Ethical Oversight

1. Introduction

The International Journal of Advanced Science Computing and Engineering (IJASCE) is committed to the ethical conduct and reporting of research. Research submitted to the journal must respect the rights, dignity, safety, privacy, confidentiality, and welfare of human participants and must comply with appropriate standards for animal research, responsible use of sensitive information, and other forms of ethical oversight applicable to the study.

This policy implements the COPE Core Practice on Ethical Oversight and is informed by the COPE Ethics Toolkit for a Successful Editorial Office, relevant COPE guidance concerning informed consent, consent for publication, vulnerable populations, confidential information, research integrity, and cooperation between journals and research institutions. Relevant international, national, institutional, and disciplinary ethical standards also apply where appropriate.

IJASCE recognizes that ethical requirements depend on the nature of the research, applicable jurisdiction, institutional requirements, study population, data involved, and disciplinary norms. The journal therefore does not apply a single ethics-review requirement mechanically to every study. Authors must accurately explain the ethical oversight applicable to their research.

2. Scope

This policy applies, where relevant, to research involving:

• human participants;

• human-subject experiments, surveys, interviews, usability studies, behavioral studies, or human–computer interaction research;

• personal, health, biometric, behavioral, location, educational, employment, or other identifiable human data;

• human biological materials;

• secondary datasets containing information about individuals;

• vulnerable individuals or populations;

• animals used in research;

• confidential, proprietary, restricted, or security-sensitive information;

• images, recordings, case descriptions, or other material from which an individual may be identifiable;

• research requiring institutional, regulatory, or other ethical authorization; and

• other circumstances in which publication could create a material ethical risk to individuals, communities, organizations, or research subjects.

The policy applies to authors, editors, reviewers, and journal personnel involved in assessing or publishing such research.

3. General Ethical Requirements

Authors must conduct and report research in accordance with applicable ethical, legal, regulatory, institutional, and professional requirements.

Where ethical review is required, approval must normally be obtained before the relevant research activities begin. Retrospective approval does not ordinarily substitute for prospective ethical review where prior approval was required.

Manuscripts must include sufficient information for editors and readers to understand the ethical oversight applicable to the study. Where relevant, this includes:

• the name of the ethics committee, Institutional Review Board, Research Ethics Committee, animal ethics committee, or other approving body;

• the approval or protocol number where one was issued;

• the date or status of approval where relevant;

• the basis for exemption or waiver where formal approval was not required;

• how informed consent was obtained or why it was waived;

• whether consent for publication was required and obtained;

• how privacy, confidentiality, and sensitive information were protected; and

• other safeguards relevant to the study population or research design.

4. Research Involving Human Participants

Research involving human participants must receive review and approval from an appropriately constituted ethics committee or other competent oversight body when such review is required by applicable institutional, disciplinary, or legal standards.

Where a study is exempt from formal ethics review, does not require such review, or qualifies for a waiver, authors must state this clearly and should identify the basis for that determination. Where applicable, the determination should be made or confirmed by an appropriate institutional or ethics authority rather than solely by the authors.

Examples of research within IJASCE's scope that may require human-subject ethical oversight include:

• user-experience or usability experiments;

• human–computer interaction studies;

• experiments measuring human performance or behavior;

• surveys, interviews, or questionnaires;

• research involving biometric or physiological measurements;

• research involving health, educational, workplace, or behavioral data;

• AI or machine-learning studies using identifiable or sensitive human data; and

• other research involving interaction with or information about identifiable individuals.

5. Informed Consent for Participation

Where informed consent for research participation is required, authors must ensure that consent was obtained in accordance with the applicable ethical approval, research protocol, institutional requirements, and law.

Consent procedures should be appropriate to the research population, level of risk, type of data collected, and method of participation.

Where written consent was not required or another form of consent was approved, such as oral or electronic consent, the manuscript should accurately describe the approved procedure where relevant.

Where informed consent was waived, authors must state the basis for the waiver and, where applicable, identify the authority that granted or confirmed it.

A waiver of informed consent must not be represented as equivalent to obtaining consent.

