🧪 Ethical Conduct of Research

Authors are responsible for ensuring that their research has been conducted ethically, responsibly, and in accordance with applicable institutional, national, and international requirements.

Research submitted to LQP journals should:

• Be conducted according to appropriate ethical standards.
• Respect the rights, dignity, safety, and welfare of research participants.
• Maintain the integrity and accuracy of research data.
• Comply with applicable institutional and regulatory requirements.
• Obtain required ethical approvals before research begins.
• Provide truthful and complete information regarding ethical approval and research procedures.

LQP reserves the right to reject a manuscript where there are reasonable concerns regarding unethical research conduct.

🐾 Research Involving Human Participants

Research involving human participants must comply with applicable ethical principles and institutional requirements.

Where required, authors must obtain approval from an appropriate Institutional Review Board (IRB), Research Ethics Committee (REC), or equivalent ethics committee before commencing the research.

Manuscripts should clearly state:

• The name of the approving ethics committee or institution
• Approval or reference number, where applicable
• The date or relevant details of ethical approval, where required
• Whether informed consent was obtained

Where ethical approval was not required, authors should provide an appropriate explanation in the manuscript.

🧫 Informed Consent

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

Participants should receive appropriate information regarding the purpose, procedures, potential risks and benefits, and use of their information before providing consent.

For case reports, clinical images, identifiable information, or other material that could reveal an individual's identity, appropriate consent for publication should be obtained where required.

Personal information must be handled with appropriate confidentiality and security.

🌱 Privacy and Confidentiality

Authors must protect the privacy and confidentiality of research participants.

Personally identifiable information should not be published unless there is a legitimate ethical and scientific reason and appropriate consent has been obtained.

Authors should remove unnecessary identifying information from manuscripts, datasets, figures, photographs, and supplementary materials.

🧾 Research Involving Animals

Research involving animals must comply with applicable institutional, national, and international standards for animal welfare.

Where required, authors must obtain approval from an appropriate animal ethics committee or institutional review body before conducting the research.

Authors should provide sufficient information about:

• Ethical approval
• Animal welfare procedures
• Housing and care
• Experimental procedures
• Measures taken to minimize pain, distress, or suffering
• Humane endpoints, where applicable

LQP may reject research involving animals where appropriate ethical safeguards have not been demonstrated.

📊 Clinical Trials

Clinical trials submitted to LQP journals should comply with applicable ethical and regulatory requirements.

Where applicable, clinical trials should be prospectively registered in a recognized clinical trial registry before participant enrollment.

Authors should provide the trial registration number and registry name in the manuscript where required.

The conduct and reporting of clinical trials should follow appropriate internationally recognized reporting standards, including relevant CONSORT guidance where applicable.

⚠️ Ethical Approval and Documentation

LQP may request evidence of ethical approval, informed consent, trial registration, or other relevant documentation during the editorial or peer review process.

Authors must provide authentic documentation when requested.

Failure to provide required ethical documentation may result in:

• Delay in editorial processing
• Request for clarification
• Rejection of the manuscript
• Investigation of potential research misconduct

⚧ Research Integrity

Authors must maintain the integrity of their research throughout the research and publication process.

The following practices are unacceptable:

• Fabrication of data
• Falsification of data
• Manipulation of research results
• Plagiarism
• Duplicate or redundant publication
• Undisclosed conflicts of interest
• Improper authorship practices
• Manipulation of images or research materials
• Misrepresentation of ethical approval
• Manipulation or concealment of relevant research information

Concerns regarding research integrity may be investigated under the applicable LQP publication ethics and research misconduct policies.

🗺 Data Integrity and Availability

Authors are responsible for maintaining accurate and reliable research data.

Where appropriate and ethically permissible, authors are encouraged to make supporting data available in accordance with the journal's Data Sharing Policy.

Data must not be shared where doing so would violate participant confidentiality, ethical restrictions, legal requirements, or other legitimate protections.

📜 Vulnerable Participants

Additional safeguards should be applied when research involves vulnerable populations.

Authors should demonstrate that appropriate protections were implemented to minimize risks and protect the rights and welfare of vulnerable participants.

Depending on the research context, vulnerable populations may include children, individuals with impaired decision-making capacity, prisoners, or other groups requiring additional ethical safeguards.

📚 Ethical Responsibilities of Authors

Authors are responsible for:

• Conducting research ethically
• Obtaining required approvals
• Obtaining informed consent where applicable
• Providing accurate ethical information
• Maintaining research records
• Protecting participant confidentiality
• Reporting research honestly
• Disclosing relevant conflicts of interest
• Responding appropriately to editorial requests concerning ethical issues

Submission of a manuscript to an LQP journal constitutes an expectation that the research has been conducted in accordance with applicable ethical requirements.

⚖️ Editorial Review of Ethical Concerns

Editors may request additional information or documentation when ethical concerns arise during submission, peer review, production, or after publication.

Editors may consult appropriate institutional authorities or other relevant experts when necessary to assess an ethical concern.

LQP may suspend editorial processing or publication while an ethical matter is being investigated.

📌 Right to Reject Unethical Research

Lumina Quest Publishing and its journals reserve the right to reject any manuscript where there is reasonable evidence of unethical research conduct, inadequate ethical approval, failure to obtain required consent, serious participant safety concerns, research misconduct, or other significant violations of applicable ethical standards.

Where serious concerns arise after publication, appropriate action may include correction, expression of concern, retraction, or other measures in accordance with the relevant LQP policies.

📝 Ethical Standards and Guidance

LQP encourages authors, editors, and reviewers to follow recognized ethical standards and guidance relevant to their research and publication activities.

Depending on the subject and manuscript type, applicable guidance may include principles and recommendations from:

• Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)
• International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE)
• Relevant institutional ethics committees
• Applicable national and international research regulations
• Appropriate discipline-specific ethical and reporting standards

✅ Applicability

This Research Ethics Policy applies to all journals published by Lumina Quest Publishing (LQP).

LQP is committed to protecting research participants, supporting responsible research practices, maintaining research integrity, and preserving the reliability and trustworthiness of the scholarly record.