Ethics Policy

Human Subjects & Clinical Research Policy

SIARE (Society of Integrated Academic Research and Education) is committed to ensuring that all research involving human participants is conducted ethically, responsibly, and in accordance with internationally recognized standards.

This policy applies to all submissions to AcademicProceeding.org involving human participants, clinical data, personal data, or sensitive information.

Based on COPE, Declaration of Helsinki, ICMJE, CONSORT

Ethics Approval

Mandatory institutional or IRB approval for human research.

Informed Consent

Participants must provide informed and voluntary consent.

Participant Protection

Rights, dignity, and privacy must be safeguarded.

Transparency

Clear reporting of ethics approvals and procedures.

1. Scope of the Policy

This policy applies to all research involving human participants, including but not limited to:

  • Clinical trials and medical research
  • Behavioral, psychological, and social research
  • Survey-based and interview-based studies
  • Use of personal, identifiable, or sensitive data
  • Secondary data involving human subjects

2. Ethics Approval Requirement

Research involving human participants must be reviewed and approved by an appropriate ethics committee, institutional review board (IRB), or equivalent authority prior to study initiation.

  • Name of approving institution must be stated
  • Approval/reference number should be provided
  • Date of approval must be included
  • Compliance with national/international regulations must be confirmed
Submissions lacking appropriate ethical approval may be rejected or returned for clarification.

3. Informed Consent

Authors must confirm that informed consent was obtained from all participants prior to inclusion in the study.

  • Consent must be voluntary, informed, and documented
  • Participants must understand purpose, risks, and benefits
  • Consent must be obtained for publication of identifiable data
For vulnerable populations (e.g., minors), consent must be obtained from legal guardians.

4. Privacy and Confidentiality

Researchers must ensure the confidentiality and privacy of participants are protected.

  • Personal identifiers must be removed or anonymized
  • Data must be handled securely and responsibly
  • Use of identifiable images or data requires explicit consent

Authors must comply with applicable data protection regulations (e.g., GDPR where applicable).

5. Clinical Trials and Registration

Clinical trials must be registered in a publicly accessible registry before participant enrollment.

  • Trial registration number must be provided
  • Registry must be recognized (e.g., ClinicalTrials.gov)
  • Protocol transparency is encouraged

6. Reporting Standards

Authors should follow recognized reporting guidelines depending on study type:

Authors are strongly encouraged to follow the appropriate reporting guideline relevant to their study design to ensure transparency, completeness, and reproducibility of research.

7. Research Involving Vulnerable Populations

Special care must be taken when research involves vulnerable groups:

  • Children and minors
  • Patients with limited capacity
  • Economically or socially disadvantaged groups

Additional safeguards and ethical justification must be clearly described.

8. Ethical Violations

The following practices are considered serious violations:

  • Lack of ethics approval
  • Failure to obtain informed consent
  • Misuse of participant data
  • Fabrication or falsification of clinical data

Suspected violations will be handled under the Handling Misconduct Policy.

9. Proceeding-Specific Requirements

Individual SIARE proceedings may define additional subject-specific ethical requirements.

Authors must also review the Publication Ethics & Integrity page of the specific proceeding before submission.

10. International Guidelines

This policy aligns with:

Contact

For queries related to human research ethics:

[email protected]
[email protected]