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Connecting research and everyday practice

Pharmacy in Practice Journal

Evidence. Practice. People.

Bridging the gap between research and practice in pharmacy. Rooted in Scotland, open to ideas, experience and evidence from around the world.

Pharmacy in Practice Journal cover artwork for The value of pharmacy
The value of pharmacyVolume 1 · Issue 1

Why this Journal exists

Research that informs practice. Practice that asks better questions.

The most useful questions often begin in a consultation, a dispensary, a hospital ward or a conversation with a patient. We want to help those questions become shared learning, and help research make a meaningful difference to care.

Our focus is pharmacy practice relevant to Scotland, but our outlook is international. We welcome contributions from every country, with enough context to help readers understand what may transfer to their own setting.

Researchers, pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, students, other health professionals and people with lived experience all have something to contribute. What matters is a clear question, an honest account and something useful for others to learn.

The Journal archive

Explore our volumes and issues

Each volume brings together individual issues exploring the contribution pharmacy makes to patients, communities and healthcare.

Volume 1

Our opening volume

Volume 1 · Issue 1

Reviewer access

The value of pharmacy

What does pharmacy contribute, and how can we demonstrate its value? Our first issue brings together research abstracts, professional debate, clinical reflection and lived experience to explore that question.

Articles and PDFs are currently available to invited reviewers. Please sign in with your reviewer account.

Explore Volume 1, Issue 1
Inside Issue 1

What matters to us

Useful evidence. Honest conversation.

  • Relevance to practice

    We ask what the work means for care, decisions and the people delivering and receiving them.

  • People and equity

    We value lived experience, inclusion and attention to who benefits, who is missing and who faces barriers.

  • Rigour and transparency

    Clear methods, appropriate interpretation and visible limitations help readers judge what the findings can support.

  • Learning across borders

    Scotland can learn from the world, and the world can learn from Scotland. Context makes that exchange useful.

  • Honest findings

    Negative results, inconclusive findings and setbacks can teach us as much as success. We welcome them when they are reported clearly and with appropriate context.

A place for different kinds of evidence

From a single case to a full randomised controlled trial

We welcome contributions across the breadth of pharmacy research and practice improvement. A small project can address an important question. A large study can challenge how care is delivered.

Different methods answer different questions. Whatever the scale, tell readers what you did, what you found, what the limitations are and why it matters in practice.

  • Case reports and case series

    Carefully described patient cases that reveal a clinical challenge, a safety issue or a lesson others can use.

  • Clinical audit

    Work comparing practice with an explicit standard, describing gaps and, where available, changes made and findings from repeat audit.

  • Quality improvement

    Projects that test changes to care or working processes, track their effects and share the learning from each step.

  • Service evaluation and implementation

    Studies of how services work, whom they reach, their outcomes and what helps or hinders putting evidence into practice.

  • Qualitative and mixed methods research

    Research exploring experiences, perspectives and context, either in depth or alongside quantitative findings.

  • Observational research

    Surveys, cohort studies, case-control studies and other analyses describing practice or examining patterns and associations.

  • Pilot and feasibility studies

    Early studies asking whether an intervention can be delivered or a larger study can be conducted, whether the approach is acceptable and what needs to change before proceeding.

  • Intervention studies and clinical trials

    Evaluations of changes to care, including non-randomised studies and full randomised controlled trials, with clearly reported outcomes.

  • Evidence reviews and synthesis

    Systematic reviews, scoping reviews, meta-analyses and clearly framed narrative reviews that make existing evidence useful to practice.

  • Health economic research

    Studies examining costs, resources, outcomes and value to help readers understand the choices involved in delivering care.

Contribute from anywhere

What could practice learn from your work?

You do not need to begin with a finished manuscript. Use the form below to send a proposal, abstract, research poster or article. If you would like to discuss an idea first, you can also email us.

We welcome submissions from Scotland and across the world, from experienced researchers and people sharing their work for the first time.

Upload your work

Johnathan@pharmacyinpractice.uk

A useful first introduction

  1. Your proposed title and type of contribution.
  2. The question, setting and people involved.
  3. Your approach, main findings or current stage of work.
  4. What others might learn and the implications for practice.
  5. The authors’ names, roles and contact details.

Please explain any relevant approvals, consent arrangements, funding and interests. Protect patient confidentiality and make the limits of the work clear.

Preparing a research manuscript? The EQUATOR Network’s reporting guidelines can help you choose an appropriate structure for your study type.

Share your work

Submit to the Journal

Send a manuscript, research poster, abstract or proposal directly to the editorial team. Choose the format and type of work that best describe your contribution, then complete the relevant questions.

We use your submission details and files to assess your contribution and contact you about next steps. Please read our privacy policy. Submission is for editorial consideration and does not confirm acceptance or publication.

Corresponding author's full name
Independent contributors, students and patient contributors are welcome.
If you have one.
List authors in the intended publication order, with their organisations or affiliations. For an early proposal, list the people currently involved.
Two or three sentences are enough. Explain the practical learning and any context that matters when applying it elsewhere.
Describe any relevant ethics or organisational approvals and consent to participate. Give approval references where available. If approval was not required, explain why. If this does not apply, write Not applicable with a brief reason. If unsure, tell us.
State who supported the work, their role and any relevant financial or non-financial interests for the authors. Write None if there is nothing to declare.
Tell us about any conference presentation, published abstract, preprint, related article or current submission to another journal. Include links where available, or write None.
Does your submission describe individual patients or include patient images?
This includes case reports, patient accounts and clinical photographs.
Were AI tools used in preparing this submission or conducting the work?
Include assistance with writing, language editing, analysis or image creation.
Include any questions or additional context. If this is a revised submission, identify the earlier submission and briefly explain the changes.
Authority to submit
Accuracy of declarations
Editorial consideration
Drag & Drop Files, Choose Files to Upload

Need help with your submission or a file upload? Email Johnathan@pharmacyinpractice.uk.