👩‍🔬 General Principle

Individuals should be adequately informed about research participation and, where applicable, the publication of information relating to them before providing consent.

Consent should be obtained freely and without inappropriate pressure, coercion, or undue influence.

The consent process should provide participants or their legally authorized representatives with sufficient information to make an informed decision.

🧪 Research Involving Human Participants

For research involving human participants, authors must obtain informed consent where required by applicable ethical standards, institutional requirements, or the nature of the study.

Participants should receive appropriate information regarding:

• The purpose of the research
• Relevant research procedures
• Potential risks and benefits
• How their information will be used
• Any relevant confidentiality arrangements
• Their voluntary participation
• Their right to withdraw where applicable

The exact requirements for informed consent may vary according to the study design, participant population, applicable regulations, and research setting.

🏛 Consent for Publication

Separate consideration should be given to consent for publication when a manuscript contains information, photographs, clinical images, case details, videos, or other material that could identify an individual.

Where appropriate, authors must obtain consent for publication from the individual concerned or an appropriate legally authorized representative.

Consent for publication should be obtained before publication and should clearly explain that the material may be made publicly available through the journal website, online databases, indexing services, and other scholarly platforms.

🔍 Case Reports and Clinical Material

Authors submitting case reports, case series, clinical photographs, diagnostic images, videos, or other clinical material must protect patient privacy.

Where an individual could reasonably be identified, appropriate consent for publication should be obtained.

Authors should remove unnecessary identifying details from:

• Names
• Initials
• Hospital or patient identification numbers
• Addresses
• Dates that could reveal identity
• Clinical photographs
• Medical records
• Other personally identifiable information

Where identifying information is scientifically essential, the manuscript should explain the appropriate consent arrangements.

⚖️ Photographs, Images, and Videos

Consent for publication should be obtained when photographs, videos, medical images, or other visual materials could reasonably identify an individual.

Covering or obscuring a person's eyes or other facial features does not necessarily make an individual anonymous.

Authors should ensure that images are presented in a manner consistent with participant privacy and the consent obtained.

📌 Minors and Individuals Without Capacity

When research or publication involves children, minors, or individuals who cannot provide legally valid informed consent, consent should be obtained from an appropriate parent, guardian, or legally authorized representative in accordance with applicable requirements.

Where appropriate and legally possible, the individual's assent should also be considered.

The level of information and consent procedures should be appropriate to the participant's age, maturity, capacity, and circumstances.

📌 Vulnerable Participants

Additional safeguards should be applied when research involves vulnerable individuals or populations.

Authors should ensure that consent is obtained through an appropriate process and that participants are protected from coercion, undue influence, exploitation, or unnecessary risk.

Where a participant has limited decision-making capacity, authors must follow applicable ethical and legal requirements concerning consent and representation.

📌 Voluntary Consent

Informed consent must be voluntary.

Authors and researchers must not use inappropriate pressure, threats, coercion, deception, or undue influence to obtain consent.

Participants should be given reasonable opportunity to ask questions and make an informed decision regarding participation or publication.

📌 Confidentiality and Privacy

Information obtained through a doctor–patient relationship, research participation, or other confidential relationship must be handled with the highest level of care and discretion.

Authors must take reasonable measures to prevent unauthorized disclosure of personal or sensitive information.

Identifiable information should not be included in a manuscript unless it is necessary and appropriate consent has been obtained.

📌 Withdrawal of Consent

Where applicable, participants should be informed about their rights concerning withdrawal from research.

Authors should follow the applicable ethical approval, consent documentation, and institutional requirements concerning withdrawal.

Once an article has been formally published, complete removal of published information may not always be possible because articles may have been distributed, archived, indexed, or cited. Requests concerning published personal information will therefore be considered in accordance with applicable ethical, legal, and publication requirements.

📌 Documentation of Consent

Authors are responsible for maintaining appropriate records demonstrating that required informed consent or consent for publication was obtained.

LQP does not normally require authors to submit consent forms containing identifiable participant information with the manuscript.

However, the editorial team may request confirmation or appropriate documentation where necessary to verify compliance with ethical requirements.

Authors should not send unnecessary personal or identifiable information to the journal.

📌 Editorial Verification

Editors may request clarification regarding informed consent when a manuscript includes:

• Identifiable participant information
• Case reports
• Clinical photographs
• Patient videos
• Sensitive personal information
• Research involving vulnerable populations
• Other potentially identifiable material

Where adequate consent cannot be demonstrated, LQP may request appropriate clarification, require removal of identifying information, suspend editorial processing, or reject the manuscript where necessary.

📌 Ethical Approval and Informed Consent

Ethical approval and informed consent are related but distinct requirements.

Obtaining approval from an ethics committee or Institutional Review Board does not necessarily replace the requirement to obtain informed consent from participants where consent is required.

Authors must comply with both the requirements of the relevant ethics committee and applicable consent requirements.

📌 Consent in Retrospective and Secondary Research

For retrospective studies, secondary data analysis, database research, or other research using previously collected information, authors should follow the requirements of the relevant ethics committee and applicable laws and regulations.

Where an ethics committee determines that individual informed consent is not required or may be waived, authors should clearly state this in the manuscript and, where appropriate, provide the basis for the waiver.

📌 Consent and Data Sharing

Where research data are shared or made available in accordance with the LQP Data Sharing Policy, authors must ensure that data sharing does not violate participant consent, confidentiality, privacy, ethical approval conditions, or applicable legal requirements.

Identifiable participant information must not be shared without appropriate authorization and consent.

📌 Responsibilities of Authors

Authors are responsible for:

• Obtaining informed consent when required
• Obtaining consent for publication where required
• Providing accurate information about consent procedures
• Protecting participant confidentiality
• Maintaining appropriate consent documentation
• Complying with ethics committee requirements
• Ensuring that published material does not unnecessarily identify individuals
• Responding to reasonable editorial requests concerning consent

Submitting a manuscript to an LQP journal represents an expectation that the authors have complied with applicable informed consent and ethical requirements.

📌 Failure to Obtain Appropriate Consent

LQP may reject a manuscript where required informed consent or consent for publication has not been appropriately obtained.

If a consent-related concern is identified after publication, LQP may investigate the matter and take appropriate action in accordance with its publication ethics and post-publication policies.

Depending on the circumstances, action may include correction, removal of identifying information where feasible, an expression of concern, retraction, or another appropriate editorial measure.

📌 Applicability to LQP Journals

This Informed Consent Policy is a publisher-level policy of Lumina Quest Publishing (LQP) and applies to all journals currently published by LQP and any journals established or added in the future.

LQP is committed to ensuring that individuals whose information or experiences contribute to published research are treated with respect, dignity, privacy, and appropriate confidentiality throughout the research and publication process.