Research Ethics
Human Subject Research
Ethical Approval
For studies involving human subjects or biological samples, authors must include an Ethical Approval statement in the Declarations section of their manuscript. This statement should confirm that the study received approval from an institutional ethics committee and adheres to the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki. Researchers must ensure that the study was conducted in compliance with the approved protocol and established research standards.
Consent to Participate
For research involving human participants, authors must obtain written informed consent before conducting the study. A statement confirming that consent was obtained and archived should be included in the manuscript, and the consent document should be made available upon request.
Consent for Publication
For studies containing identifiable personal information, including images or videos, authors must obtain explicit written consent from participants for publication. A statement confirming that consent has been obtained and archived should be included in the manuscript, with the document available upon request.
Animal Research
Studies involving animals must receive approval from an institutional animal care and use committee. Authors must provide an ethical statement in their manuscript confirming that the research was conducted following approved protocols and recognized ethical standards for animal experimentation.
Clinical Trial Registration
Definition of Clinical Trials
The Journal of Plant Biota follows the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) definition of a clinical trial. A clinical trial is any research study that prospectively assigns individuals or groups to an intervention, with or without a control group, to assess the relationship between a health-related intervention and an outcome. Health-related interventions include:
- Pharmaceuticals and medical devices
- Surgical procedures
- Behavioral treatments
- Dietary and educational interventions
- Quality improvement or healthcare process changes
Clinical Trial Requirements
- The Journal of Plant Biota mandates the registration of all clinical trials.
- Trials must be registered in a public registry before the enrollment of the first participant.
- Accepted registries include any primary register of the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) or ClinicalTrials.gov.
- The trial registration number should be provided at the end of the Abstract.
- Secondary analyses of previously registered clinical trials should reference the original trial registration number rather than being registered separately.
Authors unsure about the need for trial registration may consult the ICMJE FAQs for further clarification