Research and ScholarshipHow do we impact academic pharmacy’s ability to strengthen research and other scholarship in practice, education and the pharmaceutical, administrative, translational and clinical sciences?
Robert S. Beardsley, Ph.D., R.Ph., Professor and Vice-chair for Education in the Pharmaceutical Health Services Research Department, University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, was honored for excellence in teaching, research and scholarship as well as overall impact on pharmacy education and the profession.
Sidney D. Nelson, Ph.D. (deceased December 2011), Professor and Dean Emeritus, University of Washington School of Pharmacy, was recognized for outstanding research and contributions to the field of pharmaceutical sciences.
The following awardees were recognized for the best paper published in the American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, "Nine Constructs of Cultural Competence for Curriculum Development" (Volume 74, Issue 10, 2010)
Margarita Echeverri, Ph.D., Assistant Professor in the Division of Clinical and Administrative Sciences, Xavier University of Louisiana College of Pharmacy B. Cecile Brookover, Ph.D., Director for Institutional Effectiveness and Assessment, Xavier University of Louisiana Office of Planning, Institutional Research and Assessment Kathleen B. Kennedy, Pharm.D., Dean, Xavier University of Louisiana College of Pharmacy
Margarita Echeverri, Ph.D., Assistant Professor in the Division of Clinical and Administrative Sciences, Xavier University of Louisiana College of Pharmacy
B. Cecile Brookover, Ph.D., Director for Institutional Effectiveness and Assessment, Xavier University of Louisiana Office of Planning, Institutional Research and Assessment
Kathleen B. Kennedy, Pharm.D., Dean, Xavier University of Louisiana College of Pharmacy
A special Advisory Committee on Research and Graduate Education was formed this year with a threefold purpose:
The committee is discussing the Academic Research Fellows Program, which is currently under development. Another topic of discussion is how to better market pharmaceutical graduate degree programs.
The New Investigator Awards Program, which is fully funded by AACP and in its second year, provides start-up grants for new pharmacy faculty-initiated research projects. During the 2011-12 academic year, 130 applications were received for peer review by expert panels assembled from each of AACP’s governance sections. All applications were reviewed, and each award was based on scientific merit. At the conclusion of the review process, each applicant received the reviewers’ comments.
Eighteen awards were conferred, each up to $10,000 plus a $1,000 travel allowance for the new investigators to attend the 2013 AACP Annual Meeting and present their research findings.
Since 1998, AACP has annually collected and reported out information on faculty principal investigator (PI) research grants awarded by the National Institutes of Health. Beginning in fiscal year 2011, in addition to NIH grants, other federal, non-federal and collaborative PI grants were also included in the AACP report. Members are given the opportunity to filter and sort the data with a parameter of their preference. For FY2011, the total investigator-initiated faculty research grant awards for the Academy were as follows:
Source of Research Grant Award
Total Award (in millions)
National Institutes of Health
$288.4
Other Federal Agencies
$34.1
Non-Federal Agencies
$43.2
Collaborative PI Subcontracts
$49.5
Total Grants and Subcontracts
$415.2
AACP celebrated two milestones for its widely acclaimed scholarly publication. The American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education entered its 75th year of publication, and Dr. Joseph T. DiPiro, executive dean, South Carolina College of Pharmacy, marked 10 years as Editor. As DiPiro continues his service at the AJPE helm, we reflect on his outstanding contributions to date. Under DiPiro’s leadership, the Journal editorial staff, Editorial Board members, authors and reviewers generated notable achievements in support of the AJPE mission to document and advance pharmaceutical education in the United States and internationally.
Between 2002 and 2012, AJPE transitioned from a print publication to an interactive online vehicle and opened up access to content. The number of manuscripts submitted to the Journal grew steadily from 119 in 2002 to 315 in 2011. During the same timeframe, the number of issues increased from 4 to 10 per year.
Strong Focus on Quality. Also elevated was the ISI Impact Factor. This measure of how frequently Journal articles are cited is a key indicator of publication quality. AJPE now ranks 12th of 33 science education journals for impact factor.
AJPE Impact Factor
Quality is also indicated by the selectivity of a publication. AJPE accepts for publication approximately 50 percent of submitted articles.
During the past 10 years, the Journal conducted activities specifically to increase the quality of its articles. In 2003 (revised in 2009), guidelines were published setting the format and criteria for articles that focus on instructional design and assessment. Descriptions of curricular innovations are not published without clear instructional objectives and data to document achievement of the objectives. This is an evidence-based approach used extensively by authors, reviewers and editors.
The Journal published a series of articles and commentaries that address guidelines for survey research. These guidelines improved the quality of survey research published in the Journal—particularly related to sample size, response rates and representation of the study population. In addition, the Journal published methods papers to guide authors and improve submissions. These papers focused on the use of categorical and qualitative data.
Another measure of Journal quality is the timeliness of publication. Over the past few years, the editors reduced the lag times to first decision (accept, reject, minor or major revision) and the time to publication for accepted manuscripts. The average time from submission to first decision is now approximately 30 days, and the average time from acceptance to publication is approximately 120 days.
Broader International Impact. The Journal is becoming a worldwide voice for pharmacy education. International readership has been extremely high, with 20,000 to 30,000 unique visitors to the AJPE site each month. The countries with the greatest number of Journal readers are India, Great Britain, China, Canada, the Philippines, Australia and Malaysia. Also on the rise are the number of published manuscripts with international authors and the number of letters from readers around the globe.
Next: Critical Issue #6