Every manuscript involving human subjects must have prior ethical approval from an Institutional Review Board (IRB) or Ethics Review Committee (ERC), in accordance with the with the ethical principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki, the Belmont Report and ICJME Recommendation for Protection of Research Participants*  The approval statement must be on official letterhead, stamped and signed by the committee Chairperson, with the committee’s name, approval number, and date clearly stated in the manuscript. Authors must confirm that informed consent was obtained from all participants and consent for publication where applicable.

Studies not involving direct human contact require an exemption letter from the institutional ERC/IRB. For animal studies, authors must provide Animal Ethics Committee approval and confirm compliance with institutional guidelines. If an institution lacks an ethics committee, approval must be sought from another recognized institution.

Authors must upload the ethical approval letter during submission and include ethical statements in the manuscript. Studies exempt ed from approval (audits, any type of review such as systematic reviews, meta-analyses, letters to the editor, public data and others) require justification. The journal does not accept retrospective approval—manuscripts lacking required prior approval will be rejected. Any type of ethical misconduct (lack of approval, plagiarism, or data fabrication/falsification) will result in rejection, retraction, and reporting to institutions.

Case reports must have departmental head approval on institutional letterhead and include a statement confirming informed consent was obtained from participants for study inclusion and publication. Authors must not use patients’ names, initials, or hospital numbers in any material.