Ethical considerations
Our policy is to guarantee all papers published in GRP inform about research that is morally acceptable and that authors follow the Helsinki Declaration of the World Medical Association. To achieve this, we aim at evaluating the ethical aspects of any paper sent that involves human participants, independently of the description tags of said work, including research, auditing and, at times, the debate.
Among the cases seen every year by the Publications Ethics Committee (COPE, in Spanish), the worst constitute fraud, plagiarism, redundant publications and undeclared conflicts of interests. However, the most common are, by far, conflicts of interest among authors.
We require that each research paper submitted includes a statement that the study obtained ethical approval (or a statement that said approval was not necessary and why), including the name(s) of the ethics committee(s) or institutional review board(s), the number/identification of approval(s) and a statement of informed consent by participants prior to their participation.
Furthermore, we request detailed explanations of how researchers and authors have considered and justified the ethical and moral aspects of their work. If these details are not clearly stated in the draft, please explain in a cover letter, or upload it as a complementary file when submitting your paper. We would also be glad to see copies of the explanatory information provided to participants. Even if detailed information is not included in a final published version, we may make it available for reviewers and editorial committees.
Papers will be considered for publication only if they follow these guidelines:
- They comply with international, national, and institutional guidelines for the human treatment of animals and fulfill relevant legislation.
- They have been approved by the ethical review committee of the institution or the practice in which studies were performed (if applicable).
- Studies involving non-human primates should prove standards meet standards for primates.
- For studies on animals owned by the client, the study proves a high standard (better practices) of veterinary care and involves the client’s informed consent.
Prior to the paper being accepted, authors shall:
- Confirm that all legal and ethical conditions regarding human treatment of animals described in the study have been fulfilled.
- The approval process of the ethical review committee and the international, national, or institutional guidelines followed should be specified in the Materials or Methods section of the paper.
