Pharmaceutical Biology: A retrospective

Abstract

A historical perspective of the growth and development of Pharmaceutical Biology.

Keywords::

• Pharmaceutical Biology
• crude drugs
• pharmacognosy

With this issue, Pharmaceutical Biology proudly reaches a milestone that began in 1961 when Dr. E.F. Steinmetz conceived and published the first issue of the Quarterly Journal of Crude Drug Research as a response to the growing interest in the field of pharmacognosy. From the start, the journal was international in scope, publishing articles in several languages regarding “the search for new drugs of therapeutic and pharmacological importance” (Steinmetz, 1961) from natural products. The first editorial, published in English and German, clearly set the path for the journal that we still follow today.

I have the pleasure of herewith presenting the first number of this journal. A lively interest in plant medicinal agents has recently come to the fore. Several valuable medicinal plants, which were formerly scarcely known, have been introduced during the last few years into the medical armamentarium, thus, for instance, Rauwolfia serpentina and the Mexican yam, Dioscolea conzposita. Some pharmaceutical manufacturing firms are sending their own plant explorers to distant lands, and research institutes are laboring to discover new crude materials of value.

Here is present a large field of unimagined proportions. Among others, the Seventh Lecture Program of the German Society for Medicinal Plant Research brought forth the expression from the internationally known expert, Professor Dr. Kurt Mothes, that “in the medicinal plants there still lies hidden an immensely great treasure house of nature which ought to be investigated” (Deutsche Apotheker Zeitung, 99, 1130; 1959).

It is my fervent hope that this journal will be of assistance to the pharmaceutical industry in the search for new drugs of therapeutic and pharmacological importance, and will enjoy the attention of persons in commerce, and of physicians, chemists, students, and others interested in this field of research (Steinmetz, 1961).

From 1961 to his death in 1972, Dr. Steinmetz, along with his many other enterprises, continued to act as publisher and Editor-in-Chief of the Quarterly Journal of Crude Drug Research. He encouraged contributions from leaders in the field, including George M. Hocking, Ralph H. Cheney, Gunnar Gjerstad, Pratap Singh, Julia R. Morton, and others. Upon Dr. Steinmetz’ death, unfortunately there was “no provision for continuing his various businesses” (Hocking, 1974), including the two journals he founded, the Quarterly Journal of Crude Drug Research (1961–1972) and the earlier Acta Phytotherapeutica (1954–1972). After some negotiations, Swets & Zeitlinger B.V. agreed to fold Acta Phytotherapeutica into the Quarterly Journal of Crude Drug Research and assume publication in 1974 with George M. Hocking as the editor. In an editorial, Dr. Hocking set forth the direction of the expanded journal.

With this issue, the publication is resumed of the Quarterly Journal of Crude Drug Research, which was established, edited, and published by Dr. E.F. Steinmetz for twelve years (1961–1972). Since, prior to his death, Dr. Steinmetz had made no provision (as far as can be determined) for continuing his various businesses there has been a considerable delay in gathering together the various threads to permit effective continuation of his Journal publishing program. Fortunately, the outstanding publishing company of Swets and Zeitlinger B.V. (Lisse, Netherlands) has volunteered to take over the publication of the Quarterly Journal of Crude Drug Research, now incorporated with the monthly periodical, Acta Phytotherapeutica (1954-72), which had also been fathered by Dr. Steinmetz. Without question, the study of medicinal plants and animals and of plant and animal drugs is a truly broad and comprehensive field, involving the most diverse subject matters. Even though the chief interest currently in the field is the phytochemical, pharmacochemical, and biochemical, yet much more subject matter is represented in this area. Among these subjects may be mentioned the history, therapeutic and pharmaceutical use, botany, zoology, morphology, anatomy, microscopy, terminology (nomenclature), geographical distribution, production, cultivation, processing, commerce, incompatibilities, folk remedy use, etc. Many facets of botany are important, especially taxonomy and phgogeny. Such great diversity of subject matter will be reflected in the pages of the Quarterly Journal. Appropriate manuscripts covering any phase of pharmacognosy (newly defined as the study of drugs of natural origin) will be accepted, the one proviso being that they appear in a major modem language (English, French, German, Spanish). The rules for the writing of manuscripts appear on an adjoining page of this journal (“Notice to Contributors”) and should be carefully read and adhered to by all concerned.

