Call for academic editorial contributors to The SAGE Encyclopedia of Pharmacology and Society, a new 4-volume reference to be published by SAGE Reference.

A striking rise in use of pharmaceuticals by Americans has been documented by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Over the last decade, the percentage of Americans who took at least one prescription drug in the past month increased by 10% and use of five or more drugs increased by 70%. One-half of Americans used at least one or more prescription drug, and one out of ten used five or more. Twenty percent of children are now medicated with one or more prescription drugs. Internationally, the availability of essential drugs varies radically by country, and inappropriate use remains a serious issue. According to the World Health Organization, over half of all medicines are prescribed, dispensed, or sold inappropriately, and half of patients do not take medicines appropriately. Other international issues are access to medicines in the developing world and equity pricing of essential medicines. We plan an encyclopedia that will explore socioeconomic, business and consumer, and legal and ethical issues of the pharmaceutical industry in contemporary American and international societies.

The signed articles will be arranged A-to-Z and published in a choice of print or electronic editions. Pedagogical elements will include Further Readings and Cross References to conclude each article, a Reader’s Guide in the front matter organizing entries by broad topical or thematic areas, and back matter including an annotated Resource Guide to further research (journals, books, and associations), an appendix of United Nations statistics on prescription drug use around the world, and a detailed Index. The Index, Reader’s Guide themes, and Cross References will combine for thorough search-and-browse capabilities in the electronic edition.

This comprehensive project will be published by SAGE Reference in 2015 and will be marketed to academic and public libraries as a print and digital product available to students via the library’s electronic services. The General Editor, who will be reviewing each submission to the project, is Dr. Sarah E. Boslaugh, Kennesaw State University.The deadline for submission is  August 1, 2014.

If you are interested in contributing. SAGE Publications offers an honorarium ranging from SAGE book credits for smaller articles up to a free set of the printed product for contributions totaling 10,000 words or more. Your name and affiliation will also appear in the byline of your entry(ies) in the final publication.

The list of available articles is already prepared. You can contact Joseph Golson for more information.