Ethical aspects in human research

Studies involving human participants must comply with the Declaration of Helsinki and the guidelines of the Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences (CIOMS), and must have approval from a research ethics committee obtained before the study begins. Authors must state in the manuscript that this approval was obtained and upload a copy of the approval to OJS at the time of submission.

Authors must declare that informed consent was obtained from participants and describe the measures taken to protect their identity. Publication of images or identifiable data, including case reports, requires written and explicit informed consent from the patient or, where applicable, their parent or legal guardian, and this must be stated in the manuscript. Studies exempt from ethics committee review must provide the exemption statement issued by the committee or the institution.

Clinical trials must be registered in a publicly accessible database before the first participant is enrolled, and the registration number must be stated in the abstract. Studies involving animals must provide evidence of approval from the relevant institutional committee.

Participants' personal data must be handled confidentially. The manuscript must not include names, initials, medical record numbers, or any other information that could identify a person. When the research involves the collection, storage, or secondary use of identifiable or re-identifiable data, or of biological material, authors must provide evidence of specific consent from participants and approval from the institutional ethics committee.

Manuscripts that do not meet these requirements will not be accepted for publication. When non-compliance is detected after publication, the journal will proceed in accordance with its policies on scientific integrity and corrections and retractions.