Article Submission Guidelines Life Science Leader

Life Science Leader (LSL) is designed for executives in the life sciences, pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical, and medical device industries. Our articles are intended to showcase business best practices and learnings while not presenting the content in an overly technical/scientific way. Life Science Leader does not use an editorial calendar; we choose our articles based on current and relevant topics our audience will find valuable as well as our interactions with key industry stakeholders.

Life Science Leader accepts bylined/contributed articles. You first need to send Chief Editor, Ben Comer (ben.comer@lifescienceconnect.com), a brief abstract of the topic you are suggesting.

Also, before considering writing an article for LSL, please read through all of the following:

General Guidelines For Submitting An Article To LSL

  1. The content must be original. If the article has been published on another site or in print or is slated to be published elsewhere, it will not be considered.
  2. We do not accept overly technical/scientific topics or articles.
  3. The article cannot be promotional either directly or indirectly (e.g., leading the reader to only one conclusion, which happens to be the solution your company offers).
  4. The author of an article cannot have a PR-, marketing-, or business development-related title.
  5. Ideally, we want an end user (i.e., pharma or bio manufacturer, not a CDMO, CRO, vendor, etc.) to either write or be interviewed for a submitted article.
  6. We do not print/provide footnotes, references, etc. If you cite a metric that requires the source, include it within the sentence (e.g., “According to XYZ research firm, …”), in a hyperlink, or in a parenthetical after the metric (e.g., “Typically, 20 percent of pharmaceutical companies (XYZ Research report) …”).  
  7. All contributed articles run as needed. We do not guarantee that any contributed article will be published until we receive it and determine whether it meets our editorial standards.

Audience Considerations

  • Life Science Leader readers are professionals throughout the life sciences, pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical, and medical device industries. Make sure your article topic is valuable to this audience. (e.g., How can they improve their business processes? Will regulatory changes impact their business? What industry news or trends affect them?)
  • Your article should include actionable information. Ideally, your article should force readers to take action, rethink a current position, or dive deeper into a topic.
  • Articles should not be a news recap of a topic; they should provide unique insights and assessments.
  • Our readers are busy people. You need to grab their attention by breaking your article into shorter, digestible paragraphs. Also, include subheadings within the article to draw attention and break-up the content.
  • Include an engaging headline. It’s the first thing readers see, and it must be compelling and drive readers to learn more.

Word Count

  • Typically, contributed articles should be between 1,000 and 2,000 words, but we do publish longer and shorter pieces at the editor’s discretion.  

Editing/Proofing/Approvals

  • Prior to publishing, we reserve the right to edit any submission in an effort to meet length requirements, improve readability, meet our style, and/or optimize web traffic. Unless we have questions about the content, we will not send you a list of our edits or seek your approval for most edits. If we plan to significantly rewrite a headline/section, then we will contact you and have you approve the changes within 48 hours. Unless we hear back from you during that time period, we will run the article as is.

Design Elements/Graphs/Charts/Photos

  • At the very least, we usually will ask for a high-resolution (300 dpi) headshot of the author(s). We don’t guarantee any submitted graphic elements will run with an article.
  • The author is responsible for securing copyright permission to use any images that are not their (or their firm's) own work. Company logos or images bearing company logos will not be accepted. Images ideally should be submitted in JPEG, GIF, or PNG format, and may be embedded in Word docs.

File Format

  • Articles should be submitted in editable Microsoft Word format, with the language set to American English.

Style Guidelines/Tips

  • We don’t print long disclaimers (e.g., those often found with articles written by lawyers or investment firms) or any similar “legalese” with contributed articles.  
  • We do not print copyright, trademark, or any similar symbols.
  • Author bios should be short and focus only on the author’s title, company name, and experience. We will edit bios that are excessive and include promotional wording. Bios should not include a person’s email or website.
  • In-text subheads are required and should be descriptive of the content in a section. Subheads such as “introduction” and “conclusion” are not appropriate.
  • Three is the maximum amount of authors we will attribute to a piece of contributed content.
  • Acronyms and abbreviations should be defined upon first reference and within tables and figures.