Welcome to the PDA Journal of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology (PDA JPST) “Author Resources” page!
Note: If you have not submitted to the PDA JPST before, please read the information on this page. If you are familiar with the process, please click here to proceed with your Submission.
Click on the links below to navigate through the topics on this page.
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Editorial Policies
PDA JPST welcomes manuscripts on the science and technology involved in pharmaceutical/biopharmaceutical manufacturing and quality, with an emphasis on parenteral products and sterile processing. We particularly want to encourage a breadth of scope ranging from small molecules (i.e., pharmaceuticals) to large proteins, from cell substrates (i.e., biopharmaceuticals) to final sterile product processing and filling. Articles addressing emerging areas like cell and gene therapies, also known as “advanced therapeutic medicinal products” (ATMPs), are particularly encouraged.
Author Responsibilities
Any manuscripts submitted to the PDA JPST must be an original work, one that has not already been published or is currently under consideration by another journal. By submitting to PDA JPST, the authors are taking public responsibility for the legality and originality of the work.
Authors must include a "Conflict of Interest Declaration" as part of each submission in which they must declare any financial or nonfinancial competing interests related to the manuscript. In the published paper, this information will be listed following the conclusion. This declaration in no way affects the scientific peer review; it is solely intended to ensure that any competing interest is fully disclosed.
If there are no competing interests, authors can write “The author(s) declare that they have no competing interests.”
NOTE: Authors will be asked to submit a signed Copyright Transfer Agreement (CTA) form prior to publication (after peer review). This is required, and your manuscript will not be published until the CTA is received. If the Corresponding Author can sign for all coauthors, he/she can submit it. If not, each author needs to submit a separate CTA.
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Pre-Submission: How Do I?
This section will guide you through the various elements of creating a manuscript acceptable for submission to PDA JPST, including the various article types, how to set up the manuscript, and choosing recommended reviewers.
How Do I Select a Manuscript Type?
In general, manuscripts in PDA JPST are categorized based on the criteria listed in the table below. Please read and select the type that most closely matches your manuscript. The chosen classification will appear in the printed manuscript above the manuscript title.
NOTE: The Editor retains the right to reclassify the manuscript should it be deemed to better fit a different category. Authors should understand this action, as this process is subjective to some degree. At the BenchPress Submission and Review website, there is a "PDA Paper" option; this category is reserved for task forces working specifically with PDA staff. Do not select this Article Type unless instructed to do so.
Manuscript Type |
Description |
Specifications |
|---|---|---|
Editorial |
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|
Letter to the Editor |
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Commentary |
|
|
Original ResearchPapers |
|
|
Technology Application,Including Case Studies |
|
|
Reviews |
|
|
Meeting Proceedings |
|
|
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How Do I Prepare My Manuscript?
NOTE: All manuscripts submitted to PDA JPST must be original works that have not been published previously and have not been submitted for publication elsewhere. Material borrowed from another source must include a reference to that source. Material directly duplicated from another source must be in quotation marks (“quote") and referenced. Any graphics, figures, photos, tables, equations, etc., taken from another source must be licensed to the author(s) by the original owner of such materials.
Body/Text
NOTE: All manuscripts must be clearly written in English, without grammatical and spelling errors. Authors are encouraged to use an editorial service (e.g., AJE or Editage), a scientific style guide (e.g., The ACS Style Guide), a peer editor (e.g., colleague), or a combination thereof, to help ensure the high quality of their writing.
All text in manuscripts, including tables, must be submitted in the following format (variation may cause delays):
- Created in Microsoft Word, 12-point type, double-spaced, 1” or 1.5” margins, aligned flush left (NOT justified), using Times New Roman, Courier, Helvetica, or Arial type font.
Present the manuscript content in the following order:
- Title Page including:
- Manuscript title that is concise and descriptive
- List of authors, including full names and organization affiliations
- Name and contact information for the Corresponding Author, including address, phone number, and affiliation email address
- Abstract Page (300 words maximum) with Keywords (6-8 relevant, searchable terms)
- Content
- Acknowledgements (if any)
- Conflict of Interest Declaration (see Editorial Policies)
- References (see References)
- Tables, labeled with table numbers and titles (see Tables)
- Figure Captions, labeled with figure numbers and titles (see Figure Captions and Figures)
- Figures (see Figure Captions and Figures)
NOTE: Do not use abbreviations in the title or abstract and limit their use in the text. Expand all abbreviations at first mention in the text. Pages should be numbered consecutively, except for the pages of tables, figure captions, and figures.
Research articles should include the following sections: Statement of objectives or hypothesis, materials and methods, results, discussion, and conclusion.
Footnotes
Footnotes to material in the text should be indicated by superscript Arabic numerals (e.g., sodium chloride1).
References
The PDA JPST follows The ACS Style Guide for references; other styles will be accepted only if the citations are complete and consistent.
