Submissions

Author Guidelines

Purpose

This journal is devoted to enable an official recognition of research in the field of synthesis and analysis of organic and organoelement compounds, analogues of natural compounds and therapeutic substances used in medicine, veterinary, and agriculture; contribute to professional communication between medicinal chemistry specialists; and spread the main scientific findings of undergraduate and graduate works written by PhD students and academic candidates. The Journal covers the achievements of Ukrainian and global scientific community in modern medical treatment technology, as well as in rehabilitation and sports medicine.

Scope

Section “Medicinal chemistry”

1. Development of new methods of synthesis, significant improvements in the existing methods
2. Development, synthesis, and biological evaluation of new biologically active compounds, diagnostic agents, or marker ligands used as pharmaceuticals
3. Analysis and standardization of biologically active compounds and dosage forms
4. Chemistry of natural compounds, pharmacognosy
5. Experimental and clinical pharmacology. The effect of molecular structure on drug distribution, pharmacokinetics, and metabolomic transformation of biologically active compounds
6. Technology of medicinal products
7. Organization of pharmaceutical business, management, and marketing, medical and pharmaceutical law

Section “Issues in Medicine and Biology”

1. Modern concepts/technologies of diagnosis and treatment
   2. Human physiology, sports medicine, and physical rehabilitation

Manuscript categories

1. ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Research articles must be structured according to the international standard IMRAD (https://www.ansi.org/) and contain the following compulsory elements: Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusions, References. Length of the main text part of the article should be between 11 and 60 thousand characters with spaces. The count of cited works should not exceed 20 sources.

Title. Must be as short as possible; however, it should clearly reflect the content of the work. Only commonly accepted abbreviations may be used. It is suggested to avoid using contentless words, e. g. “study,” “investigation,” “observation,” etc. Chemical compounds, biological species, and similar subjects involved in the work should be included in the title; it also applies to countries and/or specific regions. English translation of the title should not contain transliterated words except for personal names and untranslatable titles of equipment and other objects with specific names; untranslatable jargon should also be avoided. These recommendations apply to the abstract and keywords as well.

Last and first name of the author(s). An author’s contribution is highlighted by adding a specific letter next to their last name and initials : A – research concept and design; B – data acquisition; C – data analysis and interpretation; D – article writing; E – article editing; F – final approval of the article. Full name of the institution, at which the work was conducted, city, and country should be provided (in the case when authors are affiliated to different institutions, author’s last name and their affiliation are designated with digits ¹, ², ³);

Abstract. Must be structured according to IMRAD, should follow the structure of the article, complement the title, be short, complete, contain no abbreviations, citations, or images. Length of abstracts in Ukrainian and English must be 1800-2000 characters (with spaces) each. Graphical abstract is a single, concise, and visual summary of the main findings of the article. It can represent a conclusion of the article, or be a figure specially designed for this purpose, which demonstrates the article content at a glance. Graphical abstract should allow readers to quickly understand the message of the article, which is intended to improve web page visits, contribute to interdisciplinary science, and guide readers to works relevant to their field of knowledge faster. The authors must provide a graphical abstract that clearly represents the work. Graphical abstract, article title, and author list and information should be uploaded to the system in a separate document during the submission process.

Keywords. Should not repeat words from the title, must complement and specify the title. Five to six keywords or phrases must be provided. English equivalents of the keywords for scientific publications must be checked with the descriptors in МeSH (Medical Subject Headings) thesaurus, which serves as the main linguistic source for integrated library systems.

Introduction highlights the current state and significance of the problem, shows the place of the research within the frame of the known. It defines the importance of the problem, demonstrates the novelty of the research, and pinpoints the scientific gap, which is filled by the presented work. Introduction should clarify the purpose or work hypotheses (not more than three hypotheses per article). Introduction should start with the general problem, which is further narrowed down into the specific subject of the article. The last paragraph must concisely reflect the point of the article without repeating the abstract.

Materials and methods must ensure that the experiment is reproducible and should contain: methods of laboratory or field experiment; the volume of data used for analysis (sample size); the description of statistical methods applied to the data with specification of the software used for data processing. It should be stipulated whether the population is normally distributed. This section should comprise two subsections, first of which describes the collected material or the conducted experiment, whereas the second one specifies the methods of analysis used.

Authors are obliged to ensure ethical standards during work with animals according to the European Convention for the Protection of Vertebrate Animals used for Experimental and Other Scientific Purposes of 18.03.1986. Reviewers will pay close attention to the adherence to ethics by the authors; violation of ethics may be the ground for excluding the manuscript from consideration.

