👩‍🔬 Research Involving Human Participants

Research involving human participants must be conducted in accordance with appropriate ethical principles and applicable institutional, national, and international requirements.

Authors must ensure that:

• The rights, dignity, privacy, and welfare of participants are respected.
• Appropriate ethical approval is obtained before the research begins, where required.
• Research procedures minimize unnecessary risks to participants.
• Participants are adequately informed about the research.
• Informed consent is obtained where required.
• Participant information is handled confidentially.
• Identifying information is not disclosed unnecessarily.

For medical and biomedical research, authors should ensure that the planning, conduct, and reporting of research comply with the Declaration of Helsinki, as applicable to the research. ICMJE currently recommends that investigators seek approval from an independent local, regional, or national review body, such as an ethics committee or institutional review board.

🧪 Ethical Approval

Where required, research involving human participants must receive approval from an appropriate:

• Institutional Review Board (IRB)
• Research Ethics Committee (REC)
• Institutional Ethics Committee (IEC)
• Or another recognized independent ethics review body

Authors should provide the name of the approving body and the relevant approval or reference number in the manuscript where applicable.

LQP may request documentary evidence of ethical approval during the editorial or peer review process.

Where formal ethical approval was not required, authors should provide an appropriate explanation.

🏛 Informed Consent

Authors must obtain informed consent from participants where required by the nature of the research and applicable ethical standards.

Participants should receive sufficient information about the research before providing consent, including relevant information about the purpose, procedures, potential risks, potential benefits, and use of their information.

Where required, informed consent should be documented appropriately.

The requirements for informed consent may vary according to the study design, applicable regulations, and the nature of the participants involved.

🔍 Privacy and Confidentiality

LQP requires authors to protect the privacy and confidentiality of research participants.

Identifying information, including names, initials, hospital numbers, photographs, or other information that could reasonably identify an individual, should not be published unless it is scientifically essential and appropriate consent for publication has been obtained.

Non-essential identifying information should be removed from manuscripts, figures, photographs, tables, supplementary files, and other published materials.

ICMJE emphasizes that patient privacy should not be violated without appropriate consent and that identifying information should be omitted unless scientifically necessary and properly consented for publication.

⚖️ Case Reports and Clinical Images

Authors submitting case reports, clinical images, photographs, or other material containing potentially identifiable patient information are responsible for obtaining appropriate consent for publication where required.

Authors should ensure that patients or their legal representatives understand that published material may become publicly accessible through electronic and online platforms.

Where there is doubt about whether an individual can be identified, appropriate consent should be obtained.

📌 Research Involving Vulnerable Populations

Research involving vulnerable populations requires additional ethical safeguards.

Authors should demonstrate that appropriate measures were taken to protect the rights, safety, dignity, and welfare of participants who may have reduced autonomy or increased vulnerability.

This may include, depending on the research:

• Children and minors
• Individuals with impaired decision-making capacity
• Prisoners
• Individuals in dependent relationships
• Other populations requiring additional ethical protections

Where participants cannot provide informed consent themselves, consent should be obtained from an appropriate legally authorized representative in accordance with applicable requirements.

🚫 Research Involving Animals

Research involving animals must be conducted responsibly and in accordance with applicable institutional, national, and international standards for animal care and welfare.

Authors must ensure that:

• Appropriate ethical approval is obtained where required.
• Animals are treated humanely.
• Unnecessary pain, distress, or suffering is minimized.
• Appropriate housing and care are provided.
• Appropriate procedures are used to minimize harm.
• Humane endpoints are applied where appropriate.

Authors should state in the manuscript whether relevant institutional and national standards for the care and use of laboratory animals were followed. This is consistent with current ICMJE recommendations.

🏛 Animal Ethics Approval

Where required, research involving animals should be reviewed and approved by an appropriate animal ethics committee or institutional review body before the research begins.

Authors should provide:

• Name of the approving committee or institution
• Ethics approval or reference number, where applicable
• Relevant information about animal welfare procedures

LQP may request supporting documentation where necessary.

📌 Minimization of Animal Harm

Authors should use scientifically justified methods that minimize pain, distress, injury, and unnecessary use of animals.

Where applicable, authors are encouraged to consider the principles of:

• Replacement — using alternatives to animals where scientifically appropriate
• Reduction — using the minimum number of animals necessary to achieve scientifically valid results
• Refinement — improving procedures to minimize pain, suffering, or distress

🔍 Human or Animal Research Without Appropriate Ethical Oversight

LQP may reject a manuscript if there is reasonable evidence that research involving humans or animals:

• Was conducted without required ethical approval
• Failed to protect participants or animals adequately
• Failed to obtain required informed consent
• Involved unacceptable risks or harm
• Misrepresented ethical approval
• Violated applicable laws, regulations, or institutional requirements

Approval by an ethics committee does not prevent editors from independently considering whether the reported research appears ethically appropriate. ICMJE explicitly recognizes the responsibility of editors to assess ethical concerns where they arise.

📌Ethical Information in Manuscripts

Authors should include appropriate ethical statements in manuscripts involving humans or animals.

Depending on the study, the statement should identify:

• Ethical approval
• Name of the ethics committee or institutional review body
• Approval/reference number, where applicable
• Informed consent
• Consent for publication, where applicable
• Animal welfare and ethical approval information, where applicable

The information provided must be accurate and must correspond to the actual research conducted.

🔍 Editorial and Ethical Review

LQP editors may request additional information or documentation when concerns arise regarding human or animal research.

Where necessary, editors may seek clarification from:

• Authors
• Institutional ethics committees
• Research institutions
• Relevant authorities
• Appropriate subject experts

Editorial processing may be suspended while an ethical concern is being assessed.

📌 Post-Publication Ethical Concerns

Ethical concerns may arise after an article has been published.

If credible concerns are raised regarding the treatment of human participants or animals, ethical approval, informed consent, or other research practices, LQP may investigate the matter in accordance with its publication ethics and research misconduct procedures.

Depending on the findings, appropriate action may include:

• Correction
• Editorial clarification
• Expression of concern
• Retraction
• Other appropriate measures

🔍 Responsibilities of Authors

Authors are responsible for ensuring that their research complies with applicable ethical requirements.

By submitting a manuscript to an LQP journal, authors are expected to confirm that:

• Required ethical approval has been obtained.
• Human participants have been appropriately protected.
• Required informed consent has been obtained.
• Participant confidentiality has been maintained.
• Required animal welfare standards have been followed.
• Ethical information provided in the manuscript is accurate.
• Supporting ethical documentation can be provided when requested.

📌 Applicability to LQP Journals

This Human and Animal Rights Policy is a publisher-level policy of Lumina Quest Publishing (LQP) and applies to all journals published by LQP, including journals currently published and journals established or added in the future.

The policy applies regardless of the specific discipline or subject area of an LQP journal. Where a particular research field has additional ethical or regulatory requirements, authors are also responsible for complying with those requirements.

LQP is committed to ensuring that research published through its journals respects human rights, protects research participants, promotes responsible animal research, and maintains the integrity and reliability of the scholarly record.