Human and Animal Rights Policy

JCPL expects every study it publishes to have treated its human participants and animal subjects ethically, in line with internationally recognised standards.

Human Participants

Research involving people, including clinical studies, case reports and work using patient blood, tissue or genomic samples, must follow the ethical principles of the current revision of the Declaration of Helsinki. That means respecting participants' autonomy, privacy and dignity, and their right to leave a study at any time without penalty.

Some research involves people who face stigma, discrimination or legal risk because of their circumstances or identity, as well as children, adolescents and people living in poverty. Studies involving these groups need extra safeguards, particularly around confidentiality and consent, and our editors look at them with particular care.

The procedural requirements for documenting ethical approval and consent are set out in Ethical Approvals and Informed Consent.

Animal Subjects

Animal research must follow the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals and the applicable national and institutional welfare regulations.

We support the 3Rs and ask researchers to:

• Replace animal models with valid non-animal methods wherever possible
• Reduce the number of animals to the minimum needed for sound, reproducible results
• Refine procedures to minimise pain and distress

Enforcement

If a manuscript raises concerns about the treatment of human participants or animals, we will ask the authors to explain. It may be rejected, or retracted if the problem comes to light after publication, under the Misconduct and Sanctions policy.