P-ISSN: 2664-9659
E-ISSN: 2664-9667
When reporting experiments on human subjects, authors must indicate whether the procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Declaration of Helsinki of 1975, as revised in 2013.
If any doubt exists about whether the research was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki, authors must explain the rationale for their approach and demonstrate that the institutional review body explicitly approved the doubtful aspects of the study.
Patients have a right to privacy that should not be violated without informed consent. Identifying information — including names, initials, hospital numbers, photographs, and genealogical data — should not be published in written descriptions, photographs, or pedigrees unless the information is essential for scientific purposes and the patient (or parent or guardian) gives written informed consent for publication.
Informed consent for publication requires that an identifiable patient be shown the manuscript to be published. Authors should disclose to these patients whether any potential identifiable material might be available via the internet as well as in print after publication. This is particularly important in HIV/AIDS research where disclosure of status could lead to stigmatization, discrimination, or even violence in some contexts.
Patient consent should be written and archived either with the journal, the authors, or both, as dictated by local regulations or laws. Since a journal that archives the consent will know the patient's identity, some journals may decide that patient confidentiality is better guarded by having the author archive the consent and instead providing the journal with a written statement that attests that they received and archived written patient consent.
Nonessential identifying details must be omitted from all submissions. Informed consent should be obtained if there is any doubt that anonymity can be maintained. It is important to note that masking the eye region in photographs of patients is generally inadequate protection of anonymity.
In HIV/AIDS research, authors must be especially vigilant about details that could identify participants, as this population is particularly vulnerable to harm from privacy breaches. Consider that combinations of demographic information, treatment history, and geographic location may be sufficient to identify individuals even without names.
When reporting experiments on animals, authors must indicate whether institutional and national standards for the care and use of laboratory animals were followed. All animal experiments should be in accordance with the ARRIVE guidelines and should be carried out in accordance with the U.K. Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act, 1986 and associated guidelines, EU Directive 2010/63/EU for animal experiments, or the National Institutes of Health guide for the care and use of Laboratory animals (NIH Publications No. 8023, revised 1978).
The International Journal of HIV and AIDS Sciences adheres strictly to its policy of human and animal rights protection in its publications. If the submitted manuscript is based on research involving human subjects or is a case report/case series involving patients, then it is mandatory to ensure the patient's consent has been obtained and that there is no issue of confidentiality. The journal requires documentary proof of ethics approval from a recognized ethics committee.
For any research or case report/case series intended for publication in International Journal of HIV and AIDS Sciences, it is mandatory to get prior consent from the patient or their kin for publication. Patients should be informed about the nature of the publication and the potential for their case to be accessed globally. Given the sensitive nature of HIV/AIDS, authors must take extra care to protect patient identities and prevent any possibility of stigmatization.
The International Journal of HIV and AIDS Sciences also requires that clinical research be registered at CTRI (Clinical Trials Registry - India) for Indian studies, or the appropriate national registry for studies conducted elsewhere, in compliance with ICMJE recommendations. Registration should occur before enrollment of the first participant.
The International Journal of HIV and AIDS Sciences maintains a clear policy on post-publication review. Readers are welcome to highlight concerns or errors regarding any article published in this journal. Research articles can be retracted at the discretion of the Editor-in-Chief if ethical misconduct is disclosed subsequent to publishing.
Retractions may be warranted upon disclosure of a major issue related to an article after publication. Expressions of concern may be published when there are serious questions about the integrity of a published work, pending further investigation. All such actions will be taken in accordance with COPE guidelines.
P-ISSN: 2664-9659
E-ISSN: 2664-9667
International Journal of HIV and AIDS Sciences
