Submissions

Author Guidelines

Journal Current issues in pharmacy and medicine: science and practice is an independent scientific and practical publication dedicated to advancing fundamental and clinical research in pharmacy and medicine, as well as facilitating the exchange of scientific and practical knowledge. The journal is indexed in national and international databases and included in catalogs of international scientific journals, repositories, and electronic scientific libraries.

The journal publishes original research on the synthesis and analysis of organic and organoelement compounds, development of analogues of natural substances and pharmaceutical ingredients, pharmacology, pharmacognosy, pharmaceutical organization and economics, management of pharmaceutical enterprises, and innovations in diagnostics, treatment technologies, rehabilitation, and sports medicine.

Authors are encouraged to adhere to EQUATOR Network reporting guidelines to ensure high-quality research presentation, including:

• CONSORT for randomized trials;
• ARRIVE for animal pre-clinical studies;
• CARE  for case reports;
• PRISMA for systematic reviews;
• CHEERSfor economic evaluations.

Leading scientific journals recommend these standards as they enhance transparency and reproducibility, enabling editors, reviewers, readers, and fellow researchers to critically evaluate the work.

All manuscripts submitted to Current issues in pharmacy and medicine: science and practice undergo thorough checks for plagiarism, self-plagiarism, and borrowed content.

The journal does not accept for publication:

• Articles fully or partially published elsewhere or submitted simultaneously to other journals;
• Articles that are outdated or based on obsolete methods;
• Articles focused on healthcare organization, medical statistics, or education;
• Articles on mathematical modeling of pathological processes;
• Educational or methodological papers.

The editorial policy and peer-review process adhere to strict ethical and professional standards. “Guest authorship” – listing individuals as co-authors who have not contributed directly to the research – is strictly prohibited. Authors should consult the guidelines on authorship roles.

Authors bear responsibility for maintaining high scientific quality, comprehensive and systematic presentation of their topic, accuracy of results and data, and proper citation of sources.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Scientific Writing. If authors employ generative AI or related technologies during manuscript preparation, their use must be limited to enhancing readability and language quality. AI should not replace core research activities such as generating scientific conclusions, data analysis, interpretation, or formulation of scientific statements.

AI use must be transparently disclosed in the acknowledgments section, specifying the AI model’s name and version, the exact prompt(s) used, and the context of its application. AI tools should be used under human supervision, with authors thoroughly verifying and editing the content, since AI-generated text may appear authoritative but can contain inaccuracies, omissions, or biases.

Authors who utilize generative AI at any stage of research – including optimizing literature searches or preparing reviews – are required to provide a detailed description of its use in the Methods section. This description should include sufficient detail for reproducibility, including the tool’s name, version, and prompts used where relevant.

Manuscript Submission

Manuscripts must be submitted via the journal’s online portal (Submit Article section) by the corresponding author, who is responsible for communication with the editorial office. The submission package should include:

• Manuscript file in *.docx, *.doc, or *.rtf format (PDF files are not accepted);
• Scanned copies of all required accompanying documents;
• Illustrative materials (figures, diagrams, photos) as separate files, prepared according to journal guidelines.

Manuscript Formatting Guidelines

The journal accepts original research articles, reviews, and clinical case reports for consideration. Manuscripts must be submitted in either Ukrainian or English. Metadata are published in both Ukrainian and English. Substituting Cyrillic characters with Latin ones or vice versa is strictly prohibited.

Manuscripts should be formatted on A4 paper, using Times New Roman, 14-point font, 1.5 line spacing. Margins must be set to 2 cm on the left, top, and bottom, and 1 cm on the right. Text should not exceed 30 lines per page.

Text formatting should be limited to italics or bold; underlining is not permitted. All duplicate spaces must be removed.

