Life is an international, peer-reviewed, open access journal of scientific studies related to fundamental themes in life sciences. It has been covered by leading indexing services, including the SCIE (Web of Science) (search for "Life-Basel"), Scopus, PubMed, etc. The 2020 Impact Factor was 3.817. More information about our journal can be found at: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/life

The Life editorial team is pleased to announce this open call for Special Issue proposals, which offers a group of authors the opportunity to work on an interconnected set of papers on an innovative topic. We are soliciting high-quality proposals that will be evaluated in a continuous selection process throughout the year.

Proposals for a Special Issue should have a well-articulated unifying topic and reflect on an international level, the best work in a particular research area (either an established or an important emerging area), in which future investigations may be propelled by the publication of a set of novel research papers. Hence, an international group of Guest Editors and a few high-quality planned papers are always encouraged when it comes to proposals.

Proposals for Special Issues must be sent to the Editorial Office ([email protected]), which will then forward them to the Editors-in-Chief of Life for evaluation.

Information to be provided in a proposal:

- A 300–500-word summary that clearly states the significance, novelty, technical advancement, and adherence to the scope of the journal of the proposed topic;

- A few keywords on the topic;

- A plan for obtaining high-quality papers or a list of at least three planned papers;

- A brief resume of the proposed Guest Editors, together with their information (title, name, email, affiliation, personal website, keywords of interests);

- A proposed submission deadline (a Special Issue will usually be open for submissions for 6–8 months);

- 10 confirmed contributors.

Guest Editor(s) Role:

Once the proposal is accepted, the Guest Editor will circulate the Call for Papers for the Special Issue and invite submissions.

The Guest Editor has the privilege of publishing one paper free of charge (with the CHF 1600 publication fee waived) in this Special Issue and of inviting some feature papers to be published with a special discount.

Each submission will undergo a formal peer-review process, after which the assigned Editor will ask the Guest Editor, the Editor-in-Chief, or a suitable Editorial Board Member to decide whether the paper is acceptable for publication in Life.

If ten or more papers are published in this Special Issue, a Special Issue book can be organized, and a hard copy will be sent to each Guest Editor.

Editorial Office’s Role

The Editorial Office will set up the Special Issue website, arrange promotional material, assist with invitations to contribute papers, and take care of the administrative tasks associated with peer review, including inviting reviewers, collating reports, contacting authors, and arranging professional production before publication.

Please do not hesitate to contact the Editorial Office ([email protected]) if you are interested and would like further details and clarifications.

We look forward to receiving your creative proposals.

Life Editorial Office