The Advanced Journal of Science and Innovation (AJSI) is committed to the ethical conduct, transparent reporting, and responsible publication of research.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that all research submitted to AJSI has been conducted in accordance with applicable institutional, national, and international ethical standards. Research involving human participants, human material, personal data, animals, vulnerable populations, sensitive information, or potentially identifiable information must receive appropriate ethical consideration before the research is conducted.

Manuscripts that do not meet applicable ethical requirements may be returned for clarification, rejected, or investigated in accordance with the journal’s Publishing Ethics policy.

1. Research Involving Human Participants

Research involving human participants, human biological material, identifiable personal data, interviews, surveys, observations, recordings, or other sensitive information must be conducted in accordance with applicable ethical principles, laws, and institutional requirements.

Authors must obtain approval from an appropriate research ethics committee, institutional review board, or equivalent body before beginning the research when such approval is required.

Manuscripts reporting research involving human participants must include an Ethics Approval Statement in the Methods section or another appropriate section. The statement should include:

• The name of the approving ethics committee or institutional review board.

• The name of the institution.

• The approval or reference number, where available.

• The date of approval, where appropriate.

• A statement confirming that the study was conducted in accordance with applicable ethical standards.

Example:

Ethics Approval:
This study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of [Institution Name], [Country] (Approval No. [XXXX]). The study was conducted in accordance with applicable institutional and national ethical requirements.

If ethics approval was not required, authors must provide a clear justification in the manuscript.

Example:

Ethics Approval:
Ethics approval was not required for this study because [brief justification]. The study did not involve human participants, identifiable personal data, or interventions requiring ethical review.

2. Informed Consent to Participate

Informed consent must be obtained from all human participants when required by applicable ethical standards, laws, or institutional policies.

Consent must be voluntary, informed, and obtained before participation. Participants should receive clear information about the purpose of the research, the procedures involved, potential risks and benefits, confidentiality arrangements, data use, and their right to refuse participation or withdraw where applicable.

Authors must include a Consent to Participate Statement where informed consent is required.

Example:

Consent to Participate:
Written informed consent was obtained from all participants before participation in the study.

For research involving minors or individuals who cannot provide legally valid consent, consent must be obtained from a parent, legal guardian, or legally authorized representative, in accordance with applicable laws and ethics requirements. Assent should be obtained from the participant where appropriate.

3. Consent for Publication

Written consent for publication must be obtained when a manuscript includes potentially identifiable information about an individual, including case details, patient information, photographs, videos, audio recordings, personal narratives, quotations, demographic information, or other material through which a person may reasonably be identified.

Authors must ensure that consent for publication is specific, documented, and obtained before submission.

Example:

Consent for Publication:
Written informed consent for publication of the information and materials included in this manuscript was obtained from the participant(s) or their legally authorized representative(s).

Authors must not submit copies of consent forms unless specifically requested by the editorial office. Consent documentation should be retained securely by the authors and made available for editorial review if required.

4. Privacy, Confidentiality, and Data Protection

Authors must protect the privacy, dignity, confidentiality, and rights of all research participants.

Personal identifiers should be removed or anonymized wherever possible. Authors must avoid including names, initials, identification numbers, addresses, dates of birth, photographs, audio or video recordings, or other details that could identify individuals unless such information is essential to the research and written consent for publication has been obtained.

Authors must comply with applicable data-protection laws, institutional policies, and ethical requirements governing the collection, storage, use, sharing, transfer, and retention of personal data.

5. Research Involving Animals

Research involving live animals must be conducted in accordance with applicable institutional, national, and international standards for the care and use of animals in research.

Authors must obtain approval from the appropriate animal ethics committee, institutional animal care and use committee, or equivalent body before beginning the research where required.

Manuscripts reporting animal research must include:

• The name of the approving animal ethics committee or equivalent body.

• The name of the institution.

• The approval, license, protocol, or reference number, where available.

• A statement confirming compliance with applicable standards for animal care and use.

• Sufficient methodological information to allow readers to assess the ethical and scientific conduct of the research.

Authors are encouraged to follow the ARRIVE Guidelines when reporting animal research.

Example:

Animal Ethics Approval:
All animal procedures were approved by the [Name of Animal Ethics Committee], [Institution Name], [Country] (Protocol No. [XXXX]) and were conducted in accordance with applicable institutional and national guidelines for the care and use of laboratory animals.

If animal ethics approval was not required, authors must state the reason clearly.

6. Research Involving Vulnerable Groups

Research involving children, persons with impaired decision-making capacity, patients, displaced persons, refugees, prisoners, economically or socially disadvantaged persons, or other potentially vulnerable groups requires additional ethical safeguards.

Authors must explain how voluntary participation, informed consent, privacy, confidentiality, risk minimization, and fair treatment were ensured.

Where applicable, authors must obtain approval from an appropriate ethics committee and provide details in the manuscript.

7. Clinical Trials, Protocol Registration, and Reporting Guidelines

Authors of clinical trials, intervention studies, systematic reviews, protocols, or other research requiring registration should provide the relevant registration number and registry name in the manuscript, where applicable.

Authors should follow recognized reporting guidelines appropriate to their study design, where applicable. Examples include:

• CONSORT for randomized controlled trials.

• PRISMA for systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

• STROBE for observational studies.

• COREQ for qualitative research.

• ARRIVE for animal research.

• CARE for case reports.

The journal may request the original research protocol, ethics approval documentation, trial registration information, consent confirmation, or other supporting materials when necessary to assess ethical compliance.

8. Ethical Approval for Secondary Research and Public Data

Research based on publicly available, anonymized, de-identified, archival, administrative, or secondary data may not always require ethics approval. However, authors remain responsible for confirming whether approval, exemption, or permission was required under applicable institutional and legal requirements.

Authors must state clearly in the manuscript:

• The source of the data.

• Whether the data were publicly available, anonymized, or de-identified.

• Whether ethics approval, exemption, or permission was required.

• The basis for any exemption from ethics review.

• Any restrictions on data access, use, or sharing.

9. Misconduct and Ethical Concerns

AJSI takes allegations of unethical research seriously. Concerns may include missing ethics approval, lack of informed consent, inappropriate recruitment, misuse of personal data, failure to protect confidentiality, unethical animal research, falsified ethics statements, or any other breach of research integrity.

Where ethical concerns arise, the journal may:

• Request clarification or supporting documentation from the authors.

• Contact the relevant ethics committee, institution, funder, employer, or other responsible body where appropriate.

• Suspend review or publication while an investigation is conducted.

• Reject the manuscript.

• Publish a correction, expression of concern, or retraction after publication where necessary.

10. Contact

Questions concerning research ethics, ethics approval, informed consent, animal research, privacy, or confidentiality should be directed to:

Advanced Journal of Science and Innovation (AJSI)
Email: info.journal@ajsi.org
Website: www.ajsi.org