🧪 Research Ethics

Research Involving Human Subjects
For research involving human participants, human biological material, tissues, or personal data, authors must confirm that the study was conducted in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki (1975, revised 2013) In accordance with Article 23 of the Declaration of Helsinki:

• Approval from a local Institutional Review Board (IRB) or an appropriate ethics committee is mandatory before commencing the research
• The manuscript must include an Institutional Review Board Statement, specifying at minimum:
  • Name of the ethics committee or IRB
  • Approval date
  • Project identification or reference code

Example Ethical Statement:
“All participants provided informed consent prior to participation. The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and approved by the Ethics Committee of XXX (Approval No. XXX).”

Non-Interventional Studies

For non-interventional studies (e.g., surveys, questionnaires, interviews, social media research):

• Participants must be fully informed about:
  • Study purpose
  • Data usage
  • Anonymity and confidentiality
• Ethical approval must be obtained where required
• If ethical approval is not required, authors must:
  • oProvide an exemption from the ethics committee or
  • Cite relevant national or institutional legislation

The ethics committee name and justification must be clearly stated in the Institutional Review Board Statement.

Informed Consent for Publication

The publisher ensures transparency regarding:

• Written informed consent for publication must be obtained from patients or participants when:
  • Case details are reported
  • Personal data or images are included
• Patient information must be anonymized, avoiding unnecessary identifiers (e.g., exact age, ethnicity, occupation)

Signed consent forms should not be submitted initially, but must be provided upon editorial request. Editors reserve the right to reject manuscripts that do not meet informed consent requirements.

Vulnerable Populations

Studies involving vulnerable groups may undergo additional ethical scrutiny. The editorial office may request:

• Blank consent forms
• Ethics committee documentation
• Supporting explanations

If demographic categorization (e.g., race, gender, disability, disease) is used, authors must clearly justify its necessity.

🐾 Ethical Use of Animals in Research

Research involving animals must demonstrate that scientific benefits outweigh potential harm.
Authors must adhere to the internationally accepted 3Rs principle:

• Replacement – Use alternatives to animals when possible
• Reduction – Minimize the number of animals used
• Refinement – Modify procedures to reduce suffering

Manuscripts must include details on:

• Housing and husbandry
• Pain management and welfare measures

Ethical approval from an appropriate animal ethics committee is mandatory where required by law. If ethical approval is not required, authors must provide an official exemption and justification.

Lumina Quest Publishing supports the ARRIVE Guidelines for reporting animal research: Editors may request ARRIVE checklists and reject manuscripts raising animal welfare concerns.

🧫 Cell Line Research

For studies involving cell lines, authors must:

• Clearly state the origin of all cell lines
• Provide references or commercial sources for established cell lines
• Provide IRB/ethics approval for newly derived cell lines
• Confirm written informed consent for human-derived cell lines

Example:
“The HCT116 cell line was obtained from XXX. The MLH1+ cell line was provided by XXX Ltd.”

🌱 Plant-Based Research

Research involving plants must comply with institutional, national, and international regulations, including:

• Convention on Biological Diversity
• Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES)

Authors must disclose:

• Origin of plant material
• Collection details and location
• Voucher specimen deposition (where applicable)

Editors may reject manuscripts not meeting these requirements.

🧾 Clinical Trial Registration

In accordance with ICMJE guidelines, all clinical trials must be prospectively registered in a public registry before participant enrollment.

Acceptable registries include:

• ClinicalTrials.gov
• EU Clinical Trials Register
• WHO ICTRP-approved registries

Trial registration details must be included in the Methods section.

📊 CONSORT Compliance

Randomized clinical trials must include a completed CONSORT checklist: Editors may request the checklist and reject non-compliant submissions.

⚠️ Dual-Use Research of Concern

Manuscripts involving potential dual-use risks (e.g., biosecurity, chemical, nuclear, military applications) must be clearly disclosed.

Authors must:

• Describe potential risks in the cover letter
• Demonstrate that public benefit outweighs risks
• Comply with national and international regulations

⚧ Sex and Gender in Research

Authors are encouraged to follow the SAGER guidelines.

• Use “sex” and “gender” accurately
• Specify sex/gender applicability in titles and abstracts
• Provide disaggregated data where relevant
• Justify absence of sex/gender analysis if not conducted

🗺 Borders and Territories

Lumina Quest Publishing maintains neutrality regarding jurisdictional claims in maps, affiliations, and institutional addresses.

Authors are advised to exercise sensitivity when describing disputed territories.

📜 Publication Ethics Statement

Lumina Quest Publishing strictly adheres to the COPE Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines and maintains a zero-tolerance policy toward unethical publishing practices.

All submitted manuscripts are screened for plagiarism and textual overlap using Turnitin plagiarism detection software during the editorial and peer review process.

The following practices are strictly prohibited:

• Plagiarism in any form, including self-plagiarism
• Duplicate or redundant publication
• Data fabrication or falsification
• Inappropriate authorship attribution
• Unethical image manipulation

Manuscripts found to violate these ethical standards may be rejected, corrected, or retracted, depending on the severity of the violation. Where necessary, the publisher may inform authors’ institutions or funding bodies, in accordance with COPE procedures.

📚 Citation Ethics

Authors must ensure:

• Proper attribution of all sources
• Moderate and justified self-citation
• Genuine familiarity with cited works
• Avoidance of citation manipulation
• Use of quotation marks for verbatim text

Manuscripts found to violate these ethical standards may be rejected, corrected, or retracted, depending on the severity of the violation. Where necessary, the publisher may inform authors’ institutions or funding bodies, in accordance with COPE procedures.

⚖️ Corrective Actions

In cases of ethical violations, the publisher may take actions including:

• Corrections
• Retractions
• Expressions of concern
• Institutional notification

All actions follow COPE procedures.

📌 Policy Applicability

This Research and Publication Ethics Policy applies to all journals published by Lumina Quest Publishing, unless otherwise stated.