Human and Animal Rights

The Shahroud Journal of Medical Sciences (SJMS) upholds the highest ethical standards in all research involving human participants and animal subjects. Full compliance with recognized ethical guidelines is a mandatory requirement for the publication of research. Below are the core components of our ethical policy:

1. Ethical Framework & Editorial Discretion

• Ethical Framework: All research submitted to SJMS must be conducted within an appropriate ethical framework. If there is any concern or suspicion that a study has not adhered to standard ethical protocols, the Editors reserve the right to reject the manuscript and/or contact the authors’ institutional review board or ethics committee for clarification.
• Editor Discretion: In rare circumstances, the Editors may reject a manuscript on ethical grounds if serious, unresolvable concerns arise regarding study conduct or participant welfare, even if formal approval from an ethics committee had been initially granted.

2. Research Involving Human Participants

• Compliance with International Guidelines: Research involving human subjects, human material, or human data must strictly comply with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki (as revised).
• Ethics Committee Approval: Authors must provide explicit evidence of approval from an accredited institutional or national ethics/bioethics committee. The formal approval reference number must be stated clearly within the manuscript.
• Informed Consent: Authors must confirm that informed consent was obtained from all participants (or their legally authorized representatives/guardians in the case of minors or vulnerable populations) prior to study inclusion.
• Clinical Justification for Novel Procedures:
  • When reporting the clinical application of a new tool, intervention, or procedure (e.g., in technical innovations or case reports), authors must justify why the novel method was chosen over established standard clinical care.
  • Authors are expected to have secured ethics committee approval and documented patient consent specifically addressing the experimental nature of the tool or procedure, especially when a clear clinical advantage was not established prior to intervention.
  • If the novel procedure has already been formally approved for routine clinical use at the authors’ institution, such justification is not required.

3. Research Involving Animals

• Animal Welfare Standards: Research involving animals must comply with internationally accepted guidelines for the ethical care and use of laboratory animals (e.g., the ARRIVE guidelines or the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals). Authors must demonstrate that pain, suffering, and distress were minimized and that humane endpoints were implemented.
• Ethics Committee Approval: Authors must provide explicit documentation of approval from an accredited animal care and use committee (IACUC or equivalent institutional ethics body).

By adhering to these ethical guidelines, authors ensure the protection of human rights and animal welfare, contributing to the credibility, reproducibility, and integrity of scientific research published in SJMS.