Both review articles and experimental studies will be welcomed, but the latter will have priority of publication over the former since promptness of publication is essential in modem science. We are looking forward to receiving valuable papers from the members of our editorial board who have kindly offered to serve as liaisons in many parts of the world.

It is hoped that authors will submit graphic materials with their manuscripts – maps, photos, drawings, graphs, charts, schemes, diagrams, etc., – all will be useful materials for the record.

An annual author and subject index will be collated regularly in the future as a part of the last issue of each volume. The review of books and the abstracting of important articles pertinent to pharmacognosy will be continued; these will be positioned in the back portion of each issue.

The physical format of the journal will in general be retained except that hereafter each volume will have its own pagination. In the present issue, the pages are intended to number 1–52, thus pages 2005–2052 should be read as 5–52. (In previous volumes, the pagination had been continued volume after volume from the beginning.)

It is hoped occasionally to provide translations of important articles. However, in this day of rising printing costs, this is a luxury which cannot regularly be enjoyed.

There is no page charge for publishing papers.

Authors are responsible for the statements they make; the editorial staff will critically examine all manuscripts (Hocking, 1971).

Under Dr. Hocking’s stewardship, the journal continued to grow, so that by 1982, with volume 20, the name was changed to reflect its expanded role, as explained in the editorial.

For twenty years, the Quarterly Journal of Crude Drug Research has been publishing articles and reviews in the field of pharmacognosy and phytochemistry. The papers that have appeared there have been authored by a wide diversity of individuals in many parts of the world. Thus, there have been contributions from Mexico, Panama, Brazil, Great Britain, France, Switzerland, Italy, Greece, Hungary, Ghana, Nigeria, Iran, Lebanon, India, Thailand, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, and other countries including the United States of America. It is therefore obvious that the interest in the subject matter, the source of the articles, and the readership are all widely spread throughout the world. It would seem proper to indicate this universal interest in drugs of natural origin and so the title with this issue and hereafter will be “(THE) International Journal of Crude Drug Research”.

With this more informative designation, there should be implied an appeal for greater cooperation among the citizens of the whole world towards the end of contributing to means for alleviating the suffering and disease common to all humanity, with the eventual postponement for greater and greater periods of the terminal event in the lives of all of us! (Hocking, 1982).

As the manuscripts submissions continued to increase, the editorial staff grew, adding assistant and associate editors to help with the review process. While George Hocking continued as Editor, in 1986 John A. Beutler quietly became Co-Editor-in-Chief and guided the journal through yet another name change announced in 1991.

With the beginning of volume 29 the name of this journal changes to International Journal of Pharmacognosy. This marks the second name change for the journal within the decade, a fact that will no doubt bother librarians, but is intended to better reflect and communicate the scope of the journal. The last name change, from Quarterly Journal of Crude Drug Research to International Journal of Crude Drug Research, reflected the wide geographic range of contributors to this enterprise. The current name change reflects the fact that there is nothing crude about the research (it was always research on crude drugs, not crude research), especially given the interdisciplinary nature and potential of most of the research reported.

The scope of the journal continues to be scientific research concerning the validation of biological activity in traditional medicines of natural origin. This can range from examination of the morphology of raw plant drugs (classical pharmacognosy) to elucidation of chemical structures responsible for bioactivity and their pharmacologic characterization, to clinical studies of efficacy. The motive may be either development of the “crude” drug per se or the active principle therein.

We welcome manuscripts within this scope and hope that we can provide more rapid publication in the coming year for a wide range of studies on traditional medicines (Beutler, 1991).

In addition, in 1991, both Hocking and Beutler stepped down as Editors-in-Chief, and John M. Pezzuto assumed the mantle. A year after holding the position, Pezzuto reflected on the accomplishments and future of the journal in a letter to the readers.

