resubmission, authors must include a cover letter as well as explicit responses to reviewers’ comments in the rebuttal box in SAGE Track and two versions of the revision: one clean and one showing track changes or with changes highlighted. Revised manuscripts must be submitted within 60 days unless explicit permission for an extension is obtained from the editorial office. Other manuscripts are subject to withdrawal from the system.

Permissions: Direct quotations, tables, or illustrations that have appeared in copyrighted material must be accompanied by written permission for their use from the copyright owner (usually the publisher) and original author, along with complete information as to the source. Any photographs of identifiable persons should be accompanied by signed releases that show informed consent.

Requests for permission to reproduce material that has appeared in JCP should be submitted online to the following: http://www.sagepub.com/permissions.nav. Written requests may be sent to SAGE Publications, 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320.

OTHER POLICIES

Advertisements: All advertisements are reviewed for suitability of content. However, the Editorial Board is not aware of advertisements before their appearance in the Journal.

Announcements: JCP will publish official notices of interest to the members of the American College of Clinical Pharmacology.

Reprints: Authors will receive a schedule of reprint costs with galley proofs. More information regarding reprints can be obtained from Barbara Eisenberg, Commercial Sales Specialist, SAGE Publications, 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320; phone: 805-410-7763; fax: 805-499-8096; e-mail: reprint@sagepub.com.

Inquiries: All inquiries regarding manuscripts that have not yet been published should be submitted by e-mail to Marjory Spraycar, editorial manager, at the following address: m.spraycar@verizon.net; fax: 410-321-1456.

The journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).