Human & Animal Ethics Policy

1. Introduction

The Journal of Global Research in Multidisciplinary Studies (JGRMS) is committed to promoting ethical, responsible, and internationally accepted standards for research involving human participants, animals, biological materials, and sensitive data.

Authors submitting manuscripts involving human participants, animals, human tissues, biological samples, or identifiable personal information must ensure that their research has been conducted in accordance with applicable ethical principles, institutional requirements, and relevant national and international regulations.

Compliance with this policy is a condition of publication.

2. Scope

This policy applies to research involving:

  • Human participants
  • Human biological specimens
  • Human tissues
  • Personal or identifiable data
  • Medical records
  • Clinical investigations
  • Animals
  • Animal tissues or specimens
  • Laboratory animals
  • Wildlife studies
  • Veterinary research
  • Field research involving protected species

3. Human Research Ethics

Research involving human participants must:

  • Respect the dignity, rights, safety, and welfare of participants.
  • Be conducted according to internationally accepted ethical principles.
  • Receive approval from an appropriate Institutional Ethics Committee (IEC), Institutional Review Board (IRB), or equivalent ethics committee where required.
  • Comply with applicable institutional, national, and international regulations.

Authors should include an ethics statement in the manuscript describing the ethical review and approval process.

4. Ethics Approval

Where ethics approval is required, authors should include:

  • Name of the approving ethics committee.
  • Approval or protocol number (if applicable).
  • Date of approval (where appropriate).

Example:

Ethics Approval: This study was approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee of XYZ University (Approval No. IEC/2026/105).

If formal ethical approval was not required, authors should clearly explain the reason.

5. Informed Consent

For research involving human participants, authors must obtain informed consent where required.

Participants should be informed about:

  • The purpose of the research.
  • Potential risks and benefits.
  • Voluntary participation.
  • Their right to withdraw.
  • Protection of confidentiality.

Where applicable, manuscripts should include a statement confirming that informed consent was obtained.

Example:

Informed Consent: Written informed consent was obtained from all participants before their inclusion in the study.

6. Privacy and Confidentiality

Authors must protect the privacy and confidentiality of research participants.

Manuscripts should not include information that could identify participants unless:

  • Explicit written consent has been obtained, and
  • Publication of the identifying information is scientifically justified.

Authors should remove or anonymize personal identifiers wherever possible.

7. Vulnerable Populations

Research involving vulnerable individuals or groups—including children, older adults, individuals with impaired decision-making capacity, or other protected populations—should include appropriate safeguards.

Authors should explain how consent or assent was obtained and how participants' rights and welfare were protected.

8. Animal Research

Research involving animals should:

  • Be scientifically justified.
  • Minimize pain, suffering, and distress.
  • Use appropriate housing and veterinary care.
  • Follow applicable institutional and national animal welfare regulations.
  • Receive approval from the relevant Animal Ethics Committee where required.

Authors should include an animal ethics statement in the manuscript.

9. Animal Welfare

Authors are encouraged to apply the principles of the 3Rs:

  • Replacement – Use alternatives to animals whenever feasible.
  • Reduction – Use the minimum number of animals necessary to achieve valid scientific results.
  • Refinement – Improve procedures to minimize pain, suffering, and distress.

Animal welfare should be considered throughout the research process.

10. Field Studies

Research involving wildlife, endangered species, protected habitats, or environmental sampling should comply with:

  • Applicable legal requirements.
  • Institutional approvals.
  • Conservation regulations.
  • Required collection permits.

Authors should provide permit numbers or approval details where applicable.

11. Clinical Studies

Clinical research should comply with applicable ethical and regulatory requirements.

Where appropriate, authors should report:

  • Ethics approval details.
  • Informed consent procedures.
  • Clinical trial registration number (if applicable).

12. Biological Materials

Research involving human tissues, biological samples, or genetic materials should comply with applicable ethical and legal requirements.

Authors should confirm that:

  • Appropriate approvals were obtained.
  • Participants provided consent where required.
  • Applicable regulations were followed.

13. Artificial Intelligence and Human Data

When Artificial Intelligence (AI) is used to analyze human data, authors remain responsible for:

  • Protecting participant privacy.
  • Ensuring data confidentiality.
  • Complying with applicable ethical requirements.
  • Preventing unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information.

The use of AI does not reduce authors' ethical responsibilities.

14. Responsibilities of Authors

Authors are responsible for:

  • Obtaining all required ethical approvals before beginning the research.
  • Obtaining informed consent where required.
  • Providing accurate ethics statements in the manuscript.
  • Protecting participant confidentiality.
  • Maintaining records of approvals and consent documentation.
  • Cooperating with editorial requests for additional information.

The journal may request copies of ethics approval documents during editorial review.

15. Editorial Review

Editors may request additional documentation, including:

  • Ethics approval letters.
  • Consent documentation.
  • Animal ethics approvals.
  • Clinical trial registration information.
  • Permits for field studies.

Failure to provide satisfactory documentation may result in rejection of the manuscript.

16. Research Misconduct

Failure to obtain required ethical approval, falsification of ethics information, or failure to obtain informed consent may constitute research misconduct.

Such cases will be handled in accordance with the journal's:

  • Publication Ethics & Malpractice Statement
  • Research Misconduct Policy
  • Retraction Policy

17. Exceptions

Certain types of research (such as systematic reviews, literature reviews, meta-analyses, editorials, or theoretical papers) may not require ethics committee approval.

Authors should state this clearly where applicable.

Example:

Ethics Statement: Ethical approval was not required for this study because it is based solely on publicly available literature.

18. Policy Review

This Human & Animal Ethics Policy will be reviewed periodically to ensure consistency with evolving ethical standards, regulatory requirements, and best practices in scholarly publishing.

Recommended Ethics Statements

Human Research

Ethics Approval: The study was approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee of [Institution Name] (Approval No. XXXX).

Informed Consent: Written informed consent was obtained from all participants prior to participation.

Animal Research

Animal Ethics: All animal procedures were approved by the Institutional Animal Ethics Committee of [Institution Name] (Approval No. XXXX) and conducted in accordance with applicable institutional and national guidelines.

Studies Not Requiring Approval

Ethics Statement: Ethical approval was not required because this study involved only publicly available information and did not involve human participants or animals.

Contact

Questions regarding ethical approval, informed consent, or animal welfare should be directed to the Editorial Office using the official contact information available on the journal website.