Specialty Sections

Pediatric, Adolescent, & Maternal Therapeutics

This section provides an international forum for dialogue on matters regarding the tolerability and effective drug therapy in neonates, infants, children, adolescents, and pregnant or lactating women. Manuscripts dealing with the developmental and genetic basis for drug responsiveness are highly encouraged. Because of the rapid publication process, time-sensitive topics are of particular interest. Published manuscripts include review articles, original contributions, brief reports, and commentaries. All manuscripts are peer reviewed for clinical relevance, technical accuracy, clarity, and objectivity.

Published manuscripts include:

Pediatric and maternal clinical trials, including pharmacoeconomic studies
Reviews discussing the unique characteristics of pregnant women, fetuses, children, and adolescents regarding the drug development process
Studies of pediatric and maternal formulations
Pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic modeling studies involving pediatric and pregnant patients
Objective measures of responses in pediatric and maternal patients (eg, quality of life)
Therapeutic and/or toxic-effect monitoring in pediatric and pregnant populations (eg, case control, cohort, etc)
Adverse events in pediatric and pregnant patients
Attitudes or actions of parents or family members and/or pediatric and pregnant patients involving the use of therapeutic interventions
Developmental pharmacology studies (human or animal)
Developmental physiology studies (eg, taste, pulmonary function, skin absorption) relating to pediatric and maternal therapeutics
Ethics of studies in pediatric and pregnant patients, including the informed consent process
Clinical trial designs for pediatric and pregnant patient populations
Studies in neonates, infants, children, adolescents, and pregnant or lactating women
Developmental and genetic basis for drug responsiveness

Pharmaceutical Economics & Health Policy

This section features articles on economic evaluation, health outcomes, and policy issues related to drug therapy. Published manuscripts include review articles, original contributions, brief reports, and commentaries. Because of the rapid publication process, time-sensitive topics are of particular interest. All manuscripts are peer reviewed for clinical relevance, technical accuracy, clarity, and objectivity. Specific research topics that are being targeted for publication include, but are not limited to:

Economic Evaluation

Cost-effectiveness analyses and cost-benefit analyses of pharmaceuticals and health technologies
Validations and applications of health economic models
Methodologic advances and applications (eg, probabilistic sensitivity analysis; budget impact analysis)
Impact of compliance on cost-effectiveness
Critical assessments of economic evaluations within therapeutic classes
Claims data analyses: applied health services research that examines determinants of health care costs

Health Outcomes and Comparative Effectiveness

Health technology assessments (HTAs)
Development/validation of health outcomes assessment tools in the evaluation of pharmaceutical interventions
Longitudinal analyses of health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL) assessments in pharmaceutical trials
Studies addressing patient-reported outcomes (PROs)
Comparative effectiveness reviews

Health Policy and Evidence-Based Medicine

Evaluations of utilization-management strategies (eg, formularies, tier copays)
Evaluations of clinical evidence for disease state management
Evaluations of the impact of direct-to-consumer advertising
Studies that provide insight into physician prescribing behaviors
Health disparities research and program evaluations of community-based interventions
Evaluations of compliance programs or comparisons of compliance profiles across drugs

Pharmacokinetics, Bioavailability, & Bioequivalence

This section features pharmacokinetic studies conducted to assess the bioavailability of newly developed drugs and/or alternative formulations (eg, tablets vs capsules, extended release vs immediate release), or the bioequivalence of generic and branded pharmaceuticals or alternative formulations, often for the purposes of marketing authorization. Manuscripts from industry or academia and featuring studies in healthy volunteers of both sexes are encouraged. Studies must comply with the requirements of the US Food and Drug Administration, European Medicines Agency, or other corresponding regulatory agencies. Because of the rapid publication process, time-sensitive topics are of particular interest. All manuscripts are peer reviewed for clinical relevance, technical accuracy, clarity, and objectivity.

Download Tips for Submitting Bioequivalence Studies for manuscript preparation instructions.