In the year 1961, the Quarterly Journal of Crude Drug Research was founded by Dr. E.F. Steinmetz, a Dutch importer of crude drugs who was also the author of several lexicons and the publisher and editor of Acta Phytotherapeutica for 18 years. Many of his life’s accomplishments and experiences were documented in a remembrance published in the Journal (Quart J. Crude Drug Res 13: 1, 1974). In 1972, on Steinmetz’s death, the Journal was purchased from his estate by Swets and Zeitlinger B.V., and Dr. George M. Hocking, a botanist and classical pharmacognosist at Auburn University, was chosed as the second Editor-in-Chief. The first issue under his editorship appeared in 1974.

The name of the Journal was changed in 1982 to the International Journal of Crude Drug Research and, at this time, Dr. John A. Beutler became a member of the Editorial Board. In 1985, Dr. Beutler became Co-Editor-in-Chief with Dr. Hocking, and the editorial board and review processes were strengthened. Associate Editors for Chemistry (Dr. Michael S. Tempesta) and Pharmacology (Dr. John M. Pezzuto) were named in 1989, and the following year an Associate Editor for Botany (Dr. Arnold Krochmal) was designated. In 1992, the name of the Journal was changed once again to its present title of the International Journal of Pharmacognosy, and I accepted the position of Editor-in-Chief. Shortly thereafter, Dr. R. Murray Tait was appointed Associate Editor, Dr. Beutler became Book Review Editor, and Dr. Norman R. Farnsworth was selected as Contributing Editor.

The selection of the Journal title was indeed difficult. From a historical perspective, pharmacognosy was a descriptive science dealing with the botany, chemistry and pharmacology of crude drugs. In a contemporary sense, the discipline encompasses all facets of natural product drugs. This includes descriptions of herbal remedies useful for the treatment of human ailments, evaluation of the biologic potential of natural product drugs or preparations, definition of specific components contained in natural product remedies, bioassay-directed isolation of pure active principles contained in crude preparations from natural sources, structure elucidation of natural product drugs, synthesis and evaluation of biological mechanisms of natural product drugs, construction of novel test systems for the isolation or identification of sources of natural products drugs, validation of folk remedies used in traditional medicine systems, etc. These types of activities are clearly remote from the activities encompassed by the original discipline of pharmacognosy and, thus, the word pharmacognosy may itself be viewed as an anachronism. However, bearing in mind the activities that are actually encompassed by contemporary pharmacognosy, the title of the Journal is appropriate for its objectives. Pharmacognosy may be viewed as the patriarch of the discipline as it currently exists, but a more descriptive word is not currently available and would need to be newly fabricated.

Achievements in the field of pharmacognosy have been monumental throughout the years. For example, consider the structural complexity of the antitumor drug taxol. In contemplating a new chemical entity that should demonstrate antitumor activity, it is virtually impossible to theorize such a structure a priori. This type of reasoning applies for many classes of natural product therapeutic agents. Therefore, the extraordinary relevance of exploring nature for prototype structural leads is apparent. The ultimate objective of the International Journal of Pharmacognosy is to facilitate such discoveries. Since it is clear that stringent scientific review is a prerequisite in attaining this goal, the Editorial Review Board of the Journal has been expanded to include many world-renowned experts. In addition, with the cooperation, support and suggestions of Swets & Zeitlinger, we are now in a position to enhance the breadth of the Journal. In addition to increasing page numbers on an annual basis, manuscript consistency and typeset will be improved. We are also anticipating the publication of supplemental issues that will cover pertinent topics in pharmacognosy, and the categories of publications have been expanded to include short communications and reviews, in addition to regular articles.

Thus, the Journal has unquestionably come a long way over the past 30 years. Equally, certain is the fact that this Journal, like any other journal, exists to benefit its readership. We will strive to publish papers of impeccable scientific quality that fall within the scope of the Journal’s objectives. We will also be responsive to the field as it continues to evolve and publish only papers of contemporary interest. We appreciate the support this Journal has received over the years, and we welcome the submission of high quality manuscripts for publication in future issues. Any suggestions for improving the worth of the Journal will be appreciated (Pezzuto, 1993).

