Notice updated on 01 June 2026
Adoption of a Continuous Publishing Model; and Transparency in Editorial and Reviewer Information
To reduce the time between final acceptance and online publication, the editorial board has authorized the adoption of an “issue in progress” model, enabling continuous publishing. This change has significantly reduced wait times for authors and streamlined the delivery of peer-reviewed research to our readers. Notably, this transition does not alter our annual publication frequency of four issues per year; we have simply adopted a methodology practiced by others within the scholarly publishing community.
Furthermore, we are pleased to announce that, starting from the second issue of the thirteenth volume, all published articles will include the names, affiliations, and contact information of the handling editor and reviewers. This initiative is designed to strengthen the principles of professional responsibility and accountability in our publishing process.
Regards,
Prof. Dr. Idrees Ahmed Nasir
Chief Editor
Advancements in Life Sciences
International Quarterly Journal of Biological Sciences
http://www.als-journal.com/
Notice updated on 23 April 2026
Redesigning the Journal Website
To align with modern digital trends and the functional requirements of reputable scholarly platforms, the journal’s website has been redesigned to meet the standards of comparable entities in the publishing community. Please note that our existing web structure, including permalinks and DOI assignments, remains unchanged. Readers and authors may continue to access our previous website archives if necessary.
Regards,
Prof. Dr. Idrees Ahmed Nasir
Chief Editor
Advancements in Life Sciences
International Quarterly Journal of Biological Sciences
http://www.als-journal.com/
Notice updated on 01 April 2026
Policy on the Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) by Authors, Editors, and Reviewers
Following the Editorial Board’s decision in August 2025, the following policy regarding the use of AI has been implemented for all authors, editors, and reviewers:
Artificial Intelligence (AI) may be used as a supportive tool to enhance language quality for non-native English speakers and to streamline editorial processes, such as copyediting and formatting, provided that all usage strictly aligns with current COPE guidelines. The core of our policy is human accountability: authors, editors, and reviewers remain fully responsible for manuscript preparation and evaluation, regardless of any AI assistance employed. More details are available here.
Regards,
Prof. Dr. Idrees Ahmed Nasir
Chief Editor
Advancements in Life Sciences
International Quarterly Journal of Biological Sciences
http://www.als-journal.com/
Notice updated on 18 February 2026
Policy on Pre-Publication Listing of Accepted Manuscripts
Subsequent to the reforms adopted on 01 August 2025 upon completion of the internal quality audit, the editorial board has approved and issued following policy on pre-publication listing of the accepted manuscripts.
1. Guiding Principle
To provide authors with public acknowledgment of acceptance and assurance that their manuscript has formally entered the publication pipeline, to enable them to claim their publications at respective forums, and to responsibly disseminate research, the journal implements a pre-publication listing service.
2. Policy Details
Upon acceptance, the manuscript will be listed on the journal’s website. This pre-publication entry is strictly limited to the following metadata:
- Manuscript Title
- Author Name(s)
- Abstract
This policy is designed to balance the need for author recognition with the integrity of the scholarly record. More details are available here.
Regards,
Prof. Dr. Idrees Ahmed Nasir
Chief Editor
Advancements in Life Sciences
International Quarterly Journal of Biological Sciences
http://www.als-journal.com/
Notice updated on 09 February 2026
Notice Regarding Web of Science Coverage
We believe it is important to inform our authors, readers, and the broader scholarly community that Advancements in Life Sciences has been discontinued from coverage by Web of Science while we address the specific concerns raised by the indexing agency.
We remain steadfast in our efforts to enhance journal quality and are fully committed to addressing the highlighted areas in accordance with the community standards.
