Human and Animal Subjects Guidelines

To ensure ethical integrity, all research involving human or animal subjects must comply with the highest standards of ethical conduct. Authors are required to provide a clear ethical statement in the Methods section of their manuscript. Submissions that do not meet these criteria will not be considered for review.

​

1. Research Involving Human Subjects

​

• All studies involving human participants must have prior approval from an Institutional Review Board (IRB), Ethics Committee, or an equivalent body.

• A statement confirming informed consent must be included. If the study involved minors, consent must be obtained from parents or legal guardians.

• Authors should explicitly state:

  • The name of the approving ethics committee.

  • The reference/approval number.

  • That participants gave informed consent (written or verbal).

• Research must adhere to the Declaration of Helsinki and follow ICMJE guidelines.

• For studies using identifiable human data (e.g., images, personal health information), explicit consent for publication must be obtained and documented.

2. Research Involving Animals

​

• Animal experiments must comply with institutional and national guidelines for the care and use of laboratory animals (e.g., NIH, ARRIVE, OECD, or local governing bodies).

• Authors must:

  • State the ethical approval obtained from the appropriate animal care and use committee (IACUC or equivalent).

  • Include approval/reference numbers.

  • Provide justification for animal use and steps taken to minimize suffering.

• Authors are encouraged to follow the ARRIVE (Animal Research: Reporting of In Vivo Experiments) guidelines when reporting animal experiments.

3. Ethical Statement Example (for authors to include in manuscript):

​

“All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments. The study protocol was approved by [Name of IRB] (Approval No. XXXXX), and written informed consent was obtained from all participants.”

“All applicable international, national, and/or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed. The experimental protocol was approved by the [Institutional Animal Ethics Committee] (Approval No. XXXXX).”

​

4. Exceptions and Retrospective Studies

​

• If the study was exempt from ethical approval, authors must clearly state the reason (e.g., analysis of publicly available data).

• For retrospective studies using existing data or records, institutional approval and waiver of consent must be disclosed.

5. Non-Compliance

• Submissions lacking adequate ethical compliance documentation will be rejected.

• The journal reserves the right to request copies of approval letters, consent forms, or other relevant documentation at any time.