As submissions increased and the backlog of accepted papers grew, in 1996, the Int. J. Pharmacog. increased not only the pages in each issue, but went from four issues a year with an occasional supplement to five issues and a supplement. During the publication of volumes 34 and 35 (1996–1997), Christopher Beecher served as the Editor-in-Chief. While the journal had always featured a related photo or chemical structure on the cover, during this time the publication of a drawing of a featured plant with a brief “cover story” was introduced. The featured photograph has continued in the printed issues as a signature of the journal.

The field of pharmacognosy was changing and finally in 1998 yet another change in the journal title was made to Pharmaceutical Biology when John Pezzuto returned as Editor-in-Chief.

It is a great pleasure to introduce the first issue of Pharmaceutical Biology. As described in an earlier editorial (Int. J. Pharmacog. 31: 1-2, 1993), this journal was founded in 1961, and subsequent iterations of the title led to the International Journal of Pharmacognosy. In the vernacular, pharmacognosy is generally understood to mean a knowledge (gnosis) of drugs (pharmakon). This, of course, may be viewed as all encompassing, but the contemporary perception of the word is more limited to a descriptive science, dealing with factors such as the origin or composition of drugs. Submission of high-caliber manuscripts in these areas is still welcome by the Journal. Clearly, however, as can be evidenced readily by perusal of this or many recent issues of the Journal, the scope is much broader than a descriptive understanding of drugs. Pharmaceutical Biology will publish manuscripts describing the discovery, methods for discovery, description, analysis, characterization, and production/isolation (including sources and surveys) of biologically-active chemicals or other substances, drugs, pharmaceutical products, or preparations utilized in systems of traditional medicine. Topics may generally encompass any facet of natural product research related to pharmaceutical biology. Papers dealing with agents or topics related to natural product drugs are also appropriate (e.g., semi-synthetic derivatives). Manuscripts will be published as reviews, perspectives, regular research articles, and short communications.

The primary criteria for acceptance and publication are scientific rigor and potential to advance the field.

At the current time, we will continue publication of five issues per year, and one supplement will be provided covering the proceedings of a relevant symposium or topic of contemporary interest. In addition to printed copy, on-line service is available. Suggestions or comments in any of these areas are welcome, since we will continue striving to meet the needs and interests of the readership. The cover of the Journal will highlight a selected research article appearing in the issue, or a person or topic of influence in the field of pharmaceutical biology.

Lastly, it is realized that change sometimes leads to misconceptions, criticism or anxiety. Our intent in altering the format of this Journal should not be construed as a polemic. Pharmaceutical agents continue to represent the mainstay for treating human ailments, and our overriding goal is to best represent the field and to disseminate relevant knowledge in a broad and timely manner. The past support of many superb scientists is highly appreciated, and we look forward to even greater productivity in the future (Pezzuto, 1998).

The scientific community continued to value the journal, and contributions from many reputable authors increased, causing a problem with the backlog of papers awaiting publication. This concern was addressed by the publisher and editorial staff in a 2002 editorial announcing an increase to eight issues and a supplement.

With this issue, we begin our fortieth year of publication. The name was changed to Pharmaceutical Biology in 1998, in an effort to more accurately reflect the content. The content and, corresponding, the scope of any journal, is of utmost importance. As described previously (Pharm. Biol. 36: 2, 1998), Pharmaceutical Biology “will publish manuscripts describing the discovery, methods for discovery, description, analysis, characterization, and production/isolation (including sources and surveys) of biologically-active chemicals or other substances, drugs, pharmaceutical products, or preparations utilized in systems of traditional medicine. Topics may generally encompass any facet of natural product research related to pharmaceutical biology. Papers dealing with agents or topics related to natural product drugs are also appropriate (e.g., semi-synthetic derivatives). This is very broad and generic, but the field is broad and generic, and the statement of scope still seems applicable. However, over the past few years, the quantity and quality of submissions has increased and improved. Unfortunately, this has led to certain delays in publication, and I apologize to all authors who have experienced delays. Interestingly, however, the bottleneck in time-to-appearance is not the review process but actual page space in the journal. To help alleviate this situation, we have increased the number of issues from six to eight per year, in addition to the annual supplement, and further increases will be explored in the future. At the same time, we are making special efforts to communicate more frequently with authors and to accelerate the review process. This is especially difficult due to the geographical distribution of the Editor, the Associate Editors, the Publisher, the Reviewers, and the Authors, but we will continue to strive for greater efficacy through the use of electronic media.