Credibility of data and statistical analysis. The number of observations in comparison groups must be sufficient for conducting a reliable statistical analysis. Replicated measurements from one sample are not considered as independent studies; in this case, the obtained results must be averaged into one value before statistical analysis. Information regarding the number of technical replications (measurements from one sample) performed must be included in methods of research.

Randomized controlled trials are favored, although cohort, cross-sectional, and case-control studies are also allowed.

Statistical data must be checked for compliance with the law of normal distribution, according to which the form of data representation and methods of its processing are selected. Parametric methods should be applied if the data is normally distributed; in other cases, non-parametric methods must be used.

At the beginning of the section, instruments used for characterization of the synthesized compounds should be specified. Sources which all uncommon reagents have been obtained from must be cited, i. e. commercial providers or literature data on their synthesis.

Every paragraph that describes synthesis should begin with systematic name (IUPAC) of the product followed by the number of the structure assigned in the discussion section. Proof must be provided for all new compounds sufficient for stating both their identity and purity (homogeneity). In particular, elemental analysis or high-resolution mass spectrometric data complemented with ¹Н and ¹³С spectra must be provided. In the case of known compounds synthesized using new or modified approach, physical and spectral characterization results used for structure identification must be demonstrated along with the method of synthesis and references to literature. If in a reviewer’s or editor’s opinion characterization of the new compounds is insufficient, the manuscript may be rejected. However, an editor may accept the submission lacking all necessary characterization of the new compounds if, in their opinion, the presented data is sufficient for stating the identity of the compounds.

The description of the synthesis method employed for each compound should be written in simple past tense (“was boiled,” “was precipitated,” etc.). Quantities of reagents should be expressed in both mass and molar units, e. g. “2-bromophenol (0,103 g, 1,0 mmol).” Whole and fractional numbers should be divided by decimal coma. Compound yield must represent the weighed amount of individual and purified products and should be expressed as a mass and in percent from theoretical value. Whole numbers are favored, e. g. “The yield is 93 mg (78%)” instead of “The yield is 0,093 g (78%).” Elements in molecular formulas must be arranged according to Chemical Abstracts System (CAS): C, H, and then all other elements in an alphabetical order. Formulas of molecular adducts and salts are presented using the middle dot, e. g. “C₆H₁₂N₂ · 2HCl.” When flash- or thin-layer chromatography has been used, stationary phase and the eluent must be specified.

Data on compound characterization should be presented in the following order.

Melting and boiling points. Melting point must be expressed as a temperature interval complemented with the description of appearance of each crystalline solid and the solvent, from which it has been recrystallized (also with literature data for known compounds), e. g. “yellow needles, mp 76–78 °C (EtOH), (mp 77–80 °C (i-PrOH)¹²).” The same applies to liquids, i. e. boiling point and appearance must be specified, e. g. “colorless oil, bp 127­–128 °C (10 mmHg).”

IR and UV spectra. Must contain frequencies of the characteristic absorbance bands, their intensities or their logarithmic equivalents (for UV spectra) along with conditions, in which the spectra were read.

IR spectrum (thin layer or KBr), n, cm^–1: 1650 (C = N), 3200–3440 (O – H).

UV spectrum (EtOH), l_max (lg e): 242 (4,55), 380 (4,22).

¹Н and ¹³С NMR spectra. The solvent, instrument frequency, and the standard must be specified. If other standard than TMS has been used, authors should provide chemical shift value for the standard in terms of δ scale. Designations such as H-3, H-2,6 (for aromatic protons) and 3-CH, 4,5-CH₂ (for aliphatic protons) should be used for labelling the location of protons. Protons in complex groups, which the signal is related to, should be underlined, e. g. "3,17-3,55 (4Н, m, N(CH₂CH₃)₂)". Substituents must be designated as follows: 3-СН₃; atom positions: C-3, N-4, etc. If the signal in the spectrum is described as a doublet, triplet, etc. (not as a singlet or a multiplet), the corresponding values of spin-spin interaction should be provided (e. g., ³J_5,6 or J_CF). If there have been additional studies for establishing atom bonds and molecular configurations, the used 2D methods should be specified.

¹Н NMR spectrum (400 MHz, CDCl₃), δ, ppm (J, Hz): 0.97 (3Н, t, J = 7.0, СН₃); 3.91 (2Н, q, J = 7.0, СООCH₂); 4.46 (2Н, d, J = 6,1, NCH₂); 7.10–7.55 (9Н, m, Н-6,7,8, NHCH₂C₆H₅); 7.80 (1Н, s, Н Ar); 7.97 (1Н, s, Н-5'); 8.13 (1Н, dd, J = 8.2, J = 2.3, Н-5); 11.13 (1Н, s, NH).

