Int J Drug Policy: Scope, Indexing & Guide

The International Journal of Drug Policy (abbreviated in bibliographic registries as Int J Drug Policy) is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by Elsevier. Established in 1989, the journal provides an international forum for research, policy analysis, and debate regarding the social, political, legal, epidemiological, and health contexts of psychoactive substance use. It is widely recognized for scholarly leadership in evaluating harm reduction interventions, drug law reform, and the structural determinants of substance-related harms.

For researchers, compliance officers, and submitting authors, navigating the journal requires understanding its dual-track hybrid publishing model, funder public access compliance, and ethical disclosure standards. This guide outlines the journal’s governance, scope, database indexation, interface navigation, and manuscript workflows within scholarly publishing.

What it is

The International Journal of Drug Policy is a monthly journal publishing research on licit and illicit drug use, substance policy formulation, and community interventions. Bibliographically identified by print ISSN 0955-3959 and electronic ISSN 1873-4758, the publication evaluates public health programs, policing and decriminalization models, and healthcare delivery for people who use drugs.

Historically, the journal originated from public health initiatives in Liverpool, United Kingdom, initially appearing as the Mersey Drugs Journal before expanding internationally as The International Journal on Drug Policy. Over more than three decades, it has documented landmark policy developments, including needle and syringe programs, supervised consumption facilities, opioid agonist maintenance treatments, and community drug checking services. Its catalog of over 4,800 peer-reviewed digital object identifiers is registered via Crossref and preserved across research libraries.

Who runs it and what it covers

The journal is published by Elsevier B.V. in formal affiliation with the International Society for the Study of Drug Policy (ISSDP), maintaining professional ties to global organizations including Harm Reduction International (HRI). Editorial direction is led by Editor-in-Chief Alison Ritter (Social Policy Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia), supported by an international editorial board of sociologists, criminologists, epidemiologists, and policy analysts.

The scope encompasses empirical, methodological, and theoretical contributions across core public health and social science domains:

Harm reduction strategies: Evaluations of syringe exchange services, overdose prevention sites, take-home naloxone programs, and adulterant drug checking.
Drug policy, law, and criminology: Empirical analyses of decriminalization, cannabis legalization, policing practices, sentencing, and international drug conventions.
Social determinants and risk environments: Application of the risk environment framework to assess how physical, social, economic, and policy contexts shape vulnerability to blood-borne infections (HIV, Hepatitis C) and fatal overdoses.
Substance use epidemiology and qualitative research: Field investigations, longitudinal cohort studies, and mixed-method analyses examining behavioral trends and health disparities.
Stigma and human rights: Examination of institutional discrimination, healthcare access barriers, and the rights of marginalized populations.

The journal is indexed in MEDLINE and Index Medicus under NLM Unique ID 9014759 (NLM title abbreviation: Int J Drug Policy) with full coverage in PubMed, Scopus, Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), and Web of Science. For researchers tracking article metadata programmatically, records are accessible via the Crossref REST API.

How to search or use it

Researchers and authors interact with the journal through two platforms: ScienceDirect for literature discovery and Elsevier Editorial Manager for manuscript submission. The following steps detail how to search and navigate these interfaces:

Access the ScienceDirect journal portal: Navigate to the official ScienceDirect publication page or connect via institutional library single sign-on to unlock full-text access for subscription volumes.
Execute targeted keyword and Boolean queries: Use the search bar with field qualifiers (e.g., TITLE-ABSTR-KEY(naloxone AND "supervised consumption")) or filter by year to isolate specific policy developments.
Filter by access model: Utilize the search facet sidebar to restrict results to Open Access articles when conducting reviews without institutional subscription access.
Review article metrics and metadata: Open individual article records to examine PlumX metrics, citation counts, Crossmark status, and linked supplementary datasets.
Access Editorial Manager: Authors and invited peer reviewers access the submission management system at editorialmanager.com/DRUGPO using standard Elsevier credentials.
Select article type and upload files: Designate the manuscript format (Original Research Paper, Review, Policy Analysis, Commentary, Debate, or Letter), uploading the blinded manuscript, structured abstract, and 3 to 5 highlights (each under 85 characters).
Submit mandatory disclosures: Enter the Declaration of Competing Interests, institutional review board approval details, formal author contributions structured by CRediT roles, and a Data Availability Statement.
Track review progress: Monitor manuscript progression through Editorial Manager status milestones. Reviewers can register completed evaluations directly to their ORCID peer review records.

Strengths and limits

Evaluating the journal’s position within academic publishing requires assessing its scholarly advantages alongside its structural limits:

Strengths

Preeminent harm reduction authority: Regarded as the leading international academic venue for harm reduction science and drug policy evaluation.
High interdisciplinary reach: Bridges public health, sociology, criminology, and law, making articles influential among researchers, policymakers, and community advocates.
Dual publishing routes: Operates as a hybrid journal, enabling authors without grant funding to publish subscription papers with zero author-facing fees ($0 APC), while also supporting immediate Gold Open Access for authors with institutional support or open-access publishing funds.
Comprehensive indexing: Full indexation across MEDLINE, PubMed, and Scopus ensures global discoverability in medical and social science citation indices.

