About the Journal

MISSION
The mission of the journal "Research and Innovation in Life Sciences" is to promote the dissemination of scientific and technological knowledge in the Life Sciences, encouraging the publication of excellent research that contributes to the advancement of science, innovation, and social well-being. The journal strives to be an accessible, ethical, and qualified channel of communication between researchers, professionals, and institutions committed to transforming reality through science.

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FOCUS
The journal "Research and Innovation in Life Sciences" focuses primarily on the dissemination of original scientific research, critical reviews, and interdisciplinary studies that address theoretical, practical, and technological advances in the various areas of the Life Sciences. The journal particularly values works that present innovative solutions, robust scientific evidence, and relevant contributions to the care of life in its various forms, with social, scientific, and environmental impact. The journal seeks to foster dialogue between science, technology, and innovation, promoting the integration of teaching, research, and outreach.

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SCOPE
The Life Sciences Research and Innovations journal, published by GPTECSaúde of the Life Sciences Center of the Federal University of Pernambuco, is dedicated to publishing papers that explore the development, application, and evaluation of innovative technologies, robust scientific evidence, and relevant contributions to the life sciences. The journal's scope is comprehensive and interdisciplinary.

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TARGET AUDIENCE
Researchers, faculty, graduate and undergraduate students, and professionals in the life sciences and related fields.

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JOURNAL'S AREA OF KNOWLEDGE
Interdisciplinary

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SUBMISSION CRITERIA

Articles/manuscripts must be original and submitted exclusively to the journal Research and Innovation in Life Sciences. Simultaneous submission to another journal is not permitted. Contributions may be submitted in Portuguese, English, or Spanish. Relevant topics included in collections or specific dossiers within the journal's areas of coverage may be published as Special Issues.

All submissions must be made through the Journal's website platform and using the template provided.

Template - Research and Innovation in Life Sciences

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PEER REVIEW

The Journal of Research and Innovation in Life Sciences adopts a double-blind peer review system, in which the identities of authors and reviewers are kept confidential throughout the review process, aiming to ensure the impartiality, integrity, and scientific quality of the publications.

All manuscripts submitted to the journal undergo an initial editorial screening by the editorial team to verify their suitability for the editorial line, compliance with submission guidelines, and ethical criteria. Papers approved at this stage are then evaluated by at least two ad hoc reviewers with recognized expertise in the manuscript's subject area.

Reviewers are selected based on their academic qualifications and experience and must provide well-founded opinions regarding originality, scientific relevance, methodological rigor, clarity of presentation, and contribution to the field of Life Sciences. Editorial decisions may result in: acceptance, acceptance with modifications, submission for a new round of review, or rejection of the manuscript.

In cases where there is a significant disagreement between the reviewers’ reports, the editorial team may invite a third reviewer to conduct an additional evaluation. This procedure ensures impartiality and maintains the quality of the review process, guaranteeing a fair and well-founded decision regarding the publication of the manuscript.

The journal ensures that the review process adheres to the principles of confidentiality, impartiality, and ethics, and that conflicts of interest between authors, reviewers, and editors are not permitted. The reviews are used to inform editorial decisions and as a training tool, aiming for the continuous improvement of scientific work.

Cases of scientific misconduct, such as plagiarism, self-plagiarism, falsification, or fabrication of data, will be treated rigorously, following international guidelines for integrity in scientific research and publishing.

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ETHICS POLICY IN PUBLICATION

The Journal of Research and Innovation in Life Sciences adopts best practices in scientific integrity, following the Principles of Transparency and Good Practices in Academic Publication and the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), as well as national recommendations on research ethics.

The journal requires that authors, editors, and reviewers act with responsibility, transparency, impartiality, and commitment to scientific integrity.

1. Authorship and Contribution Policies

Authorship should reflect substantial intellectual contribution to the work, according to the criteria of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE):

  • Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or to the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND
  • Writing of the work or critical revision of important intellectual content; AND
  • Final approval of the version to be published; AND
  • Commitment to assume responsibility for all aspects of the work, ensuring that any issues related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are properly investigated and resolved.

To be considered an author, the participant must have contributed significantly to:

  • Study design or outline; or
  • Data collection, analysis, or interpretation; and
  • Writing or critical revision of the manuscript; and
  • Final approval of the version to be published; and
  • Public responsibility for the content.