¹³C NMR spectrum (125MHz, DMSO-d₆), δ, ppm: 36.3 (CH₂CH₃); 48.5 (С-5); 62.3 (CH₂CH₃); 123.0 (C Ar); 125.8 (d, ²J_CF = 26,1, C-3',5' Ar); 128.9 (C Ph); 134.4 (С-5а); 168.3 (С=О).

Mass spectra should be presented using m/z values and relative ion peak intensities. Authors should specify the ionization method, energy of ionization, mass quantity of characteristic ions, chemical nature of these ions (if possible), and intensity relative to the base peak. Reagent gas should be specified when using chemical ionization. In the case of high resolution mass spectra and when experimental value is not consistent with the peak of the molecular ion, gross molecular formula and the calculated m/z value must be specified for this ion.

Mass spectrum (EI, 70 eV), m/z (I_rel,%): 386 [М]⁺ (36), 368 [М-Н₂О]⁺ (100), 353 [М-Н₂О-СН₃]⁺ (23) .

Mass spectrum (CI, 200 eV), m/z (Irel,%): 387 [М+Н]⁺ (100), 369 [М+Н-Н₂О]⁺ (23).

High resolution mass spectrum.

Found, m/z: 292.1684 [М]⁺. C₁₇H₂₄O₄. Calculated, m/z: 292.1675.

Elemental analysis. Found,%: С 55,22; Н 4,09; Br 20,42; Cl 9,04; N 7.18. С₁₈H₁₆BrClN₂O. Calculated,%: С 55,19; Н 4,12; Br 20,40; Cl 9,05; N 7.15.

X-ray crystallography data should be presented as a molecular diagram (a figure) with assigned atom numbers, e. g. C (1), N (3) (if possible, with thermal vibration ellipsoids). The Journal does not publish full crystallographic data, tables of atomic coordinates, or temperature factors. However, they should be deposited to the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre (CCDC) (deposit number should be specified in the article) or submitted as supplementary resources.

Results must contain only the description and analysis of the authors’ own materials, should not be mixed with the Discussion and should be free of citations. Only the main findings are described (not the entire work performed), which correspond to the purpose of the study or confirm/refute the work hypothesis(-es). Logical narrative may be used instead of the chronological. Results should be presented concisely and using the consolidated data (raw data and intermediate calculations may be provided with the supplementary resources). Before designing illustrational materials, authors must clearly define, which of the issues or hypotheses highlighted in the work will be answered using the conceived table or figure. Only those illustrations that reflect the point of the work directly are allowed. Tables should not repeat the data already mentioned in the text. Tables can also be used to synthesize not only digital, but also literature data.

Discussion should not repeat Results, should explore and compare the obtained own data with the literature. Discussion must be concise, prove the author’s point as much as possible by generalizing results of their own research and data obtained by other authors related to a certain scientific hypothesis. The narrative should proceed from the specific to the general. Discussion must adhere to the purpose or the scientific hypotheses stipulated in the Introduction, while it also should exclude conclusions, yet only lead in to them.

In this section, experimental, clinical, or morphological evidence, which correspond to the purpose of the study, must be presented along with its quantitative parameters and confidence. Repetition of the previously obtained and published data should be avoided; it only should be cited. Authors must use terminology adopted by international chemical, pharmaceutical, and clinical classifications (IUPAC, WHO, ICB, pharmacopoeias, international consensus and recommendations), anatomical, histological, and forensic classifications; physical units are expressed in SI, chemical names and formulas can (if necessary) be written according to the international names (patented trademarks and titles should not be specified). Results are illustrated as synthesis schemes and/or technical processes, using colored graphs, diagrams, photographs, drawings; tables are used in exceptional cases. All illustrative materials should be described and interpreted in the text.

Conclusions provide concise characterization of the main findings of the paper, without numeration, liberally. They should not contain text repetitions of the previous sections of the manuscript.

Acknowledgements (optional). An author(s) can express gratitude to assistants, students, colleagues, and other people involved in data collection in the field or in the laboratory and who provided valuable suggestions, but did not take active part in a manuscript preparation.

Funding. Contains information regarding the funding sources for conducting the research specifying the planned proactive research work of the institution (with the state registration number), specifying the planned publicly funded (on behalf of the MoH of Ukraine) research work of the institution (with the state registration number), or specifying the no. of the grant providing funds for the work.

Conflicts of interest. All authors must specify any potential conflicts of interest if they exist (stock shares, renumerations received, or payments for consulting from a company, product of which is discussed in the presented article or that producing a competing product). If none of the authors has any conflicts of interest, the following should be specified: “Conflicts of interest: None.”