Limits

Subscription paywalls: Traditional-track papers remain paywalled for non-subscribing institutions, requiring authors to manage green open-access repository self-archiving policies and embargoes.
Gold open access charges: For authors choosing immediate open access, the Article Publishing Charge (APC) can be substantial unless covered by institutional transformative agreements or Research4Life waivers.
Exclusion of purely biomedical studies: Pharmacological, neurobiological, or biochemical studies lacking public policy or sociological context fall outside the journal’s scope and are directed to toxicology or pharmacology journals.

Alternatives

Depending on whether a study addresses clinical addiction medicine, psychiatric pharmacology, community interventions, or critical legal critique, authors and researchers may consider several alternative peer-reviewed journals:

Journal Name	Publisher	Primary Scope & Focus	Publishing Model	Primary Indexing
International Journal of Drug Policy	Elsevier	Social, legal, policy, and public health dimensions of drug use; harm reduction	Hybrid ($0 subscription option or Gold OA fee)	MEDLINE, PubMed, Scopus, SSCI
Harm Reduction Journal	BioMed Central (Springer Nature)	Practical, health, and policy aspects of harm reduction interventions	Fully Gold Open Access (APC required)	MEDLINE, PubMed, Scopus, DOAJ
Addiction	Wiley	Clinical addiction science, behavioral psychology, epidemiology, and health policy	Hybrid ($0 subscription option or Gold OA fee)	MEDLINE, PubMed, Scopus, SCI/SSCI
Drug and Alcohol Dependence	Elsevier	Preclinical, clinical, epidemiological, and treatment aspects of substance dependence	Fully Gold Open Access (APC required)	MEDLINE, PubMed, Scopus, SCI
Substance Use & Misuse	Taylor & Francis	Sociological, clinical, and behavioral investigations of substance consumption	Hybrid ($0 subscription option or Gold OA fee)	MEDLINE, PubMed, Scopus, SSCI
Contemporary Drug Problems	SAGE Publishing	Critical social science, historical analysis, and qualitative policy critique	Hybrid ($0 subscription option or Gold OA fee)	Scopus, SSCI

For studies addressing broader behavioral addictions or community-level interventions, researchers can also review the scope of Substance Use & Misuse.

FAQ

What is the official abbreviation for the International Journal of Drug Policy?

In accordance with ISO 4 and NLM Catalog standards, the official MEDLINE title abbreviation is Int J Drug Policy. This standard string is utilized in PubMed citations, bibliographic management databases, and National Library of Medicine indexing.

Does the International Journal of Drug Policy charge mandatory submission or publishing fees?

No. Under the journal’s hybrid model, authors may choose the standard subscription publishing track, which incurs no submission fees and no Article Publishing Charges ($0 APC). Authors who elect immediate Gold Open Access pay an APC, which is frequently covered by institutional transformative agreements or waived for researchers in eligible lower-income nations.

Is the journal indexed in PubMed and MEDLINE?

Yes. The journal is fully indexed in MEDLINE and Index Medicus under NLM Unique ID 9014759, with citations and abstracts searchable directly in PubMed and PMC.

What article formats are accepted by the journal?

The journal accepts multiple peer-reviewed manuscript formats, including Original Research Papers, Systematic Reviews, Policy Analyses, Debates, Commentaries, and Letters to the Editor. Submissions must adhere to word-count and structural guidelines in Elsevier’s Guide for Authors.

How does the journal handle research data and author contribution statements?

Authors are required to provide a Data Availability Statement disclosing where underlying research data can be accessed. Furthermore, author contributions must be formalized using CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) definitions to establish transparency across conceptualization, methodology, analysis, and writing.

Sources

Elsevier. (2026). International Journal of Drug Policy: Aims & Scope and Journal Overview. Accessed November 10, 2026, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/international-journal-of-drug-policy.
Elsevier. (2026). Guide for Authors: International Journal of Drug Policy. Accessed November 10, 2026, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/international-journal-of-drug-policy/publish/guide-for-authors.
National Library of Medicine. (2026). NLM Catalog: The International journal on drug policy (NLM ID: 9014759). National Center for Biotechnology Information. Accessed November 10, 2026, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nlmcatalog/9014759.
International Society for the Study of Drug Policy. (2026). About the ISSDP and Journal Affiliation. Accessed November 10, 2026, from https://www.issdp.org/.
Crossref. (2026). Crossref Metadata API: Journal 0955-3959. Accessed November 10, 2026, from https://api.crossref.org/journals/0955-3959.