Each article includes

• UDC (Universal Decimal Classification) code;
• Article title (maximum 150 characters), written without abbreviations except widely accepted ones (e.g., DNA, RNA), provided in both Ukrainian and English;
• Initials and surnames of all authors;
• Full official name of the institution(s) where the research was conducted, including city and country. For multiple institutions, assign superscript numbers (1, 2, 3) to link authors to their affiliations;
• Contribution of each author, denoted by letters A, B, C, D, E, F, where: A – research concept and design; B – collection and/or assembly of data; C – data analysis and interpretation; D – writing the article; E – critical revision of the article; F – final approval of the article;
• Abstracts in Ukrainian and English, each between 250 and 300 words, structured to reflect the main manuscript sections: Aim, Materials and Methods, Results, and Conclusions. Abstracts must not include references.
• Keywords (both Ukrainian and English) should correspond to descriptors from the MESH (Medical Subject Headings) thesaurus.

Structure of an Original Research Articles

An original study must be conducted using modern methods and approaches, incorporate statistical processing of quantitative data, and present novel scientific findings.

Introduction (5–10 % of the article length). This section outlines the relevance of the study, its place in contemporary scientific discourse, the aspects of the problem that have been studied and remain unresolved, as well as controversial or insufficiently addressed issues that justify the study’s objectives.

The introduction (and the article as a whole) should include references to studies published within the last five years in journals indexed in Web of Science or Scopus. References to secondary sources or works that are not directly related to the research topic should be avoided. Citations in the manuscript should be formatted using square brackets, e.g., [22,25], with no more than four consecutive citations.

When referring to review articles, authors should specify: “According to reviews of the scientific literature, it is known that…”. Dissertations, abstracts, reports, deposited manuscripts, patents, and copyright certificates should not be included in the reference list. Each source must have a DOI identifier or a valid web link (https://).

Aim. The aim must align with the article’s title, obtained results, and conclusions.

Materials and Methods. This section provides detailed information on the study objects, methods, and approaches used.

For analytical studies, provide detailed sample preparation protocols. Reviewers may request raw data (spectra, chromatograms) for clarification.

The Materials and Methods section must comprehensively include:

• A clear description of the study design;
• A detailed explanation of methods and techniques with references to relevant sources;
• A comprehensive description of novel or non-standard methods;
• The names and models of instruments used (including manufacturers);
• Methods of tissue staining, antibodies applied (with clones and manufacturers), and molecular-genetic research techniques;
• Laboratory parameters analyzed, measurement techniques, and the principles for grading severity or expression levels;
• List of reagents used in the study;

For studies involving human participants, authors must:

• Indicate the medical institutions where participants were recruited;
• Provide clinical and demographic characteristics relevant to the study;
• Define inclusion and exclusion criteria;
• Explain the principles for group allocation;
• Ensure compliance with bioethical requirements.

For experimental research, authors must:

• Specify animal housing conditions;
• Describe the methodology for inducing pathological conditions or diseases;
• List anesthetics or analgesics used, including dosage, administration route, and frequency;
• Provide detailed euthanasia procedures.

All studies involving human or animal subjects must receive approval from an institutional ethics committee. The name of the approving institution, protocol number, and approval date must be provided.

The number of samples, patients, or animals included in the study must be sufficient to ensure statistically valid results. For dynamic studies, the number of repeated examinations or experiments should be specified. Replicated measurements on a single sample are not considered independent studies and should be averaged before statistical analysis. Randomized controlled trials are preferred, although cohort studies, cross-sectional studies, and case-control studies are also acceptable.

Statistical analysis must be performed using licensed software. Authors must indicate the license number and software package. Data should be tested for normal distribution, which will determine the appropriate statistical methods. These details must be included in the article.

Studies based on an insufficient sample size, improperly formed groups, outdated methodologies, or equipment that does not ensure reliable results will not be accepted for publication in the journal.

