Research Ethics Policy

Quest Press Limited / Macau Sino-Foreign Medical Publishing Limited (MSFMP)

Preamble

Quest Press Limited / Macau Sino-Foreign Medical Publishing Limited (MSFMP) is committed to upholding the highest standards of research integrity and ethics across all published content in our interdisciplinary portfolio of journals. We endorse and expect adherence to internationally recognized ethical guidelines to protect the rights, safety, and welfare of human participants, animals, and the environment in all reported research. Manuscripts may be rejected on the basis of unethical research conduct.

1. Research Involving Human Participants

• Ethical Approval and Informed Consent: For any research involving human subjects (including surveys, interviews, observational studies, and clinical trials), the manuscript must include a clear statement detailing:

  • The name of the approving Ethics Committee or Institutional Review Board (IRB).

  • The approval number or ID provided by the committee.

  • A declaration that informed consent was obtained from all participants prior to their involvement. If informed consent was waived by the ethics committee, the specific reasons for the waiver must be provided.

  • A confirmation that the research was conducted in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki (latest revision, currently the 2013 Fortaleza version).

• Clinical Trial Registration:

  • In line with World Health Organization (WHO) and International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) recommendations, all clinical trials must be registered in a publicly accessible primary registry (e.g., ClinicalTrials.gov, WHO ICTRP) before the first participant is enrolled.

  • The manuscript must report the trial registration number and the name of the registry in the Abstract and/or Methods section.

• Patient and Participant Privacy:

  • Patient and participant confidentiality must be strictly protected.

  • Manuscripts containing photographs, videos, or case details that might allow identification of an individual must be accompanied by written, signed informed consent for publication from that individual (or their parent/legal guardian).

  • In photographs, identifying features (e.g., eyes, distinctive marks) must be obscured or pixelated unless explicit consent for showing such features has been obtained.

2. Research Involving Animals

• For all experimental studies involving vertebrate animals or higher-order invertebrates, authors must provide a clear statement in the manuscript confirming that:

  • The study received formal review and approval from an appropriate Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) or equivalent ethical review body.

  • All work was conducted under relevant project or personal licenses (e.g., as per the UK Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 or equivalent national legislation).

  • The research adhered to established national and institutional guidelines for the care and use of laboratory animals (e.g., the US National Research Council's Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, EU Directive 2010/63/EU).

• Studies should follow the principles of the 3Rs (Replacement, Reduction, Refinement) in the design and conduct of animal experiments.

3. Editorial Rights and Data Integrity

• The editorial office reserves the right to request additional documentation at any stage of the submission and review process, including but not limited to: full ethics approval letters, informed consent forms, clinical trial registration details, or raw data related to the experiments.

• Authors are responsible for retaining original data and consent forms for a minimum period (e.g., 5-10 years) after publication, as they may be requested for audit or verification purposes.

4. Reporting

Authors are encouraged to use appropriate reporting guidelines for their study type (e.g., CONSORT for trials, ARRIVE for animal studies, STROBE for observational studies). Adherence to these guidelines strengthens manuscript quality and ethical transparency.

5. Violations and Consequences

Allegations of ethical misconduct will be investigated in accordance with COPE guidelines. Manuscripts found to violate these ethical principles will be rejected. If an ethical violation is discovered after publication, the journal will take appropriate action, which may include issuing a correction or retracting the article.

Quest Press Limited
Macau Sino-Foreign Medical Publishing Limited (MSFMP)
November 20, 2025

研究伦理政策

Quest Press Limited / Macau Sino-Foreign Medical Publishing Limited (MSFMP)

前言

Quest Press Limited / Macau Sino-Foreign Medical Publishing Limited (MSFMP) 致力于在我们涵盖多学科的期刊中，对所有发表的内容维护最高的研究诚信与伦理标准。我们认可并要求所有报告的研究均遵循国际公认的伦理准则，以保护人类参与者、动物以及环境的权利、安全与福祉。稿件可能因不道德的研究行为而被拒稿。

1. 涉及人类参与者的研究

• 伦理批准与知情同意：对于任何涉及人类受试者的研究（包括调查、访谈、观察性研究和临床试验），稿件必须包含一份清晰的声明，详细说明：

  • 批准该研究的伦理委员会或机构审查委员会的名称。

  • 委员会提供的批准编号或ID。

  • 声明所有参与者在参与前均已获得知情同意。如果知情同意被伦理委员会豁免，必须提供豁免的具体理由。

  • 确认该研究遵循了《赫尔辛基宣言》 的原则（最新修订版，当前为2013年福塔莱萨版本）。

• 临床试验注册：

  • 根据世界卫生组织及国际医学期刊编辑委员会的建议，所有临床试验必须在首位受试者入组前于一个公开可访问的主要注册库中注册。

  • 稿件必须在摘要和/或方法部分报告临床试验注册号及注册库名称。

• 患者与参与者隐私：

  • 必须严格保护患者和参与者的机密性。

  • 包含可能识别个人身份的照片、视频或病例详情的稿件，必须附有该个人（或其父母/法定监护人）签署的、书面形式的发表知情同意书。

  • 在照片中，识别特征必须被遮蔽或像素化处理，除非已获得展示此类特征的明确同意。

2. 涉及动物的研究

• 对于所有涉及脊椎动物或高等无脊椎动物的实验研究，作者必须在稿件中提供清晰声明，确认：

  • 该研究已获得相应机构动物护理与使用委员会或同等伦理审查机构的正式审查与批准。

  • 所有工作均在相关项目或个人许可证下进行。

  • 该研究遵循了既定的国家和机构关于实验动物护理与使用的指南。

• 研究应在设计和实施动物实验时遵循3R原则。

3. 编辑权利与数据完整性

• 编辑部保留在投稿和评审过程的任何阶段要求提供补充文件的权利，包括但不限于：完整的伦理批准函、知情同意书、临床试验注册详情或与实验相关的原始数据。

• 作者有责任在发表后保留原始数据和同意书至少一段时间，以备审计或核查之需。

4. 报告规范

鼓励作者根据其研究类型使用适当的报告规范。遵循这些规范能增强稿件的质量和伦理透明度。

5. 违规与后果

对伦理不端行为的指控将依据COPE指南进行调查。被发现违反这些伦理原则的稿件将被拒稿。如果在发表后发现伦理违规行为，期刊将采取适当措施。

Quest Press Limited
Macau Sino-Foreign Medical Publishing Limited (MSFMP)
2025年11月20日