Ethics Committee Approval

Ethical standards are up held on both human and animal experiments. Authors must provide evidence of approval from a local Ethics Committee when required. Animal research should be conducted humanely, with clear reporting of anesthetics and analgesics used. Ethical standards must align with the WMA’s Code of Ethics (Declaration of Helsinki) for human studies and EU Directive 2010/63/EU for animal research. A statement of ethics committee approval must be included in the ‘Materials and Methods’ section, according to the ICMJE recommendations. The journal will not consider any manuscript deemed ethically unacceptable.

If a manuscript is submitted to Annals of Medical Research without ethics committee approval, the journal will review it according to COPE's Research, Audit, and Service Evaluations guideline. This guideline helps the journal assess the risks and ethical concerns of publishing research lacking ethics committee approval, ensuring that the manuscript meets ethical standards despite the absence of formal approval.

Authors are required to provide comprehensive details on the ethical treatment of animals in their research, including specific actions taken to minimize pain and suffering. A checklist is recommended to help authors present this information clearly and thoroughly. For studies involving human participants, a statement must be included confirming that written and/or verbal informed consent was obtained from all participants. These consent forms should be stored for future reference.

When research involves minors under the age of 18, consent must be obtained from a parent or guardian, as children may not fully comprehend the risks and benefits of participating in the study.

In cases involving surveys or interviews, authors must confirm that informed granted by participants, including consent for recording personal information, if applicable. Any identifiable quotations or statements should be anonymized unless explicit consent for attribution is obtained.

The Methods section should provide detailed information on the informed consent process, along with other pertinent research procedures. Authors must ensure the anonymity and privacy of participants, especially concerning photographs that may reveal their identities. Signed consent forms for photographs should be obtained, and approval for their publication must be documented in the Methods section.