Results (45–50 % of the article length). This section presents factual clinical, experimental, or morphological data that directly correspond to the study’s objective. It includes quantitative parameters and their statistical significance. Previously published data should not be repeated. Terminology must comply with international standards (WHO, ICD-10, international consensus guidelines and recommendations). Physical quantities and units must be provided in the SI system, and chemical names should follow international nomenclature (trade names of pharmaceutical products should not be used). Results should be illustrated with figures (graphs, charts, photographs) and tables. All visual materials should be described and interpreted but not duplicated in the text (see section Requirements for figures and tables).

Discussion. The Discussion section should be distinct from the Results and account for 25–30 % of the article’s length. It should analyze the problem addressed, compare findings with existing research, highlight contradictions, and propose solutions or future research directions.

Conclusions must be numbered, well-founded, and based on the study’s results.

Prospects for further research. The final paragraph should outline potential research directions or practical applications.

Funding. Authors must disclose funding sources, specifying the research project’s state registration number (if applicable) or grant details. If no external funding was received, authors should state: “The study was conducted without financial support”.

Acknowledgments. Authors may acknowledge colleagues who contributed to the research but are not listed as co-authors.

Conflict of interest. All authors must declare any potential conflicts of interest. If none exist, they should state: “Conflict of interest: none”.

Information about the authors and Correspondence. At the end of the article, authors must provide details in both Ukrainian and English, including full name, academic title, degree, affiliation, ORCID number, email, mailing address, and phone number (for the corresponding author). The corresponding author’s email will be published.

References

The reference list must include sources from the past five years. Self-citation is acceptable only when necessary for comparison or hypothesis validation. References should be listed in order of appearance in the text. Original research articles must contain at least 15 references, while review articles require at least 30.

References should adhere to the Vancouver style for international databases. To format citations, authors can use http://www.citethisforme.com

Requirements for Figures and Tables

Original articles should not exceed 8 figures and tables. Each figure and table must have a number and title with a corresponding reference in the text (e. g., Fig. 1, Table 1). The table’s number and title should be placed above it, while the figure’s number and title should be placed below.

Figures must be submitted as separate files. The file name must include the author’s surname and figure number (e. g., Author_Fig_1a.tif). For high-quality figure preparation, authors can refer to video tutorials available via © PC Technology Center. This document serves as a comprehensive guide for authors preparing manuscripts for submission to the journal.

Microphotographs must be original and free from any selective deletion, insertion, or modification of details, including the background. Each microphotograph must include a scale bar indicating a specific length (e. g., 5 μm).

Microphotographs, digital photographs, and drawings should be submitted as separate files in JPEG or TIFF format with high resolution (300–600 dpi, minimum width of 90 mm or 1200 pixels) using the CMYK or Grayscale color model. Images must not be edited in Adobe Photoshop or contain additional markings. When saving in JPEG format, use the highest quality setting (level 12).

Vector drawings, graphs, and diagrams should be submitted as separate files in XLS, WMF, AI, EPS, PPT, or PDF formats.

Drawings must be high quality (at least 300 dpi). Text should be clear and legible, with sharp lines and no visual noise.

Graphs must include labeled axes with units of measurement, legends, confidence intervals, statistical significance indicators, and group distinctions, presented in the language of the article.

The editorial board reserves the right to reject submissions if authors fail to provide original image files (*.xls / *.xlsx for Excel, *.ppt for PowerPoint, *.ai for Adobe Illustrator, etc.) to prevent data falsification.

All tables must be in portrait orientation (Word format). Titles should be concise and free of abbreviations. Column and row headings should specify methods and units of measurement where applicable. Empty cells should be avoided.

Explanatory notes should be placed below tables and graphs, not in headers. Statistical significance should be indicated using symbols (* # † ‡ §), with explanations provided in captions.

Requirements for the Presentation of Chemical Names

Authors preparing manuscripts are required to comply with the nomenclature recommendations of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). The use of systematic nomenclature ensures precision and adherence to internationally recognized standards.

Where appropriate, the commonly accepted trivial name may be provided in parentheses immediately following the systematic name.

