Human and Animal Rights, Patient Consent, and Clinical Research Policy

Last Updated: August 2026

DScholar Press International is committed to upholding the highest standards of ethical governance in scientific and medical research. This policy outlines mandatory compliance frameworks for manuscripts and book chapters involving human subjects, patient data, animal experimentation, and clinical research trials across all published works.

1. Human Subjects & Institutional Ethics Approvals

All studies involving human participants—including observational, social science, behavioural, and biomedical research—must conform to international ethical principles, including the Declaration of Helsinki (as revised). Authors must adhere to the following standards:

  • Institutional Oversight: Studies must receive prior approval from an appropriate Institutional Review Board (IRB), Ethics Committee, or national governing authority.
  • Mandatory Ethics Statement: Manuscripts must explicitly state the name of the granting ethics board along with the official reference/approval number in the methodology section.
  • Ethics Exemptions: If a study was granted an exemption from ethical review, authors must state the formal reason for exemption as defined by their institutional or national oversight body.

2. Patient Consent & Anonymity Safeguards

For studies, clinical cases, or book chapters presenting individual patient details, images, or personal health information, strict privacy and consent standards apply:

  • Informed Written Consent: Authors must obtain signed, informed consent for publication from participants (or legal guardians/next of kin) for any study, case report, or clinical imagery.
  • Anonymization Guidelines: All identifying information—such as patient names, initials, hospital identification numbers, or non-essential demographic details—must be completely removed from text, figures, tables, and supplementary files.
  • Visual Privacy: Photographs of patients must mask identifiable facial features unless the participant has granted explicit written authorization to publish unmasked images.

3. Animal Welfare Standards

Research involving live vertebrate animals or higher invertebrates must strictly adhere to international, national, and institutional animal welfare legislation:

Animal Ethics Guidelines (ARRIVE Compliance):

  • Care & Use Compliance: Research protocols must be approved by an Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) or equivalent body.
  • Humanitarian Standards: Procedures must minimize animal distress, pain, and suffering while incorporating the principles of the 3Rs (Replacement, Reduction, Refinement).
  • Reporting Framework: Authors are strongly encouraged to adhere to the ARRIVE guidelines (Animal Research: Reporting of In Vivo Experiments) when describing animal studies.

4. Clinical Trial Registration Protocols

In accordance with international publishing standards (ICMJE guidelines), all clinical trials must be registered in a public registry before participant recruitment begins (e.g., ClinicalTrials.gov or WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform). Manuscripts reporting trial results must include the trial registry name, URL, and unique registration number upon initial submission.

5. Compliance Statements & Contact Information

Failure to supply verifiable institutional ethics approvals or participant consent documentation may lead to immediate rejection or retraction of the published work. For ethics queries or verification requests, contact the editorial office at publisher@dscholarpress.com.