Regards,
Prof. Dr. Idrees Ahmed Nasir
Chief Editor
Advancements in Life Sciences
International Quarterly Journal of Biological Sciences
http://www.als-journal.com/
Notice updated on 26 September 2025
Completion of Corrections and Retractions Concerning the Content Published in the Year 2023 under New Quality Control SOPs
We feel confident to share that, as a result of the implementation of newly developed Quality Control SOPs, all applicable retractions have been made according to industry standards and COPE guidelines. A complete list of retractions (DOI links) has been shared with Web of Science.
Every retraction has been justified by the discovered errors, which may be seen in their respective notices.
We have also marked all corrected articles with a “Date Updated” notice and an “Editorial Note” to ensure transparency regarding any changes made.
Regards,
Prof. Dr. Idrees Ahmed Nasir
Chief Editor
Advancements in Life Sciences
International Quarterly Journal of Biological Sciences
http://www.als-journal.com/
Notice updated on 01 August 2025
Conclusion of the five-year inquiry on Quality of the Content Published by the Journal ‘Advancements in Life Sciences’ (2021-25)
Advancements in Life Sciences was put “On-Hold” by Web of Science on quality concerns in March 2025. As a responsible body, editorial board of the journal convened an extraordinary meeting on 02 April 2025 and an inquiry into the content published by the journal was warranted by the board.
This note marks completion of the five-year inquiry (2021-25) into concerns on quality raised by the Web of Science. In the spirit of the norm that “scientific literature is self-correcting”, we are confident that all the found shortcomings and issues have been addressed properly. Scientific literature published by the journal has transparently been corrected (or retracted), where applicable as per COPE guidelines / industry standards. As chief of the editorial board, I take complete responsibility for the lapses that took place at different stages of editorial workflow. On behalf of the editorial board and the publisher, I extend a sincere apology to our readers and authors for this.
To prevent this from happening in future, existing quality checks have been strengthened and operational measures have been taken in addition to policy changes. The editorial board is appreciative of the regulatory oversight by the Web of Science and is strongly committed to upkeeping the quality standards required for scholarly publishing. We are also thankful to our readers for their continued trust.
Click here to download the final report.
Regards,
Prof. Dr. Idrees Ahmed Nasir
Chief Editor
Advancements in Life Sciences
International Quarterly Journal of Biological Sciences
http://www.als-journal.com/
Notice updated on 26 July 2025
Compliance Report in Response to the Inquiry Report on Quality of the Contents Published by the Journal ‘Advancements in Life Sciences’ in 2021
Reference to the internal inquiry on third cohort i.e., contents of 2021, published by the journal ‘Advancements in Life Sciences’ to find and fix any quality related issues, today on 26 July 2025, compliance report has been made public. Inquiry into this cohort of content (2021) published by the journal resulted in discovery of 7 instances of minor issues. This compliance report is available here.
The editorial board is appreciative of the regulatory oversight by the Web of Science and is strongly committed to upkeep the quality standards required for scholarly publishing.
Regards,
Prof. Dr. Idrees Ahmed Nasir
Chief Editor
Advancements in Life Sciences
International Quarterly Journal of Biological Sciences
http://www.als-journal.com/
Notice updated on 11 July 2025
Extension of Deadline for Authors’ Response to Retraction Notices
In view of the time extension requests received from the concerned authors, the deadline for submitting responses to the retraction notices has been extended from 10 July 2025 to 14 July 2025.
Authors are requested to ensure that their responses are submitted by the revised deadline.
Regards,
Prof. Dr. Idrees Ahmed Nasir
Chief Editor
Advancements in Life Sciences
International Quarterly Journal of Biological Sciences
http://www.als-journal.com/
Notice updated on 08 July 2025
Completion of Issuance of Editorial Expression of Concerns
Reference to the recently completed inquiry on ‘quality concerns’ in the second cohort i.e., articles published in 2021 by the journal, we hereby report that all seven (7) applicable editorial expressions of concern have been issued according to article-level analysis and recommendations by the inquiry team. Corrections / retractions / addressal of concerns are due to be completed by 10 July 2025.