Author information and mailing address. Authors should provide author information in Ukrainian and English at the end of the article (in paper form – on a separate sheet), which contains: last name, first name, and all middle names, academic title and degree, place of work, position, ORCID ID, e-mail address (published in the Journal), mailing address, and phone number.

2. REVIEW ARTICLE

A review article must be of 25 000 to 60 000 characters with spaces in size (abstract, references, tables, and figure captions are not counted). A references list should not exceed 100 sources. Manuscript must consist of the following parts: an introduction with problem statement and description of recent events/studies defining the significance and purpose of the provided review; concise and informative interrelated sections with headings representing a meaningful literature synthesis and the author(s) own ideas; critical analysis of the previously published works within the discussed topic stating unresolved problems and issues; conclusions drawn from the conducted review and future perspectives for further research. Review articles should contain text boxes, drawings, or tables, which illustrate the main concepts or ideas of the work, case study reviews, and a close discussion of approaches and techniques. Abstracts in Ukrainian and English must be structured accordingly and reflect the point of the manuscript; each abstract must be of 1800-2000 characters.

3. LETTER

Short reports, or letters, must demonstrate essentially new findings or methods of common application or interest, or focused studies, which claim first priority. Authors must provide only those experimental data and literature that are essential for proving the main conclusion. The synthesis of new compounds using a new method must be illustrated on at least 5 examples. A description of an original method, which is not planned for patenting, may be presented in a short report. The same manuscript category is applicable to stating important, exceptional, unexpected occurrences in experimental studies.

A short report is not structured into sections, yet it must follow the main elements of a research article (Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion). Main text size must be up to 10 thousand characters with spaces (abstract, references, tables, and figure captions are not counted). Methodology part must be short but sufficient to reproduce. Abstract is provided in Ukrainian and English with a size of 1800-2000 characters, must be structured and written in agreement with the content of the report. Five to six keywords or phrases must be provided. The number of illustrative materials should not be more than three (tables, figures, text boxes). References list should not exceed 10 sources. One issue of the Journal may contain up to three short reports or letters.

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS TO MANUSCRIPTS

Articles must be written in English or Ukrainian.

The narrative of the manuscript must be consistent, logically complete, with clear definitions excluding ambiguous interpretation or misunderstanding of the information; language must correspond to literature norms, be professional and concise. It is the author’s obligation to ensure the high level of the provided material, its completion, and systemic presentation of the issue, reliability of the provided results and data, correctness of citing and referencing of literature sources. References are listed in an original language.

Formatting.

Authors should use A4 sheet size with left, top, and bottom margins of 2 cm and right margin of 1 cm. Page and rows must be numbered (to facilitate the review process). A 14 pt Times New Roman font must be used with one and a half line spacing. Article title and structural elements of the manuscript should be bolded, and lowercased.

A UDC number is placed in the left corner before the title.

After the title, in all following rows:

Author’s(s’) Name(s);
Institution;
Institution Address (postal code, street, city, country);
Author’s E-Mail;
Abstracts of 1800-2000 characters each;
Keywords (italicized).

After the abstract and keywords, with a new paragraph, the main text of the article begins.

Abstract and keywords in English are provided first. It is followed by the article title, author’s(s’) name(s), full address and name of the institution(s), then with the abstract and keywords in Ukrainian. 

In the submitted manuscript, it is not allowed to:

• underline the titles, captions, and inscriptions;
• wrap words in the text of the article;
• use footnotes.

Requirements to images.

Figures must be original, captioned, and numbered consistently using Arabic numerals: Fig. 1, Fig. 2. Figure number and caption are placed directly under the figure. Illustrations should be prepared and sized in a way to keep the text size in the figures under 50% larger than the main text size.

Microphotographs must be original, without selected deletions, introduction or addition of any objects, including the background. It is mandatory to include ruler in the microphotographs to represent the length in the figure (e. g., 5 µm).

Colored microphotographs and figures (color model CMYK, up to 8) are provided electronically as separate JPEG and TIFF files with a resolution of 300–600 dpi (without Adobe Photoshop editing).

Half-toned microphotographs are also accepted in Greyscale colour mode (300 dpi, 256 Gray Scale). Microphotographs that have been received only in a paper form will not be accepted. Captions to the microphotographs are provided in a separate .doc file and on a separate paper sheet.

Figures should be sent separately as XLS, AI, WMF, or EPS files with a resolution of 600 dpi B&W. The width of the original files must be whether 8.5; 13.5 or 17.5 cm.

Axes in graphs used in the text must be named and contain units, legend, confidence intervals, designation of statistical confidence level, and differences between the groups.

