public function getVolumesWithStartDate() { $volumes = Journal::select('volume', 'publish_date')->groupBy('volume')->orderBy('volume', 'asc', 'publish_date', 'asc')->get()->lists('publish_date', 'volume'); $volumes_with_start_date = []; foreach ($volumes as $key => $value) { $volumes_with_start_date[$key] = 'Volume ' . $key . ' ' . date('F\'y', strtotime($value)); } return Response::json($volumes_with_start_date, 200); }