IEEE Life Sciences Letters Authors Info
Life Sciences Letters is no longer accepting submissions.
Information for Authors
What is Open Access?
Open Access (OA) provides unrestricted access to peer-reviewed journal articles via the Internet. As an Open Access journal, LSL is entirely free to our readers; subscription is not necessary. In lieu of paid subscriptions, authors are required to pay a publication fee after their paper has been accepted.
Publication Frequency
LSL publishes articles “continuously”; that is, articles are published online as soon as they are available (peer-reviewed and copyedited). On our website, they are subsequently collated into archival “issues” (about 4 issues per year) and “volumes” (one per year).
Is your article a good fit for LSL?
We are committed to accepting the highest quality papers possible and to a quick response time for our authors. If you have any question about the suitability of your manuscript for LSL, send us an abstract (lsleditors@ieee.org). We will be happy to provide you with a quick response.
Review Process
Submitted manuscripts are subject to a rigorous but rapid peer review process. We aim for a standard review time of two to three weeks. The review process is designed to help authors to improve their manuscripts by giving them constructive comments on how to improve their paper, and to publish only those articles which comply with general quality criteria of a scholarly paper, especially originality, clarity, references to related work and validity of results and conclusions. In addition, we require a translational element to the work or a clear path to clinical application.
When we receive a manuscript, the Editors will first decide whether the manuscript meets the formal criteria specified in the LSL template and whether it fits within the scope of the journal. When in doubt, the Editors will consult other members of the Editorial Board. Manuscripts are then assigned to an Associate Editor, who sends each paper to 3 external experts for peer review. Authors are required to suggest at least 2 peer reviewers (who does not have a conflict of interest) during the submission process.
Manuscript Requirements
Manuscripts should meet the following requirements: the study conducted is ethical; the material is original; the writing is clear; the study methods are appropriate; the data are valid; the conclusions are reasonable and supported by the data; the information is important; and the topic is interesting for our readership.
Submission Guidelines
Submission manuscript must be in English.
Manuscript file should be in double-column format, in the standard IEEE Transactions 10-point font. If LaTex is used, use the line \documentclass[10pt,twocolumn,twoside]{IEEEtran} See the IEEE Author Digital Tool Box for details and style files. The LSL formatted double-column submission should be no more than 4 pages in length inclusive of all figures and illustrations. Supplemental material should not be submitted. Bios of authors should not be included.
Copyright
Open Access authors are asked to transfer copyright using the IEEE Open Access Publishing Agreement. If OA authors would prefer to publish under a CC BY license, then they must sign an IEEE Terms and Conditions form. These documents are available at http://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/publications/rights/oa_author_choices.html
It is the responsibility of the first author to ensure that coauthors sign and submit the forms.
Publication Fees Policy
Authors publishing in LSL pay an article processing fee open access fee (also called an open access, or OA fee) of $1750 only in case of acceptance.
These fees are usually funded from research grants, and new researchers in the area are urged to budget for open access publications in their grant proposals, much as they budget for conference presentations.
When comparing the cost of publishing in LSL against the cost of publishing in other OA journals, please consider that 1) IEEE journals’ reputation for quality, and 2) LSL employs professional copyediting after acceptance, which is a service many OA journals with lower costs do not provide. Given these considerations, LSL is currently one of the most cost-effective OA journals on the market.
Article processing fees for Open Access journals have become an increasingly accepted method to defray the costs for publication, and fortunately most institutions have developed mechanisms and funding sources to cover publication costs in high-quality open access journals.
Editorial Board Policy
The Editorial Board is a group of outstanding individuals committed to helping LSL produce an excellent multidisciplinary scientific publication of the highest quality. Editorial Board members are appointed by the editors-in-chief for a 2-year term that is renewable. Nominations for Editorial Board appointments come from a variety of sources including self-nominations, the current Editorial Board, journal authors, and readers. The Editorial Board aims to constitute an appropriate interdisciplinary mix from a wide range of disciplines, including life science researchers, researchers from the engineering fields, and industry. Our board members are productive and highly respected members of the scientific and industry communities.