Chemical structures should be drawn using ISIS Draw (Symyx Draw) or ChemDraw software with the following parameters: Arial, 8 pt, 0.41 cm bond length (or as in ACS document 1996, stylized and downsized to 80%). All reaction conditions must be specified above (reagents, catalysts, solvents) or below (temperature, time) the reaction arrow. If designation of conditions make the figure too bulky, they can be situated below the scheme using letter numbering such as i, ii, etc., e. g. “i: HCl, H₂O, 80 °C, 5 hrs.” The same latter should be placed above the corresponding reaction arrow. All words and abbreviations in the schemes should be written in English.

Tables should have titles and be numbered consistently using Arabic numerals: Table 1, Table 2. Table number and caption are placed directly above the table.

Subtitles of the columns and rows may contain the designation of the method and units where appropriate. All notes and descriptive captions should not be placed in the title but in the footnote captions below the tables and graphs. Different symbols should be assigned to designate different deviations in the data presented the table among the following: *; designations should be defined in the table’s footnote.

Text boxes are used to elaborate on the main terms, concepts, or ideas of the work, review of case studies, specification of approaches and techniques. Boxes should have a short title (up to 8 words) and be consistently numbered using Arabic numerals: Textbox 1, Textbox 2. Number and title of the text box should be placed directly above it. The boxes may contain small figures and tables, which are numbered using Roman numerals (e. g., Fig. I, Fig. II; Table I, Table II). Literature should be numbered sequentially, which includes both the main text and text boxes. One text box may contain up to 300 words.

All illustrative materials (figures, tables, text boxes) are placed in the text of the manuscript after their first mention.

Common abbreviations and symbols may be used in the text; however, less common abbreviations and symbols should be defined during their first use. Units are given according to the International System of Units. Symbols that are used to designate physical constants must be italicized (e. g., d, J, k, c, m/z), but the corresponding units should be normal. Secondary and tertiary abbreviated words, and also shortened prefixes orto-, meta-, para- should be written italicized in formulas using Latin script, e. g. s-, t-, o-, m-, p-, i-, cis-, trans-.

The use of standard abbreviations and/or molecular formulas for reagents and solvents as well as assign Arabic numerals to reagents, intermediate products, and products as they appear in text is recommended. Compounds of one group can be assigned the same number, e. g. “RX (2);” their derivatives containing various substituents receive the letter to the number, e. g. “alcohol X = OH (2a), acetate X = OAc (2b), tosylate = OTs (2c).” When full compound name is mentioned its digital designation should be parenthesized. The use of codes without generalizations should be avoided: “reaction between compound 2d with an amide 3”, not the “reaction between 2d and 3.” Stereochemical and structural symbols, which characterize structural specifics or a location of a substituent in the molecule should be highlighted with italics, e. g. “(R)-enantiomer,” “tert-buthyl,” “p-xylol,” “N-alkyl,” “pyridin-2(1Н)-one.” Bulky names of simple compounds should be replaced with their chemical formulas, such as “NaBr, TsOH” instead of “sodium bromide, toluenesulfonic acid.”

Specific requirements for manuscripts for publication in Organization of the pharmaceutical business, management, and marketing, medical and pharmaceutical law

In the case of publication of the abovementioned materials, year of data acquisition, place, and the number of same-type results must be stated.

Specific requirements to manuscripts for publication in Modern concepts/technologies of diagnosis and treatment

The article may cover a modern technology, method, or technique proposed by the authors, or an author’s concept/technology of treatment. The structure of such article is the same as that of the original research article but has three specific differences. In the Introduction, authors provide a comprehensive analysis of modern diagnosis or treatment highlighting their unresolved issues; in Results, authors provide their concept, technology, method, and quantitative and statistical analysis of the obtained results; in Discussion, authors compare their data with the findings of other authors, justify the benefits of the author’s concept/technology/method, and define its limitations (without subjective advertising of the proposed innovations).

Specifics of publications dedicated to medical practitioners or those covering clinical cases

In this rubric, the Journal publishes articles covering modern international consensuses in terms of diagnosis and treatment, new international disease classifications, as well as clinical observations of rare diseases.

The structure of the articles on modern international consensuses and international disease classifications is the same as that of the review articles. If the author is not a member of an international group of experts and developers of the consensus or classification, they must receive the approval from the international expert group for publication (in some cases, re-publication of the translated article) of such material in the Journal.

An article on clinical observation is directed to introduce practitioners to rare diseases, specifics of their manifestations, diagnosis and treatment. The structure of such article is the same as that of the original research articles but has three specific differences. In Introduction, statistical data on frequency of the rare disease is given along with its laboratory or pathomorphological characterization, the main illustrative materials are provided (e. g., a tomogram, UST image, macro-microphotographs, etc.). In Discussion, closer attention is paid to the main differential and diagnostic indications of the rare pathology or the specifics of its treatment are examined.

