Submission and reviewing process

Submission, initial editorial assessment and editorial screening

Manuscripts submitted to AP are only accepted on the understanding that they are subject to editorial pre-screening (desk evaluation which may result in immediate rejection) and peer-review of at least two independent referees, that they are submitted on an exclusive basis, and that recommendations to comply with ethical standards when performing clinical and other biological experiments have been adhered to. Submission implies that the material submitted to Acta Pharmaceutica is original and has not been published and is not in press or under consideration for publication (except in the form of 1-page abstract or as part of academic thesis), whole or in part, in print or electronic format, in any other journal or any other medium, including preprints, electronic journals and computer databases in the public domain. If the preprint has been posted previously this should be clearly stated and elaborated during submission (https://acta-pharmaceutica.farmaceut.org/en/information-for-authors).

The authors are advised to provide their papers in accordance with the practice of openness and authenticity, ethics and data transparency (through repositories or supplements). Availability of data should be mentioned.

Reports of biological/clinical research carried out in human subjects must contain a statement indicating approval by the local ethics committee (giving its address) and compliance with the Helsinki Declaration and its revisions, as well as an affirmation that written informed consent has been obtained from each patient. Papers on clinical trials need also to be provided with the link to one or more registry platforms. “Approval” is also needed for research with experimental animals, namely, for any use of biological material of human/animal origin.

Only submissions received from authentic institutional e-mail addresses will be further processed.

A cover letter should be included stating the wish to publish in Acta Pharmaceutica and identifying the corresponding author (with position and full institutional postal and e-mail addresses), and including a statement indicating that all authors approve the submission of the manuscript to Acta Pharmaceutica. Novelty and significance of research should be shortly but clearly elaborated.

Submission of materials generated by AI is discouraged. Neither is allowed to submit paper-mills-produced materials. The use of genAI in manuscript preparation is permitted only for manuscript refinement (e.g., language improvement, formatting), but not for creating, altering, or manipulating research data, images, or measurements. Any use of genAI must be disclosed, ideally in the methods or acknowledgments sections. AI tools do not qualify for authorship, as they can’t be held accountable for all aspects of the work. An AI tool should not be included in the author list of a manuscript.

During the submittance phase of the manuscript authors should accept Authors Agreement Form and Open Access License.

Desk evaluation process includes first editorial screening, namely, evaluation through topics/scope adequacy, aligning to technical requirements, plagiarism check, through possible violation of ethical standards. The Editor-in-Chief rejects the paper, or asks for first corrections, or sends to the peer reviewers, or forward the paper to the respective Section Editor for a more competent preliminary review. After passing a preliminary review the manuscript is subject to peer reviewing process of at least two independent reviewers. The corresponding author will receive acknowledgement of receipt of the manuscript from the Editor in the phase of initiating the reviewing process.

Reviewing process and final decision

The authors are encouraged to suggest three non-biased referees (providing all relevant information: full name and position, affiliation, postal and electronic mail addresses), but the Editor/Editorial Board reserves the right to choose other referees, with no potential competing or conflicting interests, who will remain anonymous. Reviewers have an obligation to conduct reviews in an ethical and accountable manner and to provide impartial and timely reviews. In this journal peer review process operates as a single-anonymous (https://acta-pharmaceutica.farmaceut.org/en/information-for-reviewers).

The responsibilities and tasks involved in reviewing a paper can only be attributed to and performed by the human submitting the review. AI-generated reviews are not accountable or verifiable.

Each paper is evaluated by at least two independent peer reviewers. Reviewers are selected according to their high recognizability in the respective field and are asked to finish their work within 3 weeks. If needed, e.g., in case of contradictory evaluations, the additional reviewer is asked for service, or the final decision is upon Editors or Editorial Board. The Editor then rejects the paper upon negative evaluations, or proceed by asking the authors for proper revision. Editorial comments are appended as well. In case of revision obeying all referees' and editorial requirements it is accepted for publication. Otherwise, after reviewers re-review, the repeated revisions are needed.

The Editor requires a fair, honest and unbiased assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the manuscript. Both Editor and reviewer responsibilities include accountability, standards of objectivity and fairness, promptness and confidentiality.

An author receiving reviews and editorial recommendations for revision of a manuscript has two weeks to complete the revision and return the manuscript to the Section/Guest Editor or Editor-in-Chief. Unless authors have received permission from the Editor for a delay, manuscript requiring more than a month for revision should be submitted as a new manuscript.

In case of clear evidence of unethical behaviour, malpractice or other type of misconduct, or publishing practice violation by the authors, the Editors should consider retracting a publication. Considering complaints and confidentiality, complainant should be anonymous to authors but not to the Editorial Board/Publisher, unless otherwise proves necessary.

In case that the Editor of Acta Pharmaceutica is an author, the whole process of article handling is transferred to the Editor not involved and/or Editorial Board.

Acta Pharmaceutica

The Journal of Croatian Pharmaceutical Society

About the journal

All volumes and issues in this journal

Volume 76 (2026)

Volume 75 (2025)

Volume 74 (2024)

Volume 73 (2023)

Volume 72 (2022)

Volume 71 (2021)

Volume 70 (2020)

Volume 69 (2019)

Volume 68 (2018)

Volume 67 (2017)

Volume 66 (2016)

Volume 65 (2015)

Volume 64 (2014)

Volume 63 (2013)

Volume 62 (2012)

Volume 61 (2011)

Volume 60 (2010)

Volume 59 (2009)

Volume 58 (2008)

Volume 57 (2007)

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