A medical journal which is held in high esteem, the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology (BJCP) is published on behalf of the British Pharmacological Society and contains papers, articles and reviews relating to drug actions relating to humans.
The BJCP is geared towards a professional readership but bridges the gap between different areas of the field such as the pharmaceutical industry, clinicians and researchers. It covers a wide range of subjects relating to pharmacology and aims to educate and stimulate debate.
Readership and Editorial Board
The BJCP is widely recognised as one of the prominent publications for the industry, securing a position as a leading source of information for professionals in the field.
Unlike some other medical journals, the BJCP isn’t aimed exclusively at either scientists or medical professionals, instead covering subjects from angles which are relevant to both. The content is read by academic pharmacologists as well as those in practising clinical pharmacology posts within the NHS and elsewhere. Pharmacists, scientists, physicians and researchers all are also included within the established readership.
The editorial team consists of professionals from all over the world in countries where research is considered to be high-quality. International contributors are also welcomed; this reflects the international denomination of the readership.
This focus on global editorial input and contribution ensures there’s a diverse flavour to the publication which broadens the knowledge of the audience.
The BJCP is available in print as well as digitally. It is a subscription service but it is possible to view a limited amount of content for free.
Content and themes
The BJCP accepts submissions on all subjects relating to pharmacology, providing they are of an acceptable standard. Content typically comes under one of the following headings:
- Drugs
- Clinical trials
- Medicinal chemistry
- Pharmacodynamics
- Pharmaceutical medicine
- Pharmacokinetics
- Clinical pharmacology
- Pharmacology
- Toxicology
- Therapeutics
Although contributors are welcome to submit under any of the above headings, there are times when a request is sent out for particular subjects. These may be issues which are currently under debate or controversial, or simply where knowledge needs to be enhanced and grown.
Some issues of the BJCP also have a certain theme; recent issues have included:
- Cannabinoids and clinical pharmacology
- Recent advances in nutraceutical space
- Antidotes in Clinical Toxicology
There are specific guidelines for submission of articles; these can be found online in more detail. However, broadly speaking, any papers submitted must be original and not published elsewhere other than as an extract. Examples of the content accepted includes:
- Research articles
- Review articles
- Mini-reviews (no more than 2000 words)
- Commentaries
- Letters to the Editor
Relevance
The impact factor is a set of criteria which is used by many professional publications to measure the significance and relevance, particularly when compared to others in the same field. The result is arrived at following a complicated calculation which is based on the number of articles and the citations which are used in any year.
This measurement ensures that publications which produce a large number of papers are not given an unfair advantage because the score is a reflection of the citations in relation to the volume.
Although it’s recognised that the impact factor does have some imperfections, it’s generally accepted as a trustworthy measure of the worthiness of a publication and its relevance to the professional community.
The impact factor for the BJCP is 6.81 which is an outstanding score for the publication. The Journal Citation Reports publishes the full list of scores relating to 12,000+ journal. For context, only the top 5% score higher than 6. This puts the BJCP above 95% of other professional journals for relevance.
Another popular measure used is the Article Influence score. This assesses the impact of an article for the following 5 years after its published. A score of more than 1 is considered to be above average; the BJCP Article Influence Score is 1.382.
Some of the most cited articles within the BJCP in recent years include:
- Experimental design and analysis and their reporting: new guidance for publication in BJP
- Animal research: Reporting in vivo experiments: The ARRIVE guidelines
- The Concise Guide to PHARMACOLOGY 2015/16: Enzymes
- Principles of early drug discovery
The founding organisation
The British Pharmacological Society (BPS) is an international organisation, despite the inference of the name. With 60 countries represented among its 3300 members, it’s a truly global body with contributions for all corners of the world.
Originally established in 1931, the BPS is a registered charity and aims to promote pharmacology across a variety of spaces including academia, regulatory agencies, industry and the health service. It is considered one of the leading voices in the application and research of pharmacology globally.
Membership of the BPS provides free access to the BJCP and its sister publication, the British Journal of Pharmacology.