References are numbered sequentially with Arabic numerals in order of appearance in the text and are placed in square parentheses designating the number of the source (e. g., “…according to commonly accepted methods [3,4,5]…” or “…according to Smith[6]…”). All sources must be unique (one source is mentioned only once in the bibliography). A numbered references list is given after the main text of the article with a subtitle “References.” References list should be formatted according to the requirements of the globally accepted style Vancouver. 

Manuscript submission

1. Registration
2. Manuscripts of the original articles, literature reviews, or clinical case studies should be uploaded electronically to the Journal’s website by the corresponding author (the author that communicates with the editorial office). The file name should contain a transliterated last name of the first author (file name example: Ivanov_manuscript. doc, docx). The submission must contain:

• the manuscript (not in PDF);
• graphical annotation, article title and author names must be provided in a separate file during uploading to the submission system. The file name should contain a transliterated last name of the first author (file name example: Ivanov_manuscript. doc, docx).
• a supplement which contains information:
• on whether the manuscript or its part have been previously published, as well as whether they are currently on consideration for publication in any other journal;
• the corresponding author and co-authors, who submit the manuscript, confirm that they have read the manuscript and approve it for submission to the Journal;
• the authors transfer the authorship on their manuscripts to the Journal for publication;
• License agreement;
• Author's declaration.

3. Supplementary materials (on author’s wish) with additional tables, figures, schemes, etc. (file name example: Ivanov_suppl.pdf) for publication of the electronic copy along with the article.
4. Information about three potential peer reviewers (last name, place of work, e-mail address, and phone number), who must work at different institutions than the authors submitting the work; the peer reviewers must fulfil the requirements of the subparagraph 6 of the paragraph 6 of the Procedure for the formation of the List of the specialized scientific publications of Ukraine, and specifically the candidates conduct research in the same field and have at least one publication in journals listed in the List within the last three years, or in foreign journals included to Web of Science Core Collection and/or Scopus. In order to avoid conflicts of interest, authors, if necessary, can provide last names of unwanted reviewers, which is considered by the editorial board during the selection of the reviewers. If the article is submitted by one of the editorial members, the list of potential peer reviewers should include at least 4 experts (file name example: Ivanov_review.doc, .docx).
5. A scan copy of a signed license agreement for the use of the manuscript.

Peer review

After the submission, the manuscript will be evaluated by independent experts in this field. These reviewers, which are sometimes referred to as "arbitrates,” assess the validity, significance, and originality of your work.

Apart from the fact that peer review is a form of quality control for academic journals, expert evaluation also provides valuable feedback, which enables improvements to the work before its publication. In the best case scenario, peer review is a common process, in which the authors communicate with their peers and receive a constructive support in spreading their work.

 We support a “Think. Check. Submit.” initiative launched by the coalition of scientific organizations. Our journal completely fulfils the criteria, ensuring a highly professional expert evaluation for your studies. Dear authors, please check whether your studies fit the scope of our Journal before submission. You can email the title of your article, abstract, and keywords to the editor-in-chief or the executive secretary, and we will contact you to let you know whether your research topic is within the scope of the Journal.

All manuscripts received by the editorial office of “Current issues in pharmacy and medicine: science and practice” are subjected to scrutinization and selection with a mandatory one-sided blind review. The manuscript is evaluated on the basis of equity independent of the previous honors, race, ethnicity, sex, religion, citizenship, sexual orientation, or political philosophy of the authors. The procedure of peer review is directed toward quality assurance.

Peer review provides a comprehensive and unbiased evaluation, analysis of pros and cons of a submitted manuscript. Before peer review, the manuscript is mandatorily checked for plagiarism, and the results are referred to the reviewer.

In order to ensure the quality of peer review, the editor-in-chief assigns every member of the editorial board a scientific direction according to their competencies. The executive secretary conducts a preliminary and final assessment of the manuscript, assigns reviewers, and prepares the submission for the editor-in-chief with a recommendation regarding the publication or rejection of the article. The editor-in-chief assesses the submission and makes final decision on article publication. The editor-in-chief also reserves the right to assign an additional expertise of the manuscript.

Editorial board members and external reviewers who hold an academic title, sufficient experience in the corresponding research field and fulfil the requirements of the Procedure for the formation of the List of the specialized scientific publications of Ukraine (Decree of MES of Ukraine no. 32 of 15.01.2018), and specifically those candidates that conduct research in the same field and have at least one publication in journals listed in the List within the last three years, or in foreign journals included to Web of Science Core Collection and/or Scopus, may participate in peer review. In order to avoid conflicts of interest, authors, if necessary, can provide last names of unwanted reviewers, which is considered by the editorial board during the selection of the reviewers. 