6. Consent for Publication

Consent for research participation and consent for publication are distinct requirements. Consent to participate in a study does not necessarily authorize publication of identifiable information about an individual.

When a manuscript contains information from which an individual could reasonably be identified, appropriate consent for publication must be obtained where required.

Potentially identifying material may include:

• photographs or video images;

• audio recordings;

• screenshots containing identifiable information;

• detailed personal histories;

• medical, biometric, or genetic information;

• distinctive combinations of demographic or contextual information; or

• other material that could permit direct or indirect identification.

Removal of names alone does not necessarily make information anonymous. Authors must consider whether individuals could be identified through combinations of contextual information.

Where consent for publication is required, authors should retain appropriate consent documentation. Authors should not routinely upload signed forms containing confidential personal information to the journal's submission system. IJASCE may request confirmation that valid consent exists or other appropriate documentation when necessary to assess an ethical concern.

7. Research Involving Vulnerable Populations

Research involving individuals or communities who may have increased vulnerability requires particular ethical consideration and appropriate safeguards.

Vulnerability is context-dependent and should not be assumed solely from a demographic characteristic. Relevant circumstances may include:

• minor age;

• impaired or limited decision-making capacity;

• dependency relationships;

• economic or social disadvantage;

• institutionalization;

• displacement or humanitarian crisis;

• significant power imbalance;

• risk of stigmatization or discrimination; or

• other circumstances that may limit meaningful voluntary participation or increase the potential consequences of disclosure.

Authors must explain relevant safeguards where vulnerability materially affects the ethical design of the study.

For minors or individuals unable to provide legally valid consent, appropriate permission from a parent, guardian, or legally authorized representative must be obtained where required. Assent from the participant should also be obtained where appropriate to the participant's capacity and applicable ethical requirements.

8. Research Involving Animals

Research involving animals must comply with applicable institutional, national, and disciplinary requirements governing animal welfare and ethical research.

Where approval by an animal ethics committee or equivalent body is required, the manuscript must identify:

• the approving committee or authority;

• the approval or protocol number where available; and

• relevant standards or regulations under which the research was conducted.

Authors should provide sufficient methodological information concerning animal procedures and welfare to permit appropriate ethical and scientific assessment.

Where applicable to the study design and disciplinary practice, authors should follow an appropriate animal-research reporting guideline such as ARRIVE or another recognized standard.

9. Privacy, Confidentiality, and Personal Data

Authors are responsible for protecting personal and confidential information used in research and publication.

Research involving personal data must comply with the laws, regulations, ethical approvals, contractual requirements, and institutional policies that apply to the research and the data concerned.

IJASCE does not treat any single data-protection framework, such as the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), as universally applicable to all submissions. Authors must comply with the framework applicable to their jurisdiction, participants, institution, and data processing activities.

Appropriate safeguards may include:

• data minimization;

• de-identification or pseudonymization;

• appropriate access controls;

• secure storage and transmission;

• controlled-access arrangements;

• restrictions on secondary use;

• appropriate retention and disposal practices; and

• other safeguards required by the applicable ethics approval or legal framework.

Authors must not claim that data are fully anonymous when there remains a meaningful risk of re-identification.

10. Confidential, Proprietary, and Restricted Data

Research may involve data that cannot be publicly disclosed because of confidentiality, intellectual property, commercial agreements, security considerations, contractual obligations, participant protection, or other legitimate restrictions.

Such restrictions do not automatically make the research unsuitable for publication. Authors must disclose relevant restrictions transparently and explain them in the Data Availability Statement where applicable.

Authors must not disclose proprietary or confidential information without appropriate authorization.

Where restrictions prevent editors or reviewers from obtaining information necessary to evaluate important claims, IJASCE may request an alternative method of verification or may determine that the available evidence is insufficient for publication.

Further requirements are described in the IJASCE Data and Reproducibility Policy.

11. Secondary, Public, and Previously Collected Data

The fact that data already exist or can be accessed online does not automatically establish that their use is ethically unrestricted.

