C. Lindsay DeVane, Pharm.D., FCCP, BCPP
Editor-in-Chief, Pharmacotherapy

The American College of Clinical Pharmacy has over 17,000 active members, and its membership is growing substantially each year. Like in most professional organizations, an important part of ACCP’s mission is to develop the skills and education of its members. Diverse approaches are used to boost competencies and promote professional certification. ACCP’s member support includes sending e-mail notifications and announcements and sponsoring regional and national meetings. In addition, a primary means of disseminating new knowledge to members is through the publication of official journals.

The publication of Pharmacotherapy, the first official journal published by ACCP, was overseen by Pharmacotherapy Publications, Inc. (PPI) during most of its 37 years. PPI is the corporate arm of ACCP that is responsible for publishing its official journals. Since 2012, however, the journal has been published monthly on behalf of ACCP by John Wiley & Sons, a prestigious international publisher of over 1200 biomedical journals and numerous books that represents over 900 professional organizations with millions of members. ACCP’s affiliation with an established biomedical publisher like Wiley has many benefits.

Authors submit manuscripts to Pharmacotherapy through the software portal of Scholar One, which facilitates the editorial process, including that of peer review, manuscript revision, copyediting, and production, and greatly reduces the workload of Pharmacotherapy’s editor-in-chief and scientific editors, who currently receive over 700 new submissions a year. Indeed, with this software, Pharmacotherapy’s editors have achieved a turnaround time of less than 30 days from the initial submission to the first editorial decision for manuscripts undergoing a full peer review.

In addition, the Wiley-maintained Pharmacotherapy website provides access to accepted, unedited articles published online before the final edited and typeset manuscripts appear in a specific issue. A free mobile app can be downloaded to read Pharmacotherapy on an iOS or Android device. Archives of all published papers since the first volume in 1981 can be accessed online. Additionally, many web-based resources and tutorials are available to assist authors and reviewers. For example, Wiley partners with Kudos, a web-based service that helps authors promote their publications and measure their impact.

ACCP’s affiliation with a prominent international publisher like Wiley gives Pharmacotherapy a presence in numerous markets around the world that would not otherwise be easily accomplished. The journal is included in bundled subscription plans to libraries in multiple countries, promoted through displays at meetings, and distributed to selected audiences as virtual issues. These efforts contribute to a growing number of full-text downloads each year outside the United States and increase awareness of ACCP’s activities and the work of its authors who publish in Pharmacotherapy.

ACCP will soon launch its second official journal, the Journal of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (JACCP). Together, the two journals will allow ACCP to better meet the specialized needs of clinical pharmacists and the larger pharmacotherapy community of professionals. As with Pharmacotherapy, ACCP and PPI have entered into an agreement with Wiley to publish JACCP. This positive development ensures that the benefits from affiliating with a prominent biomedical publisher will apply to both of ACCP’s official journals.