In cases of violation of integrity norms, publication ethics, and detection of fabrication and falsification of the research results in the submitted manuscript or in an already published article, the editorial board will take corresponding reasonable measures regarding the publication of the obtained information in the first upcoming journal issue.

Peer review of the manuscripts is conducted by the reviewers on a voluntary basis. Peer review is conducted confidentially, authors are not provided with the last names of the reviewers; the editorial board and the reviewers do not share information about the reviewed manuscript and its author(s).

The final decision on the possibility of manuscript publication is made by the editorial board with the consideration of the reviews and a motivated author’s (authors’) response. In the case of two negative reviews, the work is rejected, and the review is referred to the author. If there is only one negative review, the editor-in-chief and editorial board decide whether to reject the publication or send the article for improvement.

The duration of the peer review should not exceed one month from when a reviewer has received the manuscript. All reviews are stored in the editorial office electronically or in paper form during three years. Articles recommended for printing pass the editing, formatting, and layout according to the accepted format of the Journal and printing templates.

The Journal publishes the article title, author names, and abstract which has been received for per review in open access during the process of peer review. After peer review, those are removed.

The editorial board bears responsibility for all materials published in the Journal. Articles and reports may reflect views and beliefs that do not always coincide with the views and beliefs of the editorial board.

Publication ethics

The editorial board functions in accordance with the following national and international regulations regarding the ethics of scientific publications:

• Recommendations on prevention of the academic plagiarism and its detection in scientific works (abstracts, dissertations, monographs, scientific reports, articles, etc.). The Letter of MES of Ukraine no. 1/11-8681 of 15.08.2018.
• A set of guidelines on publication ethics proposed by Elsevier.
• Basic principles of the editors’ and publishers’ activity established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
• Budapest Open Access Initiative.

AUTHORS’ ETHICAL RESPONSIBILITIES

Reporting standards

Authors of reports of original research should present an accurate account of the work performed as well as an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying data should be represented accurately in the paper. A paper should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.

Review and professional publication articles should also be accurate and objective.

Data access and storage

Authors, when possible, should be able to provide the raw research data for editorial review on demand of the editorial board, and should be prepared to provide public access to such data (according to ALPSP-STM Statement on Data and Databases) and should be prepared to retain such data for a reasonable number of years after publication.

Originality and plagiarism

Authors should ensure that they have written entirely original works, and if the authors have used the work and/or words of others, that this has been appropriately cited or quoted.

Plagiarism takes many forms, from appropriation of another’s work to copying or paraphrasing substantial parts of another’s paper (without attribution), to claiming results from research conducted by others. Plagiarism in all its forms constitutes unethical behavior and is unacceptable.

Multiple, Redundant or Concurrent Publications

Authors should not publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal of primary publication. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently constitutes unethical behavior and is unacceptable.

Authors should not submit for consideration in another journal works that have been published previously. Publication of some kinds of articles (e. g., translations) in more than one journal is sometimes justifiable, provided certain conditions are met. The authors and editors of the corresponding journals must agree to the secondary publication, which must reflect the same data and interpretation of the primary document. The primary reference must be cited in the secondary publication.

Citing of sources

Publications by other authors should always be cited. Authors must specify articles that have significantly impacted the content of the work. Information obtained during confidential services, such as manuscript review or grant applications, should not be used without a written permission of the author of the work involved in these services.

Article authorship

Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the concept, design, execution, or interpretation of the published study. All those who have made substantial contributions should be listed as co-authors. Where there are others who have participated in certain substantive aspects of the research project, they should be included to the Acknowledgements section.

The author who submits the article must ensure that all appropriate co-authors are included on the paper, and that all co-authors have approved the final version of the paper and have agreed to its submission for publication.

Hazards and living objects

If the work involves chemicals, procedures or equipment that have any unusual hazards inherent in their use, the author must clearly identify these in the manuscript. If the work involves the use of animal or human subjects, the author should ensure that the manuscript contains a statement that all procedures were performed in compliance with relevant regulations and institutional guidelines and that the appropriate institutional committee has approved them. Authors should include a statement in the manuscript that informed consent was obtained for experimentation with human subjects. The privacy rights of human subjects must always be observed.

