Policies

INNOVATIONS in pharmacy

INNOVATIONS in pharmacy is an open-access, web-based journal. Manuscripts accepted for publication are posted on the website immediately upon final acceptance. There are no submission or article processing charges. As an open-access journal, INNOVATIONS in pharmacy does not require authors to transfer full copyright ownership to the journal as a condition of publication. Authors will grant a nonexclusive license in their work to INNOVATIONS in pharmacy and the University of Minnesota Libraries. Such a license gives INNOVATIONS in pharmacy and the Libraries the necessary rights to publish, distribute, archive, and preserve the work. However, since the license is non-exclusive, all rights will still belong to the creator, who may make any use they wish and may grant other licenses as desired. The result of this license agreement is that the author, INNOVATIONS in pharmacy, and the Libraries will each have broad rights to the work. 

Submission Guidelines

Anyone may submit an original article to be considered for publication in INNOVATIONS in pharmacy provided the author(s) owns the copyright to the work being submitted or is authorized by the copyright owner or owners to submit the article. Authors are the initial owners of the copyrights to their works (an exception in the non-academic world to this might exist if the authors have, as a condition of employment, agreed to transfer copyright to their employer).

Submitted articles cannot have been previously published or forthcoming in an archival journal or book (print or electronic). Please note: "publication" in a working-paper series does not constitute prior publication. In addition, by submitting material to INNOVATIONS in pharmacy, the author is stipulating that the material is not currently under review at another journal (electronic or print) and that they will not submit the material to another journal (electronic or print) until the completion of the editorial decision process at INNOVATIONS in pharmacy. If you have concerns about the submission terms for INNOVATIONS in pharmacy, please email the editors at schom010@umn.edu.

Authorship confers credit and implies responsibility and accountability. INNOVATIONS conforms to the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals of the ICJME. To that end, authorship is based on four criteria: 1) substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND 2) drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content, AND 3) final approval of the version to be published, AND 4) agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved. All those designated as authors should meet all four criteria, and all who meet the criteria should be designated as authors. Those who do not meet all four criteria should be acknowledged.

Manuscript Submission

Manuscripts are invited in the following topic areas:

  • Community Engagement
  • Education
  • Formulary Evaluations
  • Leadership
  • Pharmacy Practice & Practice-Based Research
  • Policy

A wide variety of article types are accepted for peer-reviewed publication:

  • Book Reviews
  • Case Studies
  • Clinical Experiences
  • Commentary
  • Idea Papers
  • Instructional Tool
  • Letters
  • Notes
  • Original Research
  • Review Articles

The cover page of a manuscript should include the title, authors and institutions, abstract (250-300 words), and keywords. In addition, please include statements related to acknowledgments, funding/support, and conflicts of interest. If there is nothing to disclose in any of these categories, please list the category and state none (e.g., Conflicts of Interest: None). All submissions to Pharmacy Practice & Practice-Based Research are to have numbered lines and pages. All submissions to Education should follow the section's descriptions.

There are no page limits for manuscripts. For ease in communicating, the manuscript should include page numbers. Tables and Figures should be included in the manuscript document. If this is problematic, they may be submitted as separate files. It is preferred that references be identified by number and listed in numerical order using a standard style (e.g., AMA). Upon receipt, the editorial team will coordinate peer review using national and international experts. Feedback regarding the status of the manuscript will be given within 45 days of manuscript submission.

As an open-access, web-based journal, we encourage authors to be innovative and creative in disseminating their work. We gladly accept manuscripts that include web links, appendices, novel methods, and creative supporting materials.