The journal does not accept:

  • Uncredited authorship
  • Improper authorship
  • Inclusion of authors without effective contribution

The journal will follow COPE recommendations for:

Changes to authorship will only be accepted with a formal justification signed by all authors.

CRediT Taxonomy

The journal will progressively adopt the CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy), allowing authors to describe their specific contributions (e.g., conceptualization, methodology, formal analysis, writing, supervision). This information may be included in the final PDF of the article.

2. Complaints and Appeals

Authors have the right to appeal editorial decisions.

Requests for reconsideration should be sent to the email address revistapicvida.caa@ufpe.br, including:

  • A well-founded justification
  • A detailed response to the reviews
  • Any supplementary documents

Appeals will be evaluated:

  • Initially by the Editor-in-Chief
  • In case of a conflict of interest, by an independent Associate Editor
  • When necessary, by an external member of the Editorial Board

The decision on appeal will be final.

Complaints regarding editorial conduct, evaluation, or ethics should be submitted to the journal and will be treated confidentially and impartially.

3. Misconduct in Publication

The journal considers the following to be scientific misconduct:

  • Fabrication or falsification of data
  • Simultaneous submission
  • Improper manipulation of images
  • Plagiarism
  • Redundant publication
  • Improper self-plagiarism
  • Omission of conflicts of interest
  • Improper use of Artificial Intelligence to generate fictitious data

Complaints regarding the conduct of editors, authors and/or reviewers, or suspicions of ethical violations, should be sent to the journal's official email: revistapicvida.caa@ufpe.br

Reports will be investigated impartially and confidentially, following the proposal below:

The allegations will be:

  1. Preliminarily evaluated by the Editor-in-Chief
  2. Investigated based on COPE flowcharts
  3. Forwarded to the authors' affiliated institutions, when necessary.

Other institutions or journals will be consulted when necessary.

The Editorial Board of the Journal of Research and Innovation in Life Sciences will follow the Retraction Guidelines and the COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) Guidelines for Expressions of Concern when dealing with allegations or suspicions of misconduct in content published by this journal, with the aim of correcting the literature and ensuring its integrity.

The investigation will be conducted confidentially, impartially, and in a documented manner.

4. Corrections, Retractions, and Expressions of Concern

The journal follows the COPE Retraction and Expression of Concern Guidelines.

When necessary, it may publish:

  • Errata (correction of unintentional errors)
  • Retraction (in case of misconduct or serious error)
  • Expression of concern (when an investigation is underway)

The goal is to preserve the integrity of the published content.

5. Conflict of Interest

Authors must declare any financial, institutional, academic, or personal conflicts of interest.

Editors and reviewers must also declare conflicts of interest.

Editor-in-Chief's Conflict of Interest

If the Editor-in-Chief has a conflict of interest:

  • Editorial management will be transferred to an Associate Editor.
  • The Editor-in-Chief will not participate in the decision.
  • The process will follow a double-blind review process.

This measure ensures editorial impartiality.

6. Data Sharing and Reproducibility

The journal encourages the sharing of research data.

When applicable, authors should include a:

Data Availability Statement

Stating:

  • Where the data can be accessed
  • Whether it is available in public repositories
  • Whether there are justified restrictions

Clinical trials must be registered on recognized platforms.

Data involving human subjects must be anonymized.

7. Ethical Oversight

Research involving human subjects must indicate:

Approval by a Research Ethics Committee (REC)
Opinion number or CAAE

Research involving animals must indicate:

Approval by a CEUA
Opinion number

8. Plagiarism and Similarity

The journal considers plagiarism to be scientific misconduct.

It uses similarity detection tools, including:

CopySpider
Crossref Similarity Check (iThenticate).

The Editorial Board will follow the COPE flowcharts for:

The Journal of Research and Innovation in Life Sciences will not consider the use of excerpts from theses and dissertations deposited in institutional repositories and papers presented at events as self-plagiarism, provided that:

  • the original source is cited;
  • the content has not been previously published in another journal;
  • it is authored by the same authors of the manuscripts.

If plagiarism is detected after publication, the Journal of Research and Innovation in Life Sciences will follow the Retraction Guidelines and the COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) Guidelines for Expressions of Concern, with the aim of correcting the published content and ensuring its integrity.

9. Post-Publication Discussions

The journal allows for post-publication comments and questions.