Declaration of conflicts of interest

All authors should disclose in their manuscript any financial or other major conflicts of interest that could affect the conclusion of the review or interpretation of the manuscript. All sources of financial support for the conduct of the research should be disclosed

Examples of potential conflicts of interest which should be disclosed include consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications, and grants or other funding. Potential conflicts of interest should be disclosed at the earliest possible stage

Fundamental errors in published works

When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in their own published work, it is the author’s obligation to promptly notify the journal editor or publisher and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper. If the editor or the publisher learn from a third party that a published work contains an error, it is the obligation of the author to promptly withdraw the submission or correct the article or to provide the evidence to the editor that the original article is correct.

Plagiarism detection

Reviewing process is a pivotal part of the successful scientific journal. In terms of adherence to protection and fortification of peer review, Zaporizhzhia State Medical University takes an obligation to contribute to scientific cooperation in all aspects of the publishing ethics, especially in cases of a (suspected) secondary submission or plagiarism.

REVIEWERS’ ETHICAL RESPONSIBILITIES

Contribution to the editorial board’s decision

Peer review helps an editor in editorial decision-making and an author in their work improvement. The review is an important component of a formal scientific communication, and lies in the basis of a scientific method.

Zaporizhzhia State Medical University, as a publisher, agrees with Elsevier in that all scientists withing to submit their works for publication take an obligation to review the articles written by other authors upon the editorial board’s assignment.

Responsiveness

Any of the selected reviewers who feels the lack of competencies for reviewing that or another manuscript or knows that they will not be able to prepare a review within the specified time frame should promptly notify the editor and decline their participation in peer review.

Confidentiality

Any manuscripts received for consideration should be considered as confidential documents. They must not be shared or discussed with third parties, except for when the editor permitted to do so.

Objectivity standards

The reviews must be objective. Personal criticism of the author is unacceptable. The reviewers must convey their views clearly and argumentatively.

Confirmation of sources

Reviewers should determine the corresponding published works that have not been mentioned by the authors. Any statement on that an observation, conclusion, or argument have previously been published must be followed by an appropriate citation. A reviewer should also pay an editor’s attention at a substantial similarity between or coincidence with the analyzed manuscript and any other published work known to the reviewer.

Disclosure and conflict of interest

Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in a reviewer’s own research without a written permission of the author. Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage. Reviewers should not review manuscripts with which they have conflicts interests due to competition, common or other relations or connections with any of the authors,

ETHICAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE EDITORIAL BOARD

The editor of “Current issues in pharmacy and medicine: science and practice” journal is responsible for making a final decision on whether the submitted manuscripts should be accepted for publication.

This decision always must be made based on verification of the credibility of the work and its significance for scientific community and readers. The editor uses methodological recommendations developed by the Journal’s editorial board and law requirements in decision-making to eliminate the possibility of defamation, authorship violations, and plagiarism. During making the decision on the publication, the editor can advise with other editors.

Equity

The editor of “Current issues in pharmacy and medicine: science and practice” journal evaluates the submitted manuscripts with regard to their intellectual content and without consideration of the race, sex, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, citizenship, or political views of the author.

Confidentiality

The editor of “Current issues in pharmacy and medicine: science and practice” journal and its editorial board members must not reveal the information about the submitted manuscript to anyone else, except for the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, editorial board consultants, and the publisher.

Disclosure of information and conflicts of interest

Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in an editor’s own research without a written permission of the author. Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage.

An editor should refuse from participation in a review where they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers.

An editor should demand declaration of any potential conflicts of interest from all the authors and publish corrections if the conflict was disclosed after the publications. If necessary, other action may be performed, such as publication of the refute or statement of concern.

Sections of the Journal that have not been peer reviewed should be clearly identified.

Consideration of ethical claims

The editor of “Current issues in pharmacy and medicine: science and practice” journal must take prompt measures in cases of complains of ethical manner related to the submitted manuscript or a published manuscript.

Payment and open access

This journal employs policy of the immediate provision of open access to the published material supporting the principles of free distribution of scientific information and global exchange of knowledge in contribution to the general social progress. This journal uses LOCKSS as a distributed storage archive of the published materials in numerous libraries and information centers. Libraries-participants of LOCKSS project guarantee long-term storage of the full journal archives and automatic recovery of the damaged information.

Publication in this journal is paid. Payment may be processed after positive peer review and approval of the materials for print by the editorial board. The corresponding author is informed about the decision before publication.

The price of publication depends on printing services cost. Approximate price for one page (A4 size) is 120 UAH.

The journal does not collect fees for submission and peer review.

Editorial office address

Zaporizhzhia State Medical University
Maiakovskii avenue, 26
Zaporizhzhia
Ukraine, 69035

E-mail: med.jur@zsmu.zp.ua, izdatotdel@ukr.net