Abstract

Dear authors, reviewers, subscribers and readers, it is with great sense of achievement that we are presenting the first issue of the 75 th volume of IJPS this month and I would like to state here that all efforts will be made to bring all the six issues of this platinum volume of IJPS by the end of 2013 so as to restore the periodicity of this journal.

Dear authors, reviewers, subscribers and readers, it is with great sense of achievement that we are presenting the first issue of the 75th volume of IJPS this month and I would like to state here that all efforts will be made to bring all the six issues of this platinum volume of IJPS by the end of 2013 so as to restore the periodicity of this journal.

It has been a very eventful journey for IJPS during these 75 years and it has changed its scope, characteristics, and appearance a few times and many great scientists and industry stalwarts have designed, edited and nurtured this publication to its present status. A brief about the 75-year journey of IJPS is presented here for the enthusiastic reader.The journey of the Indian Journal of Pharmacy began in January 1939 as a quarterly journal under the guidance of Prof. M. L. Schroff, when it was published from the Department of Pharmaceutics, Benares Hindu University, Benares. It was designated as the official publication of the Indian Pharmaceutical Association that had an editorial, original articles, pharmacy in other countries, notes and news, abstracts, association meetings and book reviews. Subsequently the journal publishing was shifted to Bombay in 1946 due to better publication logistics and Prof. M. L. Khorana became the editor of the journal. The journal was then published once in two months in 1949 but from 1950 onwards the journal’s publication frequency was increased to once a month, which continued as a monthly till 1968. The monthly publication carried additional features like Forensic Notes and Notices, Information on New Drugs and answers to enquiries about professional difficulties of members. Dr. G. B. Ramasarma became the editor of the journal in 1954 after the resignation of Prof. M. L. Khorana and continued to be the editor till 1968. In 1954 two new features were introduced, the ‘President's Page’ published every month and ‘Hospital Pharmacy’ published every alternate month. During 1959, the official seal of the Indian Pharmaceutical Association was introduced on the title page of the journal.

The year 1969 witnessed many changes in the Journal; firstly, the journal’s scope was restricted to publishing of research communications including review articles, technical abstracts and book reviews; the publication of popular articles and news items was transferred to a new publication “Pharma Times”, which became the official publication of IPA. Secondly, the Indian Journal of Pharmacy reverted to its bimonthly nature and became the Official Scientific Publication of IPA. Dr. R. S. Baichwal became the first editor of the new scientific Journal. In 1979 the name of the journal was changed to the “Indian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences”. Dr. Baichwal served the journal for 24 years as the editor and during his time the journal started regular publication of very informative review articles on advanced areas of research in pharmaceutical sciences, authored by well-known experts. The research articles were divided into two categories, reviews and research communications. These research communications included original research publications in the areas of medicinal chemistry, drug analysis, pharmaceutics, pharmacology and pharmacognosy. After Dr. Baichwal, Dr. C. L. Kaul became the editor during 1992-1996. The present editor, Dr. Rao Vadlamudi, who joined the editorial team in 1994 as the associate editor, became the editor by the end of 1996 and continues to edit the journal till date.

During the past 10-15 years the journal underwent phenomenal changes. The journal’s cover page, size, get-up, paper quality all were changed to make the journal more attractive and presentable. In the new millennium, through the initiative and financial support of Prof. M. L. Khorana Memorial Fund Committee, annual best paper awards were introduced in 5 subject areas that included pharmaceutics, pharmacology, medicinal chemistry, pharmacognosy and pharmaceutical analysis. The journal became online in 2006 and can be accessed at www.ijpsonline.com. Its content from 1995 is now available online. IJPS currently is indexed in many databases including PubMed and Science Citation Index. IJPS started to received the JCR impact factor and the 2011 impact factor is 0.626 (2010 impact factor was 0.455). According to SJR index, the SCImago Journal Rank indicator (SCImago. (2007). SJR-SCImago Journal & Country Rank. Retrieved June 03, 2013, from http://www.scimagojr.com), IJPS is ranked 38th among all pharmaceutical sciences journals in the world with a SJR of 0.417 in 2011.

Editors, associate editors and assistant editors of IJPS 1939-till date

Editor Term Assoc./Asst. Editor Term
Prof. M.L. Schroff 1939-1943 Mr. S. Prasad 1939-1943
Mr. S. Prasad 1943-1946  
Prof. M.L. Khorana 1946-1953 Mr. S.P. Mukherji 1946-1952
Mr. N.S. Bhunavara 1950-1953
Dr. G.B. Ramasarma 1952-1953
Mr. A.I. Mehta 1952-1968
Dr. G.B. Ramasarma 1954-1967 Mr. R.S. Baichwal 1954-1956
Mr. K.S. Patel 1959-1965
Dr. R.S. Baichwal 1959-1968
Dr. R.S. Baichwal 1968-1992 Dr. C.L. Kaul 1986-1992
Dr. C.L. Kaul 1992-1996 Dr. RaoVadlamudi 1994-1996
Dr. RaoVadlamudi 1997-Present Dr. H.P. Tipnis 1997-2006
Dr. Krishna Iyer 2001-Present
Dr. E.C. Coutinho 2010-Present
Dr. (Mrs.) M.S. Nagarsenker 2010-Present

I would like to recognize the immense contribution of all the editors, associate editors and assistant editors (named in the table above), who have guided and helped IJPS all through its journey during these 75 years. I would also like to acknowledge the valuable contribution of editorial assistants, Mrs. Jaya Parchure, Dr. Mrs. Darshana Hegde, Dr. Mrs. Hema Nair, Dr. Mrs. Ujjwala Shinde, Dr. Mrs. Chhanda Kapadia, Mr. Chandrashekhar Barhate and Ms. Radhika Mani in the smooth functioning of the journal, including the management of subscriptions, online manuscript management system and bringing out the issues of IJPS. I would also like to sincerely thank Mr. T. B. Nair, former Executive Secretary of IPA for his sincere administrative support and passionate involvement with the journal all these years.

I take this opportunity to thanks all the authors, reviewers, editorial team members, IJPS advisory board and editorial board members, IPA office bearers, IPA office staff and the Medknow/Wolters Kluwer Health personnel for their valuable help in bringing out yet another volume of IJPS and look forward to their continued support to bring out the 75th volume of IJPS.