Readers may send substantiated comments to the journal's official email address: revistapicivda.caa@ufpe.br

When relevant, the following may be published:

  • Comments
  • Author responses
  • Formal corrections

The journal is committed to the continuous updating of the literature.

10. Artificial Intelligence

The Journal of Research and Innovation in Life Sciences, committed to scientific integrity, research ethics, and transparency in knowledge production, establishes the following guidelines on the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools in the manuscript preparation and submission process:

10.1. Responsible Use of AI Tools: The use of generative AI tools (such as Chat GPT, Gemini, Copilot, among others) is permitted to assist in writing, translation, grammatical review, and textual formatting of manuscripts, provided that:

  • The contribution of AI is explicitly acknowledged through a statement in a section before the references section entitled: Use of Assistive Technologies and AI.
  • The use of AI does not compromise the originality of the content, nor does it replace critical analysis, data interpretation, or the intellectual authorship of the work.

10.2. Author Responsibility: The authors remain fully responsible for the content presented in the manuscript, even when AI tools are used. This includes:

  • The veracity of the information;
  • The accuracy of the data and references;
  • The conceptual and argumentative clarity.

The use of AI does not exempt the authors from ethical and scientific responsibility for the results and conclusions of the article.

10.3. Prohibition of Misuse: The use of AI for the autonomous generation of data, experimental results, graphs, or images that are not supported by real and verifiable research is prohibited. Such practices are considered scientific misconduct.

It is also not permitted to:

  • Replace human authorship and/or include AI technologies as authors of the manuscript.
  • Use AI to circumvent plagiarism detection systems or to paraphrase content without proper citation.

10.4. Transparency and Declaration: When submitting an article, authors must declare, in the specific field of the system or in the submission letter:

“We declare that the submitted manuscript used Artificial Intelligence tools [specify which tool/technology was used] for [specify purpose: e.g., text revision, translation, stylistic suggestions], under our supervision and responsibility, without prejudice to the originality and scientific integrity of the content.”

In the absence of AI use, the following should be stated:

“We declare that no Artificial Intelligence resources were used in the preparation of this manuscript.”

10.5. Policy Update: This policy will be periodically reviewed, considering technological advancements, the regulations of research ethics committees, and the guidelines of indexing services and scientific regulatory bodies.

10.6. Reviewers and Editors

Reviewers may not insert submitted manuscripts, in whole or in part, into artificial intelligence tools or systems when there is no guarantee of confidentiality of information, except with the explicit authorization of the authors.

Editors and reviewers must be transparent about the use of AI tools at any stage of the editorial process, including the preparation, editing, and revision of the manuscript. When AI is used, users must disclose which tool was used, for what purpose, and at what stage of the process.

Adherence to these guidelines is mandatory for the evaluation and publication of manuscripts. Non-compliance may result in the rejection of the article or editorial sanctions.

11. DEIA Principles - Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility

The journal is committed to:

  • Regional, institutional, and gender diversity on the Editorial Board
  • Evaluation based exclusively on scientific merit
  • Encouragement of the use of inclusive language
  • Digital accessibility of content
  • Encouragement of participation by researchers from different social and geographical contexts

The journal does not tolerate discrimination of any kind.

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EDITORIAL POLICY

Articles submitted to the Journal of Life Sciences Research and Innovation must comply with its Editorial Policy. Research ethics criteria must be respected and documented in supplementary material when necessary. The concepts and opinions expressed in the articles, as well as the accuracy and origin of citations, are the sole responsibility of the author(s).

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OPEN ACCESS STATEMENT

The Journal of Life Sciences Research and Innovation is an Open Access journal, meaning that all content is available free of charge and immediately, at no cost to the user or their institution. Users can read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of articles, crawl them for indexing, or use them for any other legal purpose, without requesting prior permission from the editor or the author, as long as they comply with the Creative Commons license applied to the published content. This declaration is in accordance with the definition of open access provided by the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI).

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LOCKSS System (Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe)

The LOCKSS system is a digital preservation technology developed by Stanford University that ensures the long-term integrity and availability of electronic files. Its principle is simple yet effective: maintaining multiple copies of digital content across different servers, allowing for automatic recovery and verification in case of failures or data loss. This way, LOCKSS guarantees that digital materials remain authentic, accessible, and protected against damage or accidental deletion.