We are confident that by implementing the given recommendations, quality concerns in the already published content would be addressed satisfactorily as per international standards / COPE guidelines and chances for any future occurrence would be reduced significantly on the given quality parameters.
Regards,
Prof. Dr. Idrees Ahmed Nasir
Chief Editor
Advancements in Life Sciences
International Quarterly Journal of Biological Sciences
http://www.als-journal.com/
Notice updated on 03 July 2025
Release of Inquiry Report (2021) on ‘Quality Concerns’ Raised by the Web of Science
Reference to the ongoing inquiry on quality concerns, report on the third cohort 2021 is now available. This is the final report of the ongoing internal examination marking completion of inquiry into content published by the journal in five years (2021-25). Click here to download the report.
Briefly, there were seven instances of minor errors (4 regarding metadata and 3 related to use of English language) among 52 articles published in 2021. The inquiry team has given its findings and applicable recommendations. Article-level detail of all the examined indicators is available at the following link.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1DX_8Vyl9q7Yjy_aV1zC-7QGat4oFC2hs
We aim to adopt the recommendations to address the problematic areas in this cohort and complete corrective actions (i.e., retractions and corrections) advised for the previous two cohorts by 10 July 2025, following due process.
Thank you for your trust and patience.
Regards,
Notice updated on 27 June 2025
Compliance Report in Response to the Inquiry Report on Quality of the Contents Published by the Journal ‘Advancements in Life Sciences’ in 2022/23
Reference to the internal inquiry on second cohort i.e., contents of 2022/23, published by the journal ‘Advancements in Life Sciences’ to find and fix any quality related issues, today on 27 June 2025, compliance report has been made public. Inquiry into this cohort of content (2022/23) published by the journal resulted in discovery of 41 instances of either major or minor issues. After careful examination, a total of 15 retractions have been initiated (13 on account of plagiarism and 2 for their unreliable findings). This compliance report is available here.
The editorial board is appreciative of the regulatory oversight by the Web of Science and is strongly committed to upkeep the quality standards required for scholarly publishing.
Regards,
Prof. Dr. Idrees Ahmed Nasir
Chief Editor
Advancements in Life Sciences
International Quarterly Journal of Biological Sciences
http://www.als-journal.com/
Notice updated on 23 June 2025
Completion of Issuance of Editorial Expression of Concerns
Reference to the recently completed inquiry on ‘quality concerns’ in the second cohort i.e., articles published in 2022 and 2023 by the journal, we hereby report that all forty-one (41) applicable editorial expressions of concern have been issued according to article-level analysis and recommendations by the inquiry team. Corrections / retractions / addressal of concerns are due to be completed by 27 June 2025.
We are confident that by implementing the given recommendations, quality concerns in the already published content would be addressed satisfactorily as per international standards / COPE guidelines and chances for any future occurrence would be reduced significantly on the given quality parameters.
We thank authors and most importantly our readers for their continued trust. We appreciate the role of Web of Science and look forward to continuing our work on this matter.
Regards,
Notice updated on 17 June 2025
Release of Inquiry Report (2022/23) on ‘Quality Concerns’ Raised by the Web of Science
Reference to the ongoing inquiry on quality concerns, report on the second cohort 2022/23 is now available. This time the inquiry team decided to only mark those areas where they found editorial lapses, instead of giving complete feedback on content (having both positive and negative aspects). Click here to download the report.
Briefly, there were 41 instances of either minor (16) or major (25) problems among 216 articles published in 2022/23. The inquiry team has given its findings and applicable recommendations. Article-level detail of all the examined indicators is available at the following link.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1t7UuQVC-QafDl-o1prhxQeSizxj-Ykcs
We are strongly committed to adopting the recommendations to address the problematic areas within two (2) weeks.
Thank you for your trust and patience.
