Informed Consent Policy
The International Journal of Health Studies (Undergoing change to Shahroud Journal of Medical Sciences) (IJHS (Undergoing change to SJMS)) maintains stringent Informed Consent Policy to uphold standards in research involving patients or volunteers. This policy is critical to ensuring the protection of individuals’ rights confidentiality, and privacy.
Requirements for Ethical Approval and In Consent
Ethics Committee Approval
-All studies involving human subjects must receive approval from an appropriate ethics committee prior to commencement. This approval must be clearly documented in the submitted manuscript.
Informed Consent Documentation
- Authors must document informed consent from all participants, which should be included in the manuscript.
- Patients must be informed of their rights regarding privacy and the use of their data.
Right to Privacy
- Patients have a right to privacy, and this right should not be violated without their informed consent.
- Identifying information, including names, initials, or hospital numbers, must not be included in the publication of written descriptions, photographs, or pedigrees unless essential for scientific purposes and authorized through written informed consent from the patient (or parent/guardian).
Informed Consent for Publication
- For the purpose of publication, authors must ensure that individuals whose data is presented are aware of and consent to the publication of identifiable information.
- The patient must be shown the manuscript before submission to verify which details they consent to have published.
- Authors are required to inform patients if identifiable material may be available online or in print post-publication.
Archiving of Consent
- The written consent should be documented and archived according to local regulations, and it may be held by the authors, the journal, or both.
- Authors must provide a written statement confirming they have obtained and archived the necessary consents without needing to provide the actual consent form to the journal.
Indicating Informed Consent in Publications
- Articles reporting studies with informed consent obtained from participants must explicitly state this in the published paper.
Protection of Anonymity
- Non-essential identifying details should always be omitted.
- If there is any uncertainty about maintaining anonymity, informed consent should be sought as a precaution.
- For example, simply masking the eyes in patient photographs does not ensure anonymity.
De-identification Assurance
- If identifying characteristics are removed or altered in a manner that may affect understanding, authors must provide assurance that changes do not distort the scientific accuracy of the findings. Editors should note this assurance during the publication process.
Photographic Evidence and Case Reports
- Photographs that reveal recognizable features of subjects must be accompanied by a signed consent form allowing their publication.
- Case reports providing sufficient unique identifying information to allow for recognition (other than names) must also obtain informed consent.
Consequences of Non-compliance
- Failure to obtain and document informed consent prior to manuscript submission will result in rejection of the manuscript.
