Journal content

As an independent review of therapeutics, Australian Prescriber aims to provide expert, balanced, impartial, reliable and up-to-date information for its readers by reviewing recent evidence where therapy is evolving and updating readers on therapeutics in their own and other fields.

In addition to editorials and articles, Australian Prescriber includes regular features such as medicinal mishaps, book reviews, and articles on the appropriate use of diagnostic tests and the interpretation of abnormal laboratory results.

Each issue includes brief summaries of drugs which have recently been marketed in Australia. These comments can help the readers to decide if a new drug has any advantage over more familiar products.

The Editorial Executive Committee also welcomes letters from readers.

How we prepare material for publication

The Editorial Executive Committee meets face to face eight times a year to commission, review and approve all material for publication. It considers suggestions for articles from the Advisory Editorial Panel, NPS MedicineWise, readers, and a wide range of stakeholders, then invites authors with particular expertise to write articles for Australian Prescriber . When commissioning an author, the Editorial Executive Committee selects someone who not only has a detailed knowledge of a topic, but can also write a balanced review. Unsolicited articles are not accepted.

All commissioned articles undergo a rigorous editorial process, including external peer review, before being accepted for publication. The referee's identity remains unknown by the author during the review process, while the referee will be told the author's name. Referee reports are considered when the Editorial Executive Committee discusses the papers for the first time in a meeting. After the scrutiny of the Committee, articles are returned to the authors for comment, and approved for publication at a subsequent Committee meeting.

Authors have the opportunity to respond to comments from the Editorial Executive Committee and the referees. The Committee has the right to reject an article and their decision is final.

Conflicts of interest

Authors and reviewers are required to inform the Editor of any conflicts of interest. Possible conflicts may be financial, academic, professional or personal, and should be declared even if they have not influenced the article. Sources of research funding should be declared, including past support if it is relevant to the paper being written. The Editorial Executive Committee decides if any declared conflicts of interest should be published.

Members of the Editorial Executive Committee are required to make an annual declaration of any conflicts of interest.

Letters

The Editorial Executive Committee welcomes letters, which should be less than 250 words. Before a decision to publish is made, letters which refer to a published article may be sent to the author for a response. Any letter may be sent to an expert for comment. Letters are usually published together with their responses or comments in the same issue. The Committee screens out discourteous, inaccurate or libellous statements and sub-edits letters before publication. Authors are required to declare any conflicts of interest. The Committee's decision on publication is final.

The Editorial Executive Committee screens out discourteous, inaccurate or libellous statements and sub-edits letters before publication. The Committee's decision on publication is final.

Information for consumers

Australian Prescriber publishes plain English summaries for consumers based on articles which appear in the journal, as well as patient perspectives and information on patient support organisations.

As Australian Prescriber is written for health professionals, you should discuss any issues raised by articles on this website with your doctor, pharmacist or other health professional.

Indexing

Australian Prescriber is indexed by

• Academic Search Complete
• Australian Public Affairs Information Service – Health
• Iowa Drug Information Service
• EMBASE/Excerpta Medica
• Journal Citation Reports/Science Edition
• Science Citation Index Expanded (also known as SciSearch)
• Scopus

Affiliations

Australian Prescriber is a founding member of the International Society of Drug Bulletins.

It is also a partner of HealthInsite, the consumer web portal of the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing.

The website is accredited by HONcode, an international organisation dedicated to providing trustworthy health and medical information on the net.

Readership surveys

To ensure a high-quality publication, Australian Prescriber conducts readership surveys of both the paper copy and online publication every 3-4 years, as well as participating in NPS MedicineWise surveys in particular fields, such as pharmacy and general practice.

Privacy

Australian Prescriber articles are frequently used in teaching materials and reprinted or translated. Readers may print a single copy of articles for personal use. For further reproduction or distribution of Australian Prescriber material, contact the Editor for permission as conditions apply.