Regards,
Notice updated on 02 June 2025
Compliance Report in Response to the Final Inquiry Report on Quality of the Contents Published by the Journal ‘Advancements in Life Sciences’ in 2024/25
Reference to the internal inquiry on first cohort i.e., contents of 2024/25, published by the journal ‘Advancements in Life Sciences’ to find and fix any quality related issues, we have made progress. Here is a short brief.
● 03 April 2025: Inquiry for the year 2024 and 2025 was opened.
● 30 April 2025: Initial inquiry report was made available to public and shared with WoS.
● 12 May 2025: Final inquiry report was released. Article level findings on all thirteen (13) indicators were shared via Google Drive link.
● 20 May 2025: Issuance of Editorial Expression of Concerns was completed on all the related articles.
● 26 May 2025: Clarification on indexing status was issued for authors.
Today on 02 June 2025, compliance report has been made public. All nine (9) recommendations of the inquiry team have been adopted. Notably, we have now 3 retractions in process and 1 data/analysis related issue taken up with the authors. Rest of the post-publication minor errors / discrepancies have been addressed transparently. This compliance report is available here.
Further multiplex inquiry into the content of 2023, 2022, 2021 and 2020 has been initiated as sanctioned by the editorial board in the extraordinary meeting held on 02 April 2025. These inquiries shall be completed by mid of June 2025.
The editorial board is appreciative of the regulatory oversight by the Web of Science and is strongly committed to upkeep the quality standards required for scholarly publishing.
Corrigendum Note: Earlier release of this compliance report was mistakenly dated 02 June 2026. The correct date may please be read as 02 June 2025.
Regards,
Prof. Dr. Idrees Ahmed Nasir
Chief Editor
Advancements in Life Sciences
International Quarterly Journal of Biological Sciences
http://www.als-journal.com/
Notice updated on 26 May 2025
Important Clarification for Authors
Reference to the ongoing inquiry on quality parameters of the published content and corrective measures being undertaken by the journal, regular publishing operations have been resumed since 20 May 2025. This resumption is based on confidence of the editorial board in its corrective actions and strengthened quality checks as advised by the Inquiry team in their final report. However, it must be noted that articles published during this period of internal inquiry and ‘on-hold’ status of the journal in Web of Science (WoS) shall not be indexed readily by WoS. They will only be indexed if and when WoS removes ‘on-hold’ and reinstate complete indexing status of the journal (without putting any embargo period). For more information on the relevant policy of WoS, please click here.
It remains the authors’ prerogative to pause or delay the publication of their respective manuscript(s), or to initiate the withdrawal process by contacting us through their portal on https://submission.als-journal.com/.
Regards,
Notice updated on 20 May 2025
Completion of Issuance of Editorial Expression of Concerns
Reference to the recently completed inquiry on ‘quality concerns’ in the first cohort i.e., articles published in 2024 and 2025 by the journal, we hereby report that all fifty-five (55) applicable editorial expressions of concern have been issued according to article-level analysis and recommendations by the inquiry team. Corrections / retractions / addressal of concerns are due to be completed by 26 May 2025. Further multiplex inquiry into the content of 2023, 2022, 2021 and 2020 has been initiated as sanctioned by the editorial board in the extraordinary meeting held on 02 April 2025. These inquiries shall be completed by mid of June 2025.
We are confident that by implementing the given recommendations, quality concerns in the already published content would be addressed satisfactorily as per international standards / COPE guidelines and chances for any future occurrence would be reduced significantly on the given quality parameters. With this confidence, we intend to resume regular publishing operations, which were paused following the Web of Science notification placing the journal in an “on-hold” status.
We thank authors and most importantly our readers for their trust. We appreciate the role of Web of Science and look forward to continuing our work on this matter.
Regards,
Notice updated on 12 May 2025
Release of Final Inquiry Report (2024/25) on ‘Quality Concerns’ Raised by the Web of Science
In response to quality concerns raised by the Web of Science, the editorial board of Advancements in Life Sciences initiated an internal inquiry to rigorously assess and address the integrity/quality issues of its published content (2024/25). Following an approved review process, the final inquiry report has now been made publicly available. Click here to download the report.
