Editor-in-Chief’s Message 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th
I am pleased to announce that, effective in 2026, I have assumed the position of Editor-in-Chief of *Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics* (DMPK), the English-language journal of the Japanese Society for Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics (JSSX).My predecessors—Professors Masahiro Hayashi, Hiroshi Chiba, Ikumi Tamai, and Hiroshi Yamazaki—each served four-year terms, while Professor Koichi Yoshinari served an eight-year term; I am now the sixth Editor-in-Chief. I look forward to your continued support.
DMPK was launched in 2002 following the transition of the journal *Pharmacokinetics* to English. Since then, the journal has introduced an electronic submission system utilizing domestic infrastructure, been indexed in PubMed, obtained an impact factor, and adopted an early-access publication system.Furthermore, in 2015, we transitioned our publishing operations to Elsevier and implemented a fully paperless system ( https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/drug-metabolism-and-pharmacokinetics ).Furthermore, since 2017, the journal has published abstracts from the annual meetings of the International Society for Pharmacokinetics (ISSX) as a supplement issue, and at the 2023 ISSX Board of Directors meeting, it was decided that *DMPK* would become the official journal of the ISSX. Through these activities, we are striving to establish *DMPK*’s status as an international journal.
As an academic journal, *DMPK* publishes not only standard research articles (Regular Articles and Notes) and invited reviews (Reviews) but also commentaries on published papers. We encourage you to submit your work and hope that *DMPK* will serve as a forum for scientific discussion.
Selecting topics for the annual themed issues is crucial for enhancing the international recognition of DMPK. Furthermore, we believe that strengthening the Editorial Advisory Board is necessary to ensure prompt peer review and publication of manuscripts. We are advancing these initiatives to revitalize DMPK in collaboration with the DMPK Revitalization Committee established within JSSX.Finally, there is no doubt that the revitalization of DMPK requires feedback and suggestions from our readers and authors. We ask for the cooperation of all our members to ensure the further development of DMPK.