Research Ethics & Participants

Policy Statement

Research involving human participants must have been conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and approved by an appropriate institutional review board or research ethics committee; the approving body and approval or protocol number must be stated in the Methods section. Research involving animals must comply with relevant institutional and national guidelines for the care and use of laboratory or study animals, with ethical approval likewise stated.

Authors must confirm that informed consent was obtained from participants, or their legal guardians, and describe this in the Methods section. For case reports or articles involving identifiable patient information or images, authors must obtain, and be ready to provide if requested, separate written patient consent for publication.

Research involving Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Cultural Communities, or other communities with distinct collective rights, knowledge systems, or cultural protocols must demonstrate appropriate ethical and culturally responsive engagement, and compliance with applicable community, institutional, and national requirements.

1. Scope and Applicability

This policy applies to all research articles and case reports involving human participants, animal subjects, or identifiable patient information, at submission and throughout review.

2. Definitions

Declaration of Helsinki: The internationally recognized ethical standard for medical research involving human participants.

Institutional Review Board (IRB) / Research Ethics Committee: A body authorized to review and approve the ethics of a research study.

Informed Consent: A participant's voluntary agreement to take part in research, given with an understanding of what it involves.

Publication Consent: Separate, specific consent from a patient allowing their identifiable information or image to be published.