The final report broadly features:
● Preamble and detailed inquiry process
● Summary of findings across 13 quality indicators
● Manuscript-level analysis highlighting the exact types of post-publication errors and discrepancies
● Corrective measures recommended at article level
● Recommendations for strengthening editorial quality
As per the decision of the board, article level analysis is also being made publicly available at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19fqZSDL8UvD3YupDi2sn72ma9RRoDsAo/ as an update to our readers and authors.
We are determined to do the required compliance with recommendations of the inquiry team by or before 26 May 2025 to uplift quality of the scholarly content (that has been) published and to-be published.
Furthermore, similar inquiry and quality improvement actions shall promptly be undertaken for the content published in 2023, 2022, 2021, and 2020.
Thank you for your trust and patience.
Regards,
Notice updated on 30 April 2025
Release of the Initial Report of the Inquiry
Dear Authors and Readers
Consequent to the internal inquiry initiated by the editorial board of the journal ‘Advancements in Life Sciences’ upon ‘quality concerns’ raised by the Web of Sciences, an initial inquiry report is now available here.
The report features following elements.
1. Preamble
2. Process of inquiry
3. Summary of Findings
4. Manuscript Level Details of the Inquiry
5. Additional Considerations by the Inquiry Team
6. Recommendations by the Inquiry Team
7. Supplementary Notes / Suggestions
8. Way Forward
9. About the Inquiry Team
In addition to the 25-points summary of findings on 13 indicators, the inquiry team has exactly identified ‘Type of Errors Found After Publishing / Other Discrepancies’ and advised ‘Corrective Measures to be Taken’ at article level. Further, they have also given 8 recommendations and 2 suggestions for future reference to uplift quality of the content-to-be-published. Regardless, our word-by-word review of the published content is going-on till completion of this cohort. The team will complete this review by 10 May 2025.
As per the decision of the board, article level analysis is also being made publicly available at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19fqZSDL8UvD3YupDi2sn72ma9RRoDsAo/ as an update to our readers and authors.
We look forward to keep working to uplift quality of the scholarly content (that has been) published and to-be-published with Web of Science.
Thank you for your patience.
Regards,
Notice updated on 03 April 2025
Attention Readers and Authors
Advancements in Life Sciences has been put “On-Hold” by Web of Science on quality concerns since 25 March 2025. Editorial board of the journal has taken this development very seriously and has convened an extraordinary meeting on 02 April 2025 to discuss this matter.
Given the reputational stake and scientific stature of the founding editors and their research groups/affiliated organizations, the board has decided to take a pragmatic approach i.e., to work with Web of Science editorial team (if asked) and launch internal inquiry to find any lapses / fix responsibility / take corrective measures. The inquiry team consists of three senior editors from the journal’s editorial board and two of our independent colleagues. In addition to 24 quality parameters set by Web of Science, they are reviewing following elements of the editorial workflow of all articles published by the journal in year 2024-25 and shall furnish report in three (3) working weeks.
1. Peer review reports
2. Similarity index / AI content reports generated through Turnitin
3. Authors revisions
4. Editorial correspondences between authors, editors and editorial team
5. Copyedited/proofread files
6. Publishing frequency and quantity
7. Citation pattern
8. APC record
We understand the sanctity of scholarly publishing and vis-à-vis required editorial standards as per COPE guidelines. We also appreciate role of Web of Science and other reputed indices for their service to the research community in curating dependable research databases. Therefore, we intend to remain completely transparent in our editorial handling of all submitted manuscripts to Advancements in Life Sciences.
Thank you for your patience and understanding.
Sincerely!
Prof. Dr. Idrees Ahmed Nasir
Chief Editor
Advancements in Life Sciences
International Quarterly Journal of Biological Sciences
