About Us
Advisory Editorial Panel | Editorial Executive Committee
Mission statement
To promote the quality use of medicines by providing independent, reliable, readily accessible information about drugs and therapeutics.
Aim
Australian Prescriber is an independent review of therapeutics. It aims to provide short direct and didactic reviews on a range of topics which will assist the readers in their professional duties.
Australian Prescriber was first published in 1975. Australian health professionals had previously been sent the British Prescribers' Journal, but this had become less relevant to Australian practice. Australian Prescriber was published by the Australian Department of Health until the National Prescribing Service assumed responsibility for the journal in 2002. Past covers of the journal make a colourful display, marking the evolution of the journal since 1975.
Readers
Australian Prescriber is distributed 6 times each year to doctors, dentists, pharmacists and students of these disciplines. The majority of readers are in Australia, but there is a growing readership in the Asia-Pacific region.
Editorial control
The content of Australian Prescriber is determined by an Editorial Executive Committee made up of practising clinicians. This ensures that the journal concentrates on issues which affect the readers' everyday practice.
The Editorial Executive Committee is supported by a large Advisory Editorial Panel. The members of the panel are nominated by the major Australian specialist societies and colleges. The representatives are listed on the rear cover of each issue.
Independence
Australian Prescriber accepts no advertising. This is in accordance with a policy of the International Society of Drug Bulletins. As the journal does not depend on advertising it can comment freely and impartially on controversial issues.
Content
The Editorial Executive Committee invites authors with particular expertise to contribute papers to Australian Prescriber. All the commissioned papers undergo a rigorous editorial process, including peer review, before they are accepted for publication.
Each issue includes brief comments on 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.
In addition to review articles and editorials, Australian Prescriber also includes regular features. These include the appropriate use of diagnostic tests and the interpretation of abnormal laboratory results.
How we prepare articles
Australian Prescriber aims to provide an independent, expert review of therapeutics and to provide objective, balanced, impartial, reliable, up-to-date information for its readers.
The Editorial Executive Committee of Australian Prescriber decides which topics will be reviewed in the journal. In addition to its own discussions, the Editorial Executive Committee also considers suggestions for articles from the Advisory Editorial Panel and the readership.
All the editorials and articles are commissioned. Unsolicited articles are not accepted. 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. Authors are asked to declare any competing interests.
Once commissioned papers are received by Australian Prescriber, they are sent to independent referees for peer review. The referees' reports are considered when the Editorial Executive Committee discusses the papers for the first time.
After the Editorial Executive Committee's discussions papers may be rejected, or returned to the authors. The latter allows the authors to respond to comments from the Editorial Executive Committee and the referees. Once the authors have responded, the Editorial Executive Committee decides whether to accept or reject their articles for publication in Australian Prescriber.
Having all papers reviewed by the members of the Editorial Executive Committee and independent referees can be a lengthy process. This thorough peer review helps to maintain the high quality of the material published in Australian Prescriber.
Funding
The funding for Australian Prescriber comes from the budget allocated to the National Prescribing Service (NPS) by the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing. The NPS is a non-profit organisation which operates independently of the government and the pharmaceutical industry.
Future
As the number of new drugs increases each year, there will be a need for more unbiased information about how to use them. Australian Prescriber, as an independent national journal of therapeutics, is uniquely placed to provide that information.
Complementarity
The Comments for Consumers page (see homepage) contains information which may be of interest to consumers. The information is based on articles which appear in Australian Prescriber. As Australian Prescriber is written for health professionals, you should discuss any issues raised by this page/column with your doctor or pharmacist. They will be able to give a more detailed answer to your questions by reading the main article. Australian Prescriber is unable to comment on individual cases or give second opinions.