Literature citations should be identified by bold-face Arabic numerals in parentheses (e.g., Smith and Jones (1) found that….) and numbered consecutively in the order in which they are cited.
Authors are responsible for ensuring references are correct and complete:
- Journal articles must include the name(s) of author(s), title of the article, journal name, year, volume number, and page number(s) (e.g., RI Gross, Testing of Laminar Flow Equipment, J Pharm Sci Technol, 1978 Jul-Aug; 32(4), 174-81).
- Books must include the author(s)’ surname(s) and initials, title of the book, volume, edition, name of publisher, place of publication, year of publication and, if relevant, page number(s) (e.g., Havener, WH. Ocular Pharmacology, 3rd ed.; C. V. Mosby: St. Louis, Mo., 1974, p.18).
- Any “in press” articles that are included in the list of references should be made available to the editorial office, if requested.
Tables
Tables should be submitted on a separate page following the references.
Tables should be well organized and carefully constructed to provide clarity of the data.
Tables should be created using the “Insert\Table” function or copied from a spreadsheet (not aligned using tabs, spaces, or returns).
Data presented in tables should not repeat data given in figures.
All tables must be referenced in the body of the manuscript and numbered consecutively using Roman numerals (e.g., Table I, Table II, etc.).
Each table should be identified by table number and a brief, descriptive title.
If a table should appear in color, it should be submitted as a high-resolution graphic file (see Figure Captions and Figures).
Figure Captions and Figures
Figure captions must be listed on a separate page of the manuscript, following the tables, and identified by number and title.
All figures must be referenced in the text of the manuscript and numbered consecutively using Arabic numerals (e.g., Figure 1, Figure 2, etc.).
- Figures should be submitted as separate files in the BenchPress Submission and Review website (see “How/Where Do I Submit My Manuscript” below). Figures should not appear in the text of the manuscript.
IMPORTANT: Figures must be of high resolution (minimum 300 dpi) and in one of the following file formats: GIF, TIFF, EPS, or JPEG. NOTE: Blurry, pixilated, or oversized figures cannot be processed and will be returned to the Corresponding Author.
Figure files must be named according to their number in the text (e.g., Figure 1.jpg, Figure 2.tiff, etc.).
A picture of a table is NOT a figure; the table must be referenced and labeled as a table; however, any table that should appear in color must be submitted as a graphic file.
All figures should be printed on a separate page at the end of the manuscript, labeled accordingly (Figure 1, Figure 2, etc.), and marked with an arrow indicating the top of the figure.
All symbols, notations, and axis labels must be large enough to be legible when reduced for publication; a four-fold reduction is a useful guide.
All drawings must be illustrated in black lines on a white background.
Authors are responsible for obtaining the necessary permissions for all reproduced figures, tables, or text from works that have already been published. Written permission must be obtained from the publisher (copyright owner) of a journal or book. As a professional courtesy, obtaining permission from the author is also encouraged.
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How Do I Recommend Potential Reviewers?
Authors must recommend at least three qualified reviewers for peer review; ultimately, however, the selection of reviewers will be at the discretion of the Editor.
Qualified reviewers should not be from the same company/organization/institution/university as the author(s), have had prior contact with the author(s) about the manuscript, or have any other conflicts of interest that would bias the peer review.
Reviewers will be entered into the required field in the the BenchPress Submission and Review website (see "How/Where Do I Submit My Manuscript?" below).
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How/Where Do I Submit My Manuscript?
ALL authors must use the BenchPress Submission and Review website, which requires registration. PDA JPST has prepared detailed instructions to help authors navigate through this process. Author records for all authors (name, institution, and email) must be complete before a manuscript will be processed; only the email of the Corresponding Author appears on the article. To ensure a successful submission, author(s) must follow the submission instructions provided in the “PDA JPST Online Submission Guide.” Notes and tips (denoted with the icon 
) are provided throughout the process.
The following elements of your submission must be entered in the fields provided in the submission tool (i.e., the following fields are required):
- Manuscript Details
- Select article type
- Title (NOTE: The title must also be included in your text submission, per the instructions above.)
- Keywords (Note: The keywords must also be included with the abstract, per the instructions above.)
- Cover Letter addressed to the Editor, to include:
- Complete contact information for the Corresponding Author (affiliation, postal address, email address, telephone number)
- Reason you chose JPST
- A brief summary of the article, highlighting anything unique or important about your work
- Any other information you want to relay about your manuscript
- Reviewer Suggestions
- Authors
- Files Metadata
- Enter number of manuscript pages
- Enter number of figures
- Enter number of figure pieces
- Enter number of tables
- Files
- Upload manuscript
- Upload files for figures
The following are key aspects of the submission process that routinely stymie successful submission, causing unnecessary and frustrating delays:
- Failure to paste the cover letter into the field provided. NOTE: Please do not include your cover letter in the file with your manuscript; you must cut and paste it into the field provided on the Submission website.
