Top ten articles of 2023 from the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s research journals

The use of digital technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) has exploded during 2023, bringing with it the potential to transform industries, including healthcare and pharmacy​[1]​. And, in a world where misinformation proliferates unchecked, the need for continued access to research and learning has never been more important. With access to the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s (RPS’s) research journals being a central part of membership, this blog highlights important content and activities undertaken in 2023 to promote research in pharmacy, pharmacology and the pharmaceutical sciences. 

The year in numbers

Across the four RPS research journals, published in partnership with Oxford University Press — the Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology (JPP), the International Journal of Pharmacy Practice (IJPP), the Journal of Pharmaceutical and Health Services Research (JPHSR) and RPS Pharmacy and Pharmacology Reports (RPSPPR) — we have published more than 340 articles from authors across more than 50 countries, covering a range of topics from deprescribing and antimicrobial stewardship, to 3D-printed implants in drug delivery.

This content has been highly accessed, with 900,000 downloads by readers from across more than 200 countries, including the UK, United States and China. One review article published in JPHSR, which described medication errors, with a focus on nursing practice, authored by Nasr Alrabadi from the department of pharmacology at the Jordan University of Science and Technology, was the top accessed article in 2023, reaching more than 25,000 views. The article highlights classifications of medication errors, their types, outcomes, reporting processes and the strategies of error avoidance, as well as the importance of awareness on how to deal with and prevent errors.

Significant developments

In 2023, we also welcomed 21 new members to our editorial boards, bringing the total membership to 169 members, which include experts in their fields from countries including Canada, United States, Italy, Greece, India and the UK.

In January 2023, we were delighted to announce the appointment of Jillian Kohler, a professor at the University of Toronto’s Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, the Dalla Lana School of Public Health and the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, as the new editor-in-chief of JPHSR​[2]​.

IJPP and JPHSR reached a significant milestone this year, both receiving an impact factor (IF) for the first time: IJPP has an IF of 1.8 and JPHSR received an IF of 0.7. 

IF is used to evaluate the relative importance of a journal within its field and to measure the frequency with which the average article has been cited in a particular time period. 

Raising the profile of research in pharmacy

During 2023, each journal’s editor-in-chief and editorial board has worked with international experts, often as guest editors, to produce several themed collections and virtual issues, including on deprescribing and drugs from natural products. 

The deprescribing collection, published in June in IJPP, illustrates the breadth and diversity of recent global research that is leading the way in understanding, developing and evaluating innovative strategies to make deprescribing routine practice. Emerging deprescribing evidence will be continually added to this collection to maintain its currency as the home of high-quality research in the field. 

You can hear more about the collection and deprescribing research in community pharmacy in this accompanying episode of The PJ Pod, published in October 2023.

Across all four journals, six calls for papers were launched in 2023 and will come to fruition in 2024. These include:

• Innovative methods for pharmacy practice research;
• Transparency and accountability in pharmaceutical and health systems;
• 3D printing for pharmaceutical products and medical devices;
• Bioactive compounds and their role in the regulation and treatment of chronic diseases;
• Drugs from natural products;
• The phytomedicines: new approach to treat different chronic diseases by using natural medicines.

During 2023, Parastou Donyai, chief scientist at the RPS, has also contributed a ‘monthly pick of academic papers’ from the journals, which cover important topics for the pharmaceutical research community and profession, including lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and increasing pressure of the pharmacist’s role.

We would like to take this opportunity to extend our sincere gratitude to the editors-in-chief, editorial board members, reviewers and authors for their invaluable contribution and support to our journals in 2023 and look forward to continuing working with you all in 2024.

Most popular content

In case you missed them first time around, here are the RPS journals’ top ten most-read articles from 2023:

1. ‘Nutritional benefits, ethnomedicinal uses, phytochemistry, pharmacological properties and toxicity of Spondias mombin Linn: a comprehensive review‘, Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, January 2023
2. ‘A systematic review of randomised controlled trials on deprescribing outcomes in older adults with polypharmacy‘, International Journal of Pharmacy Practice, May 2023
3. ‘Clinical pharmacists’ participation in ward rounds in hospitals: responses from a national survey‘, International Journal of Pharmacy Practice, May 2023
4. ‘Barriers and facilitators of implementing proactive deprescribing within primary care: a systematic review‘, International Journal of Pharmacy Practice, March 2023
5. ‘Knowledge and attitude toward antibiotic use and resistance among Arab population: a questionnaire-based study of 11 countries from the Middle East and North Africa‘, Journal of Pharmaceutical Health Services Research, April 2023
6. ‘Who would be a pharmacist? a national representative cross-sectional survey of pharmacists and students to explore personality traits and associations with job satisfaction and career outlook‘, International Journal of Pharmacy Practice, March 2023
7. ‘Pharmacist interventions in medication adherence in patients with mental health disorders: a scoping review‘, International Journal of Pharmacy Practice, June 2023
8. ‘A systematic review and thematic synthesis exploring the role of pharmacits in supporting better sleep health and managing sleep disorders‘, International Journal of Pharmacy Practice, February 2023
9. ‘Healthcare professionals’ perspectives of deprescribing in older patients at the end of life in hospice care: a qualitative study using the theoretical domains framework‘, International Journal of Pharmacy Practice, March 2023
10. ‘Medication safety incidents associated with the remote delivery of primary care: a rapid review‘, International Journal of Pharmacy Practice, January 2023