Recommended references:

• Nomenclature of Organic Chemistry: IUPAC Recommendations and Preferred Names 2013 (Blue Book);
• Nomenclature of Inorganic Chemistry: IUPAC Recommendations 2005 (Red Book).

Chemical structures should be rendered using ISIS Draw (Symyx Draw) or ChemDraw, employing Arial font at 8 pt size, with bond lengths set to 0.41 cm (or in accordance with ACS Document 1996 style, scaled to 80 %). All reaction conditions must be indicated either above the reaction arrow (reagents, catalysts, solvents) or below it (temperature, time). Should the inclusion of reaction conditions result in an overcrowded scheme, these may be placed below the scheme and denoted by superscript letters i, ii, etc., for example, “i: HCl, H₂O, 80 °C, 5 h.” The corresponding letter must also be placed above the relevant reaction arrow. All terminology and abbreviations within schemes should be presented in the language of the manuscript, where applicable.

Standard abbreviations are to be used in publications. Less common abbreviations and symbols must be defined upon their first occurrence. Symbols representing physical constants should be italicized (e.g., d, J, k, c, m/z), whereas the respective units of measurement should remain in standard (non-italic) font. Abbreviations of secondary and tertiary words, as well as prefixes such as ortho-, meta-, and para-, are to be rendered in formulas using italicized Latin letters, for example: s-, t-, o-, m-, p-, i-, cis-, trans-.

It is preferable to utilize established abbreviations and/or molecular formulas for reagents and solvents. Arabic numerals should be assigned to reagents, intermediates, and products according to the sequence in which they appear in the text. Compounds with related structures may be grouped under a common numeral, for example, “RX (2)”; derivatives differing by substituents should be distinguished by letters appended to the numeral, e.g., “alcohol X = OH (2a), acetate X = OAc (2b), tosylate X = OTs (2c).”

When the full compound name is provided, its numerical designation must be included in parentheses. The use of numerical codes without a general reference term is discouraged (for example, “reaction of compound 2d with amide 3” rather than “reaction 2d with 3”).

Stereochemical and structural descriptors that specify the structural features or the position of substituents within a molecule must be italicized, e.g., (R)-enantiomer, tert-butyl, p-xylene, N-alkyl, pyridin-2(1H)-one.

Literature Review Guidelines

The journal publishes reviews on current topics in fundamental and clinical medicine, focusing on literature from the last five years. Review articles must be structured into Introduction, Aim, Materials and Methods, Results, and Conclusions. A detailed description of the search strategy for selecting sources is required. The review should explore the problem, unresolved aspects, and proposed solutions. References should prioritize original studies, limiting citations of other review articles. The reference list should comprise at least 30 sources.

Case Report Guidelines

Case reports introduce specialists to rare diseases, their diagnosis, and treatment. These articles follow a standard research structure but differ in three key aspects:

1. The Introduction presents statistical data on the rare pathology, along with its diagnostic and treatment features as reported by other authors;
2. The Results section describes the case, including clinical-laboratory or pathomorphological characteristics, supplemented by illustrative materials;
3. The Discussion highlights key differential diagnostic features or treatment specifics.

Manuscripts that fail to meet formatting requirements will be returned for revision. Once properly formatted, the editorial board screens submissions for plagiarism and initiates a confidential peer review process.

The editorial board reserves the right to edit manuscripts for clarity while preserving content integrity. Illustrative materials (tables, graphs, diagrams, images) may also be refined. Before publication, the corresponding author will receive a PDF proof for approval.

The Current issues in pharmacy and medicine: science and practice follows an immediate open-access policy, supporting the free dissemination of scientific knowledge for public benefit.

If scientific misconduct is identified post-publication, the article will be retracted.

During martial law, the journal waives all article processing and publication fees.

Preferred communication channels for authors and reviewers – via Email: editorial@zsmu.edu.ua, journals.zsmu@gmail.com, izdatotdel@ukr.net