Instructions to Authors

You are invited to submit your manuscript for possible inclusion in Life and Science Journal. The journal solicits high-quality papers related to the broad scope of clinical and translational research. We encourage submissions of original research in compliance with the journal’s editorial policy. Areas of interest include, but are not limited to clinical trials, basic sciences, health professions education and public health.

All manuscripts should conform to the International Committee of Medical Journal Editor's (ICMJE) recommendations and Life and Science's instructions to authors. Only online submissions are accepted by Life and Science. Manuscripts should be submitted in word document format by the corresponding author through online Open Journal System (OJS) along with signed certificates for Authors Copyright Agreement, Undertaking and Authorship Agreement, Declaration, Conflict of Interest and Checklist. The corresponding author will be responsible for ensuring that the article has been spell and grammar checked. The manuscript must include structured abstract, figures, tables, boxes and appendices that are necessary in reporting the study findings in accordance with study design. Word counts are limited (refer to Article Type).

  • ARTICLE TYPE
  • TERMS OF SUBMISSION
  • CONTRIBUTORS
  • FORMATTING GUIDELINES
  • CONFLICT OF INTEREST
  • ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
  • DECLARATION

Article Type: The following types of manuscripts are accepted at Life and Science:
Original Article: Original articles must be relevant to the aim and scope of the journal. They should have a structured abstract with 3 - 6 keywords as per MeSH and not more than 6 tables or figures. Data should be supported with no more than 30 references, majority of which should be from last five years. A manuscript should not exceed 2500 to 3000 words (excluding references and abstract).

  • Systematic review/Meta-analysis: Systematic reviews and meta-analysis of clinical trials must be reported according to PRISMA or QUOROM guidelines. It should not exceed 4000 words (excluding references and abstract) and should have an abstract of 450 - 500 words.
  • Clinical trials: Life and Science submissions pertaining to clinical trials must meet the requirement to register the trial in a public trial registry at or before the time of first patient enrolment, as a condition of consideration for publication. Clinical trial registration is the process of submitting details of a study conducted in humans to a public database to document the effects of health-related interventions. Life and Science follow the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) guidelines. The ICMJE recommends registration of clinical trials involving prospective assignment of humans to interventions intended to affect health outcomes, including many non-randomized designs. Reports of trials must conform to the CONSORT guidelines and should be submitted with their protocols. Authors must pre-register clinical trials with a national or international clinical trial registry (e.g., clinicaltrial.gov/ISRCTN/DRAP) and cite the registration in the Abstract and Methods sections.  This will be in addition to the approval from a local/regional ethics approval committee. Effective 3rd July 2026, all submissions to the journal will strictly adhere to the requirements for clinical trial registration. All eligible intervention studies, including randomized and non-randomized/quasi-experimental studies involving prospective assignment of participants to interventions, must provide evidence of registration in a recognized clinical trial registry at the time of submission, in addition to IRB/ERB. Effective 3rd July 2026, a quasi-experimental study will only be exempt from clinical registration if it is not an interventional study (only observational); It does not meet the registry’s definition of a clinical trial; It uses existing data without prospective intervention (depending on policy); It is a quality improvement or program evaluation project, as some registries exclude these. Authors are therefore advised to ensure compliance with clinical trial registration requirements before submitting their manuscripts. The journal reserves the right to decline manuscripts without appropriate trial registration, and such submissions may not be considered for further peer review.
  • Observational Studies: Observational studies including cohort, case-control and cross sectional studies, are an important part of clinical research paradigm but are vulnerable to bias and discriminatory reporting. Its highly recommended to conform to STROBE checklist while reporting these studies. Manuscript should not exceed 3000 words (excluding references and abstract) and should have an abstract of 300 words.

Review Articles: A review article should consist of critical overview/analysis of a topic of interest providing the background and recent developments with reference to original literature. It should not exceed 4000 words (excluding references and abstract) with 50 references and should have an abstract of no more than 300 words with 3 - 6 key words as per MeSH.
Case Reports: Life and Science accepts academic and unusual reports of clinical cases as well as articles about real cases for publication. Case reports should not exceed 1800 words with 10 -15 references and maximum five tables/figures/photomicrographs. All authors of case reports are required to fill in the CARE checklist and attach it with their case reports.
Short Communications: Short communication should be complete work, not merely a preliminary report. It should not exceed more than 2000 words with maximum two figures / table with an abstract of no more than 200 words and 12-15 references.
Letters: Letters to the editor may include academic opinions related to articles published in Life and Science within the last three months. The Editor reserves the right to rephrase/condense/redact according to the journal policy and sends for peer review if the letter contains scientific data. A letter may be directed to concerned author for a reply which may also be published. A letter should not be more than 500 words, without headings, include not more than five references and should be signed by all the authors (maximum three are allowed).
Terms of Submissions: Manuscript must be submitted on the understanding that they are unpublished and are currently not under consideration by another journal. The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that the article's publication has been approved by all the coauthors. In case of multicenter studies, it is the responsibility of each author to obtain approval of the relevant institution. An acknowledgment from the editorial office officially establishes the date of receipt. All correspondence and proofs will be sent to corresponding author unless otherwise indicated. It is a condition of submission of a paper that the authors permit editing of the paper for readability.
Contributors: All authors should meet the conditions specified by the ICMJE and COPE guidelines http://www.icmje.org/icmje-recommendations.pdf . Relevant contributions must be declared for each author which may include study conception and design, acquisition of data, analysis and interpretation of data, drafting of manuscript and critical revision at the end of article.