Human and Animal Rights Policy
Research involving human participants
All research involving human participants, human tissue, or identifiable human data must have been conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki (current version) and approved by an appropriate ethics committee or institutional review board before the study began.
The Methods section must state:
- The name of the approving committee and the approval reference number;
- That written informed consent was obtained from all participants (or from a parent or legal guardian for minors or those lacking capacity), or the reason a waiver was granted and by whom;
- For registered trials, the registry name and registration number.
Editors may request a copy of the ethics approval letter and blank consent form at any time. Manuscripts without evidence of appropriate approval will not be considered. If a study was exempt from review, the manuscript must name the body that granted the exemption and the legal basis for it.
Retrospective ethics approval is not normally acceptable; the editor may consider such cases individually with reference to COPE guidance.
Vulnerable populations
Studies involving children, prisoners, people with cognitive impairment, refugees, or other vulnerable groups must describe the additional safeguards used.
Clinical trials
Trials must be prospectively registered in a WHO ICTRP primary registry or ClinicalTrials.gov. Report according to CONSORT and include the registration number in the abstract.
Research involving animals
Animal studies must comply with the ARRIVE guidelines and with national and institutional regulations, and must state the name of the approving ethics committee and the approval number. Describe housing, husbandry, anaesthesia, analgesia, and humane endpoints. Studies that inflict unnecessary suffering will not be published.
Field studies, plants, and biological materials
Research on wild animals, plants, or genetic material must state that required permits were obtained and comply with the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Nagoya Protocol. Specimens must be deposited in a recognised collection where appropriate.
Indigenous communities and cultural heritage
Research with Indigenous peoples must describe community engagement, consent processes at the community level, and how benefits are shared, in line with the CARE Principles for Indigenous Data Governance.
Dual-use research
Authors must draw the editor's attention to work that could be misused to threaten public health or security. Such manuscripts receive additional editorial review.
Non-compliance
Manuscripts that do not comply are rejected. Published articles found to be non-compliant are handled under the Corrections and Retractions Policy and may be retracted.
Last updated: 29 September 2026