Nonetheless, after taking all of these factors into account, effective with this issue, we will need to be more stringent in the acceptance of submissions. Manuscript may conform to the scope of the journal and the work may be performed in a technically proficient manner, but acceptance will rely more heavily on impact of the work and timeliness to the field. Some papers will be published on an accelerated schedule if they are especially timely or important.

We appreciate your support and patience in the past, and look forward to receiving your contributions in the future. We hope you can appreciate the manner in which this journal has evolved over the past 40 years, and we will continue to serve the global scientific community to the utmost of our ability (Pezzuto, 2002).

In November 2003, Swets & Zeitlinger Publishers was acquired by the Taylor and Francis Group. Beginning with issue 7 of Volume 41, Pharmaceutical Biology was published under the Taylor & Francis imprint (Anon. 2003). Pharmaceutical Biology has experienced a continual increase in manuscript contributions each year. It reached a milestone of 200-manuscript submissions in 2004, which increased to 403 in 2005 when the journal went to nine issues a year.

Pharmaceutical Biology (along with other Taylor & Francis journals) was purchased by Informa in mid-2006, and became part of the newly formed division, Informa Healthcare. Informa Healthcare is the medical journals and books publishing arm of Informa. It is a specialized publisher with a portfolio of high quality peer-reviewed journals and books spanning basic science, preclinical research, drug discovery, development, and post-marketing studies including print and electronic formats, directories, encyclopedias, databases, and newsletters. The online platform, informahelthcare.com, hosts content from Volume 1, Issue 1 of all 170 journals and 600 books, including Pharmaceutical Biology, allowing access to all content in one place.

In an effort to improve communications between the international editorial staff based on five continents, the worldwide submissions from authors, and increase efficiency of publication, in 2008 Pharmaceutical Biology, with the support of the publisher, moved to online submission of manuscripts through ScholarOne™ Manuscript Central. Increasing to a monthly publication, the number of submissions has continued to explode from 1125 in 2008 when we went online to now over 2000 submissions a year. With the benefits of online access, in 2010, nearly 25,000 papers were downloaded. In 2011, at the time this article was written (July, 2011) nearly 14,000 articles had been downloaded. While the journal has long been cited by a number of abstracting services, a recent achievement was the inclusion of Pharmaceutical Biology in MEDLINE in 2010. The journal is plainly international; submissions have been received from 74 countries. Page limits have been increased over the years, currently standing at 1344 per year. Given the number of pages per year and the number of submissions per year, it becomes obvious the acceptance rate must be limited to around 10%. Accordingly, the quality and potential impact of the submissions assume greater and greater importance as we make difficult decisions in terms of acceptance.

This commemorative issue celebrates 50 years of growth and development. As we look to the future, we must acknowledge the strides noted above could not have been achieved without the support of the many editorial staff, assistant and associate editors, and editorial board members, who have been associated with Pharmaceutical Biology through the years, many of them top names in the field. The support and encouragement of the publisher throughout the years has also helped to improve the content and reputation of the journal. Prediction of the future is never as easy as review of the past, but at this time it can be noted that the Journal does not assess page charges and monthly issues are rapidly provided online followed as hardcopy. This is unusual by contemporary standards, but this journal fills a unique niche in the scientific community. The subject area of Pharmaceutical Biology is robust. With the continued support of the scientific community, as reviewers and authors, we are confident that the strength and quality of this publication will continue to improve. We celebrate this milestone with great confidence for a bright future.

Declaration of interest

John Pezzuto is Editor-in-Chief of Pharmaceutical Biology, Carol Lewandowski is Managing Editor.