Manuscript Management

  1. Submission. All manuscripts should be submitted through the INNOVATIONS manuscript management system.
  2. Internal Review. Manuscripts are received by the chair of the editorial management team and assigned to an editor. The editor internally reviews all manuscripts for suitability to the journal, clarity of the Innovation, fit to the Topic Area, fit to the Article Type, and conformity to scholarly and reporting standards. Following this review, corresponding authors may be contacted with questions or requests. Authors may also be notified that the journal does not wish to pursue publication of the manuscript.
  3. Peer Review. After completing the internal review process, manuscripts are sent to external peer review. Reviewers are asked to disclose conflicts of interest and follow the COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers. The reviewer's identity is not revealed to the author or other reviewers.
  4. Publication Decisions and Revisions. Most decisions are made within 45 days of receipt of the manuscript, with notifications made via email. Most manuscripts require revisions before they are accepted. Using feedback from the peer reviewers and staff editors, authors receive revision instructions in the decision letter. Revised manuscripts should be submitted through the manuscript management system with a point-by-point response to the reviewers’ and editor’s comments.
  5. Appeals. The chair of the editorial management team reviews all appeals in consultation with the management team. To appeal a decision, a letter must be submitted to schom010@umn.edu explaining the reason behind the appeal. A response will be returned within two weeks.
  6. Editing. Once accepted, all manuscripts are edited for content and overall presentation, not merely for grammar and correct style. During editing, authors should be prepared for further revisions. Requested revisions at this stage may address presentation, completeness, clarity, and/or balance. Revisions may also include stylistic changes to conform with scholarly guidelines and journal standards. Corresponding authors are required to ensure the accuracy of the final, edited version. They must consult with all co-authors or obtain their advance authority to approve the final version on their behalf.
  7. Layout. Once the editing phase is completed, the article is placed into layout. The corresponding author is responsible for proofreading the final materials carefully. In this phase, authors may correct errors in data or problems created due to typesetting. Discretionary or non-error-related changes are discouraged.
  8. Publication. Manuscripts are published to the journal website shortly after the layout approvals are complete. The electronic Table of Contents is emailed to subscribers quarterly. The journal may promote articles on its social media outlets.
  9. Corrections. Honest errors are a part of science and publishing and require a correction when detected. INNOVATIONS follows the ICMJE guidelines on publishing corrections. The journal will work with the authors to post a correction notice detailing changes from and citing the original publication when a correction is warranted. The correction will appear on the electronic print page and appear in the next Table of Contents. In addition, a new article version will be posted with prominent notes on previous versions indicating that there is a more recent version.
  10. Retractions. Misconduct, inappropriate methodology, or errors serious enough to invalidate a paper’s results and conclusions may require retraction. INNOVATIONS follows the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Retraction Guidelines and the ICJME Recommendation on Retractions and Expressions of Concern.

Warranties and Statements

In exchange for publishing the work in Innovations, the authors represent and warrant that they are the sole creators of the work and owners of all rights, titles, and interests in and to the work, including the complete and undivided copyright interest to the work. The authors represent and warrant that they have not granted any person any interest, including permissions, licenses, or assignments, in the work that conflicts with the rights, titles, and interests granted here. To each author's knowledge, the work does not infringe the copyright or other intellectual property rights of any person nor defame, slander, or libel any person nor invade the privacy or other like rights of a person. The authors represent and warrant that they either have express written permission to any third-party content used in their submission to or that they have a good-faith belief that the works they are using are in the public domain, that their use is fair use, or that they are using works under an appropriate Creative Commons (or other open-content) license.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST STATEMENT

Authors must declare any conflicts of interest that may affect the information, research, analysis, or interpretation presented in the manuscript. The cover page of the manuscript should disclose any conflicts of interest. A conflict of interest exists when professional judgment concerning a primary interest (such as the validity of the research) may be influenced by secondary interests (such as financial gain). If there are none to declare, please indicate “Conflicts of Interest: None” on the manuscript's cover page. Additional information on Conflicts of Interest is available for downloading through the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). Although INNOVATIONS does not require this form, it may assist authors in identifying conflicts: http://www.icmje.org/conflicts-of-interest/.

TREATMENT OF HUMAN SUBJECTS

The author affirms that an Institutional Review Board (IRB) has reviewed research projects which involve human subjects to ensure that two broad standards are upheld: first, that subjects are not placed at undue risk; second, that they give uncoerced, informed consent to their participation.

TREATMENT OF ANIMAL SUBJECTS

When animals are used in research, the journal requires written confirmation that the research was approved by an institutional animal care and use committee. The article should contain a description of the research protocols and methods used and the research standards set by the institutional or national guides for the care and use of laboratory animals.

If you have questions or concerns about any of the above statements, please email the editors at schom010@umn.edu.

Copyright and Use of Articles

All articles published in Innovations in Pharmacy are distributed with a Creative Commons Noncommercial Attribution (CC BY-NC 4.0) license meaning that authors hold the copyright to their work. This also means that users have the right to share or adapt the article, as long as the author(s) and source are cited and the use is for noncommercial purposes. Permission is not needed for these noncommercial uses. 

For permission for other uses or questions about use, please contact the author(s) or editors at schom010@umn.edu.

Copyright

The author(s) retains their copyright in their work.

General Terms and Conditions of Use

Users of the website and/or software agree not to misuse the service or software in any way.

The failure to exercise or enforce any right or provision in the policies or the Submission Agreement does not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. If any term of the Submission Agreement or these policies is found to be invalid, the parties nevertheless agree that the court should endeavor to give effect to the parties' intentions as reflected in the provision, and the other provisions of the Submission Agreement and these policies remain in full force and effect. These policies and the Submission Agreement constitute the entire agreement between and the Author(s) regarding submission of the Article.

Open Access Policy

Innovations in Pharmacy provides immediate open access to its content, which means that all content is freely available without charge to the user or their institution. This also means that Innovations in Pharmacy does not charge article processing fees. All articles are licensed under a Creative Commons Noncommercial Attribution license (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Self-Archiving Policy

The copyright of each article belongs to the author(s) and grants each author the right to deposit the article in their institutional repository or any suitable subject repository, provided they do not contravene the requirements of the CC license associated with the article.