- Choice of manuscript type not listed (see How do I Select a Manuscript Type?)
- Names and contact information of no fewer than three and up to six recommended reviewers into the online submission form. To ensure a fair and objective review process, preferred reviewers must not be from the authors’ institutions and must not be contacted prior to submission.
- Failure to write an abstract and provide keywords
- Complete package of manuscript in Microsoft Word format and figures in high resolution (no less than 300 dpi) GIF, TIFF, EPS, or JPEG format. More detailed information is provided in the "Figures Captions and Figures" section.
To visit the BenchPress Submission and Review website, click here.
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Post-Submission: What Should I Expect?
Editorial Review
NOTE: Once a manuscript is successfully submitted, all communications will be conducted through the BenchPress Submission and Review website. Authors will be notified by email upon receipt of their successfully submitted manuscript and of all subsequent editorial and review decisions. During the review process, authors can check the status of their submitted manuscripts on the BenchPress Submission and Review website. Authors should not disclose to anyone, except coauthors and contributors, the fact that their manuscript has been submitted without first obtaining permission from the Editor.
All successfully submitted manuscripts are first inspected for completeness to determine if the submission contains all the components listed in “How/Where Do I Submit My Manuscript” and that each element meets the requirements defined in the table of "Manuscript Types." The Editor reviews the manuscript and decides if the editorial and review process will proceed, and may assign oversight of the peer review to an associate editor, who sits on the PDA JPST Editorial Board. Authors will be notified at any point in the process if their manuscript is rejected and for what reason.
Editors evaluate manuscripts on the following criteria:
- Topic relevant to the PDA JPST Mission and Vision
- Topic of general interest to PDA JPST readers
- Originality and importance of information to industry
- Clear, concise, and quality writing, with few grammatical and spelling errors
Manuscripts that do not meet the above criteria are rejected promptly.
Peer Review
Manuscripts submitted to the PDA JPST are routinely vetted by subject matter experts through a single-blind peer-review process, that is, peer reviewer identities are kept confidential (unless reviewers choose to reveal their names in their formal reviews), while author identities are made known to reviewers. This ensures that articles are scientifically rigorous and meet the high standards of this publication. Reviewers examine a submission to determine if the research methodology is sound, the data is valid, and the conclusions are reasonable and supported by the information provided. Reviewers also determine the timeliness and relevance of the material, provide feedback to the author based on their own expertise and experience, and question any areas of the content that may need clarification or elaboration.
Only peer reviewers and the editorial staff know that a manuscript is under review. Peer reviewers are required to maintain confidentiality about the manuscripts they review and may not reveal any information about a specific manuscript or its content to a third party without prior permission from the PDA JPST editors.
Appeals
Authors may appeal decisions. All appeals are reviewed by the Editor-in-Chief on a case-by-case basis, or by a designated editor if the Editor-in-Chief is recused from the review. The decision made after appeal is final.
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Publication Process
Manuscripts accepted for publication following peer review go through the process described below. On average, papers are published in one of the six editions of the PDA JPST issued each year within three to five months of their acceptance.
NOTE: In the initial acceptance email, you will be asked to submit a signed Copyright Transfer Agreement (CTA) form. This is required. Your manuscript will not be published until the CTA has been received.
Accepted Articles
Once your manuscript has completed the editorial and peer-review process, has been accepted for publishing, and the CTA has been received, authors have the option of allowing their paper to be published in the “Accepted Articles” portion of the PDA JPST website. Accepted Articles are the final peer-reviewed version of the manuscript that are published without any formal copyediting or formatting. In other words, it will appear exactly as submitted after peer review. Accepted Articles are assigned a “digital object identifier” (DOI), which makes them fully citable. Once the manuscript is published as a final article in an edition of PDA JPST, the Accepted Article will be removed from the website.
NOTE: Authors must choose to have their manuscript published in the Accepted Articles section when submitting their manuscript (see “How/Where Do I Submit My Manuscript”). By doing so, authors agree that no edits will be made to this version, with NO EXCEPTIONS.
Editing
All manuscripts published in PDA JPST are professionally edited for style, although authors are responsible for the quality of their writing (see “How Do I Prepare My Manuscript?”). The Corresponding Author will be notified if changes are made to their manuscript that require review. Authors are required to conduct such review within the timeframe specified (usually two days) or risk delaying publication of their final manuscript.
Typesetting
Once edited, the manuscript is sent for typesetting and coding. The Corresponding Author will be sent a PDF file of the typeset proof for review. Authors are required to make timely reviews and corrections to the typeset proof within the timeframe specified (usually two days) or risk delaying publication of their final manuscript.
Publication
Manuscripts will be published in the next issue of PDA JPST following typesetting, usually within 45 days.