All research projects directly or indirectly involving human beings should be submitted for appraisal of the Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC). The authors must send the project via PlataformaBrasil.
The Informed Consent Form (ICF) must be signed by the patient, and their decision to participate in the study in a fair manner, without embarrassment, will be informed and documented. All efforts should be made to protect privacy and anonymity of patients. The information regarding identification, including photos, should not be included in the manuscript.
It is mandatory to indicate the number of the Certificate of Presentation for Ethical Consideration (CAAE, acronym in Portuguese) of Plataforma Brasil in Original Articles and Case Reports conducted in Brazil, according to memos of the National Commission for Research Ethics (Conep). Articles without CAAE number will not be published.
The policy for registration of clinical studies of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE)requires the record of all prospective clinical trials. The manuscripts will only be accepted for publication if they have received an identification number from one of Clinical Trial Registries validated by the World Health Organization (WHO) and by the ICMJE; their addresses are available at the website of the latter, such as, www.ensaiosclinicos.gov.br or www.clinicaltrials.gov. The identification number should be included at the end of the abstract.
In experimental projects involving animals, the rules to be complied with are established by the Guide for theCare and Use of Laboratory Animals (Institute of Laboratory Animal Resources, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC, United States), of 1996, and by the Ethical Principles in Animal Experimentation (Colégio Brasileiro de Experimentação Animal – COBEA) of 1991.
The manuscripts should be in conformity with the following guidelines for generation of reports:
- CONSORT (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials).
- STARD (Standards for Reporting Diagnostic Accuracy Studies).
- PRISMA (Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses).
- STROBE (Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology).
Other decisions relative to ethics, misconduct, and integrity of scientific research are based on the orientations of the Code of Conduct for Journal Editors (COPE) and of the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME).
Plagiarism and misconduct
Regarding the policy of protection and intellectual property, the journal adopts specific procedures to combat the practice of plagiarism in publications. If a reviewer or editor suspects there was plagiarism, the article is submitted to a review using the iThenticate software. Next, the case is taken up for debate with the associate editors, for consensus decision making.