Ethical oversight

According to the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), ethical oversight should include, but is not limited to, policies fee on consent to publication, publication on vulnerable populations, ethical conduct of research using animals, ethical conduct of research using human subjects, handling confidential data and ethical business/marketing practices. 

For studies involving data relating to human or animal experimental investigations, appropriate institutional review board approval is required and should be described within the article. For investigations involving human subjects, authors should explain how informed consent was obtained from the participants involved. Patients have a right to privacy that should not be infringed without informed consent. Identifying information should not be included unless the information is essential for scientific purposes and the patient (or parent or legal guardian) gives written informed consent for publication. When informed consent has been obtained it should be indicated in the manuscript. In attempting to maintain patient anonymity, identifying details should be omitted where they are not essential. However, patient data should never be amended or falsified. Informed consent should be obtained whenever there is any doubt that anonymity can be assured.

Ethics approval for all studies must be obtained before the research is conducted. Authors must be prepared to provide further information to the journal editorial office upon request