Pharmacotherapy is one of two journals published by Pharmacotherapy Publications, Inc. (PPI), the journal publishing arm of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy. Each year at the ACCP Annual Meeting, held virtually in 2021, PPI’s editors review the progress of the journals with their respective editorial boards and scientific/associate editors, which is followed by a report at the College’s business meeting. This column summarizes the 2021 presentation from Pharmacotherapy and provides additional updates.

The editorial policies of Pharmacotherapy are guided by PPI’s vision – “to be the leader in worldwide dissemination of cutting-edge pharmacotherapeutic and clinical pharmacy scholarship” – and mission – “to improve human health through the dissemination of pharmacotherapeutic and clinical pharmacy scholarship.” Pharmacotherapy’s 2021 record reflects progress in addressing these directives.

One of the chief metrics of Pharmacotherapy’s success in achieving PPI’s vision of being the leader in disseminating pharmacotherapeutic scholarship is the journal’s impact factor (IF), a numeric value reflecting the number of citations in other articles to publications in Pharmacotherapy. The Clarivate Analytics database used to calculate the IF includes over 8000 biomedical journals. For 3 consecutive years beginning in 2017, Pharmacotherapy’s IF exceeded 3.0. For 2020, the current year of reporting, the value was 4.705, an increase of 35% over 2019. This new record high places the journal as 75th out of the 275 journals in the pharmacy/pharmacology category. Last year, Pharmacotherapy was 83rd out of 270. In achieving this level of impact, the journal has benefited from increased worldwide marketing by its publisher, a continued increase in the number of high-quality submissions, and the contributions of a renowned editorial board and knowledgeable reviewers.

At the 2021 Virtual ACCP Member Meeting, outstanding authors and peer reviewers were recognized during the Awards and Recognition Ceremony on October 17. The Editor’s Choice Award was created to recognize outstanding manuscripts published in Pharmacotherapy. Articles were selected by the editor-in-chief in collaboration with the supporting editors and board members. The papers had to have been published in Pharmacotherapy within the previous 2 years and have the potential to provide substantial value to the readership.

The first publication to be recognized in 2021 was titled “International Consensus Guidelines for the Optimal Use of the Polymyxins: Endorsed by the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP), European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID), Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), International Society for Anti-infective Pharmacology (ISAP), Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM), and Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists (SIDP)” by Brian T. Tsuji, Jason M. Pogue, Alexandre P. Zavascki, Mical Paul, George L. Daikos, Alan Forrest, Daniele R. Giacobbe, Claudio Viscoli, Helen Giamarellou, Ilias Karaiskos, Donald Kaye, Johan W. Mouton, Vincent H. Tam, Visanu Thamlikitkul, Richard G. Wunderink, Jian Li, Roger L. Nation, and Keith S. Kaye. The reference is Pharmacotherapy 2019;39:10-39 (https://doi.org/10.1002/phar.2209). A second publication to merit the Editor’s Choice Award was titled “Kratom Use and Toxicities in the United States” by William Eggleston, Robert Stoppacher, Kyle Suen, Jeanna M. Marraffa, and Lewis S. Nelson. The reference is Pharmacotherapy 2019;39:775-7 (https://doi.org/10.1002/phar.2280).

Submitted manuscripts to Pharmacotherapy undergo a rigorous peer review process. Outstanding reviewers are nominated each year by the scientific editors and selected on the basis of the quality and timeliness of their reviews and their overall reliability. In 2021, five reviewers were recognized as Outstanding Reviewers for Pharmacotherapy: Mary Amato, Pharm.D., MPH, FCCP, BCPS (Brigham and Women’s Hospital); Eric Egelund, Pharm.D., Ph.D., AAHIVE (University of Florida); Sarah Jorgensen, Pharm.D., MPH, BCIDP (University of Toronto); Michael Ujhelyi, Pharm.D., FCCP (Tabula Rasa HealthCare); and Evan Zasowski, Pharm.D., MPH, BCPS, BCIDP (Touro University California College of Pharmacy).

Two individuals were added to the editorial board this year: Laura Ramsey, Ph.D., from the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Cincinnati, Ohio; and Emma M. Tillman, Pharm.D., Ph.D., from the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis, Indiana, bringing expertise in pediatrics, pharmacogenomics, and nutrition. A new scientific editor in 2022, Candice Garwood, Pharm.D., FCCP, BCPS, BCACP (Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Detroit, Michigan), will bring extensive expertise in anticoagulation and cardiology pharmacotherapeutics.

Pharmacotherapy consistently receives over 700 submissions/year, yet provides final decisions on these manuscripts on average in less than 30 days. The current acceptance rate is 16% of all new submissions. Consistent with the journal’s vision, more than 640,000 articles were downloaded in 2020, with 51% occurring outside the United States. This represents a 32% increase from 482,000 in 2019.

Most papers published in Pharmacotherapy are unsolicited manuscripts and include a mixture of editorials, original research articles, reviews of therapeutics, and case reports. The editors and board members are increasingly inviting submissions and identifying areas of therapeutics that would benefit from emphasis with a themed issue. In April 2021, guest editors Christina Doligalski, Pharm.D., and Lyndsey Bowman, Pharm.D., coordinated a themed issue on Solid Organ Transplantation. The latest themed issue, coordinated by William Baker, Pharm.D., and Cynthia Jackevicius, Pharm.D., will highlight Advances in Cardiovascular Pharmacotherapy.

The past year’s success of Pharmacotherapy is a cumulative result of the combined efforts of many individuals. The publisher is responsible for the production side of the journal and its marketing. Promotion of the journal’s value is a shared responsibility across the entire editorial enterprise. An essential component of this process is the willingness of authors to provide manuscripts of their best work for review. Acceptance of manuscripts that meet the journal’s rigorous editorial and scientific standards requires the work of editors and reviewers who embrace the journal’s core values. The journal’s record for 2021 reflects the commitment of all of these individuals to achieving the vision and mission that should continue in 2022.