2. For Authors and Readers Open Access Means
4. English Editing and Reformatting on Submitted Articles
5. Peer-Review and Editorial Procedures
1. Overview
INTERNATIONAL LIFE SCIENCES PUBLISHERS (ILS) is a science, technology, medical and pioneering publisher, focuses on publishing open access peer-reviewed life sciences journal literature.
ILS is dedicated to making positive contributions to academics, libraries as well as to readers and authors. All the editors in our company strive to provide the best service for researchers, allowing them to have a easy and smooth publication experience and helping maximize the impact and visibility of their research.
ILS is committed to peer review integrity and practices the highest standards of ethical publishing across all journals. We serve researchers from around the world to ensure the latest research is freely available and all content is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). We support the advancement of scientific research by contributing to a more efficient and effective dissemination and exchange of knowledge. Maximizing the reach and impact of the work of our authors.
2. For Authors and Readers Open Access Means
（1）Easy to read---No need to subscribe or pay for any published literatures as free online reading is provided.
（2）Convenient open access---the article can be shared immediately on publication (no embargo period).
（3）Retainment of all copyrights---authors are allowed to protect their original material.
（4）Permission of re-use---People can reuse the published material under proper accreditation with no restrictions Creative Commons Attribution License.
Learn more about Open Access.
3. Author Instruction
Letters in Drug Design & Discovery publishes letters, full-length/mini-reviews, research articles, highlights and guest edited thematic issues in all areas of rational drug design and discovery including medicinal chemistry, in-silico drug design, combinatorial chemistry, high-throughput screening, drug targets, and structure-activity relationships. The emphasis is on publishing quality papers very rapidly by taking full advantage of the latest Internet technology for both the submission and review of manuscripts. The journal is an essential reading to all pharmaceutical scientists involved in research in drug design and discovery.
This journal contains four sections:
Drug Design & Discovery Analysis: This section focuses on all areas of drug identification, design, and discovery, including all fields of medicinal chemistry, as well as in-silico drug design, combinatorial chemistry, high-throughput screening, drug targets, and structure-activity relationships. It also encompasses neuropharmacology, component activity, natural substances and biomolecules, bio-immunosuppressive agents, and nanomaterials. Furthermore, this section examines advanced technologies such as organoid chip engineering and computer-aided drug design (including molecular modeling and structure-based drug design), as well as the application of various analytical methods, including chromatography, mass spectrometry, spectroscopy, and electrochemistry.
Biochemistry in Drug Design: This section focuses on the latest advancements in biopharmaceutical technology, encompassing the disciplines of organic chemistry, biology, and medicine. It provides an in-depth exploration of various facets of biopharmaceutical design, including antibiotics, vaccines, peptides, proteases, liposomes, polysaccharides, antibody engineering, and cell and gene engineering technologies such as high-throughput sequencing, single-cell sequencing, RNA interference, CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing, and multi-omics analysis. Furthermore, cutting-edge technologies like nanorobots and microbial fermentation, microbiolo-omics, biosimilar drug, nano-drugs and drug delivery are significant topics of discussion in this section. It also includes multi-target natural drugs, natural biomaterials, synthetic medicinal materials, tissue engineering materials (vascular tissue engineering, bone tissue engineering, skin tissue engineering, nerve tissue engineering) and seed cell research (stem cell culture and transplantation, stem cells and drugs).
Toxicology, Pharmaceutics: This section focuses on the formulation, design, and development of drugs. It encompasses toxicological assessments, pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics, and safety evaluations. This section involves the design and testing of drug delivery systems, including clinical trials and preclinical experiments, which are essential for ensuring optimal absorption and distribution of drugs within the body. Additionally, it pertains to drug targets and diseases in various departments, aiming to discover and optimize drug design and development.
Pharmacology & Molecular Pharmacology：This section aims to publish the latest progress of cellular and molecular pharmacology, and the pharmacological mechanism of drugs in organisms, and mainly emphasizes the mechanism of action of new drugs being developed, innovative pharmacological techniques, cell signal transduction, transduction pathway analysis, genomics, protein genomics and metabonomics in the application of drugs. Another focus will be on the ways in which knowledge of drug action at the cellular and molecular levels clarifies normal biological functions. Additionally, this section emphasizes the use of cellular and molecular tools—such as genes, proteins, and signaling pathways—to evaluate the impact of drugs on gene expression in cellular and animal models. This approach aids in identifying potential targets, assessing toxicity and sensitivity, and facilitating the design, development, and discovery of new drugs with specific mechanisms of action. This part also includes the target research of molecular biology and cell biology, which is beneficial to the research of new drugs around the target.
4. English Editing and Reformatting on Submitted Articles
Please ensure your manuscript is written in clear, idiomatic English. Either American or British usage is acceptable, but the text must not mix conventions from both. We strongly recommend that authors use a professional English editing service prior to submission or during revision. If you have used an alternative editing service, please submit certification to the Editorial Office.
5. Peer Review
This journal follows a double anonymized review process. Your submission will initially be assessed by our editors to determine suitability for publication in this journal. If your submission is deemed suitable, it will typically be sent to a minimum of two reviewers for an independent expert assessment of the scientific quality. The decision as to whether your article is accepted or rejected will be taken by our editors. This decision is final.
Our editors are not involved in making decisions about papers which:
1. they have written themselves.
2. have been written by family members or colleagues.
3. relate to products or services in which they have an interest.
Any such submissions will be subject to the journal's usual procedures and peer review will be handled independently of the editor involved and their research group.
1. All manuscripts are reviewed by the editorial office. Any papers which fail to meet the basic standards of the journal will be desk-rejected for reasons like out of scope, ethical conflicts, high similarities, lack of originality, flaws in research design or methods, etc. The editorial office will reassign selected papers to the Editor-in-chief.
2. The Editor-in-chief will invite multiple reviewers to review the paper or assign an editorial board member to invite reviewers to review this paper.
3. After at least two reviewers give their reviews and comments, the Editor-in-chief (or the assigned Editor) provides feedback to the authors, based on reviewer comments and his own review comments.
4. When the author submits the revised manuscript, the assigned editor and Editor-in-chief will collaborate to make a final decision.
5. For submissions from the Editor-in-Chief, Associate Editors, Guest Editor(s), other journal Board members, and authors who have conflicts of interest with them, we ensure that the paper is handled confidentially by a different team member.
6. For submissions to Special Issues; if there are conflicts of interest between the Guest Editor(s) and authors, the submissions will be handled by another Editor from the Editorial Board who will manage the peer review process and make the decision whether to accept or reject the paper after peer review.
6. Author Revision
In cases minor revisions/major revisions are recommended, the author is usually requested to revise the paper before referring to the next round review. Articles may or may not be sent to reviewers after minor revision, which depends on whether the reviewer requested to see the revised version or not. The revised manuscript, after major revision, will be sent back to reviewers again.
Any further revision needed will follow the decision of the academic editor.All reviewers' comments should be responded point-by-point.
Where the authors disagree with a reviewer, they must provide a clear response or rebuttal.
7. Editor Decision
The acceptance of the manuscript will depend on the revisions made to the manuscript. Authors need to provide a point-by-point response or a rebuttal if some of the reviewer’s comments cannot be revised. The acceptance or rejection decision will be made by the editor after peer review. The editor can select from the following options: Accept in current form, accept with minor revisions, reject.
8. Copyright
All ILS journals’ content are available online, allowing readers to browse and search. Authors retain copyright, and agree that the article, if accepted for publication by ILS, will be licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (CC-BY) by default as Open Access articles. ILS will insert the following note in the footer of the first page of the published text: ©Year The Author(s). Published by International Life Sciences Publishers.
9. Editorial Process
1. Submission
The author submits their manuscript to the journal for consideration.
2. Editor/Editorial Board Check
▪ The editorial team checks if the manuscript fits the journal's aims and scope.
▪ The quality of the submission is assessed.
If the manuscript does not meet these criteria, it may be rejected at this stage.
3. Peer Review
▪ If the initial check is passed, the manuscript is sent for peer review (e.g., Review 1, 2, etc.).
▪ Reviewers evaluate the manuscript and send their reports back to the editor.
4. Editor Decision
Based on reviewer reports, the editor makes a decision:
▪ Revise: The author is asked to make revisions based on reviewer feedback. After revisions, the manuscript may go through further reviews or decisions.
▪ Reject: The manuscript is declined for publication.
▪ Accept: The manuscript is accepted for publication.
5. Invoicing
If accepted, the invoicing process begins for any applicable publication charges.
6. Copyediting
▪ The manuscript undergoes copyediting to refine language, formatting, and presentation.
7. Proofreading and Final Production
▪The author reviews proofs of the manuscript during the proofreading stage.
▪ Final XML or PDF files are produced for publication.
8. Production
The manuscript moves into production, where it is prepared for publication in the journal.