Authors using secondary or previously collected data must consider:

• the conditions under which the data were originally collected;

• applicable consent or authorization;

• the terms of the data license or data-use agreement;

• privacy and confidentiality expectations;

• risk of re-identification;

• whether additional institutional or ethics review is required; and

• any restrictions on publication or redistribution.

Where publicly accessible data are used, authors remain responsible for complying with applicable ethical, legal, and licensing requirements.

12. Study Registration and Protocol Transparency

Where prospective registration, protocol registration, or another form of study registration is established practice or required for the relevant study design, authors must provide the applicable registration information.

Authors should disclose material deviations from an approved or registered protocol when such deviations are relevant to interpretation of the research.

IJASCE does not impose clinical-trial registration requirements on research designs to which those requirements do not apply.

13. Ethical Approval Statements

Where ethical review applies, manuscripts should include an appropriate Ethics Statement. Depending on the study, the statement should indicate:

• whether ethical approval was obtained;

• the name of the approving authority;

• the approval number or reference where available;

• whether informed consent for participation was required and obtained;

• whether consent was waived and on what basis;

• whether consent for publication was required and obtained;

• any relevant registration information; and

• other material ethical safeguards relevant to the study.

Where ethics approval was not required, authors should provide a concise statement explaining why where an ethics question could reasonably arise from the study design.

14. Supporting Documentation

IJASCE may request information or documentation reasonably necessary to verify an ethics statement or address a credible ethical concern.

Such material may include:

• an ethics approval letter or relevant portion of it;

• evidence of exemption or waiver;

• a blank participant information or consent form;

• a study registration record;

• documentation concerning authorization to use restricted data; or

• other information relevant to the ethical concern.

The journal will seek to avoid unnecessary collection of confidential participant information. Authors should redact personal information from supporting documents where appropriate and legally permissible.

15. Responsibilities

Authors are responsible for obtaining required ethical approval or exemption, conducting research in accordance with the approved procedures and applicable requirements, obtaining appropriate consent, protecting participant privacy and confidential information, and accurately reporting ethical oversight in the manuscript.

Reviewers should consider whether the research raises material ethical concerns and should confidentially notify the editor when they identify a potential problem. Reviewers should not independently contact research participants, ethics committees, or authors concerning such allegations.

Editors are responsible for assessing whether appropriate ethical information has been provided and for seeking clarification when credible concerns arise. Editors must not represent themselves as institutional research-misconduct investigators when a matter requires formal investigation beyond the journal's authority.

The journal may request appropriate documentation, seek independent expert advice, suspend editorial consideration while a serious concern is assessed, reject work that does not meet applicable ethical standards, or refer a matter to an appropriate institution or competent authority when necessary.

16. Ethical Concerns Identified Before Publication

When a potential ethical problem is identified before publication, IJASCE will conduct an editorial assessment and may request clarification or supporting documentation from the authors.

Depending on the circumstances, IJASCE may:

• request correction or clarification of the Ethics Statement;

• request evidence of approval, exemption, consent, registration, or authorization;

• seek appropriate independent ethical or methodological advice;

• suspend editorial processing while the concern is assessed;

• reject the manuscript when required ethical standards have not been satisfied or the concern cannot be adequately resolved; or

• refer a serious matter requiring formal investigation to the relevant institution or other competent authority.

IJASCE will distinguish between an incomplete ethical declaration, an honest reporting error, disagreement about applicable ethical requirements, and evidence suggesting a serious research-integrity breach.

17. Ethical Concerns Identified After Publication

When an ethical concern is identified after publication, IJASCE will assess its effect on participant protection, research integrity, and the reliability of the published record.

Depending on the evidence, appropriate action may include:

• taking no further action where the concern is not substantiated;

• publishing a correction where an ethics statement or related disclosure requires amendment but the article remains reliable;

• publishing an expression of concern when substantial unresolved issues require readers to be alerted;

• contacting the relevant institution or competent authority where formal investigation is necessary; or

• retracting the article when a serious ethical problem renders the research or its publication unreliable, invalid, or fundamentally unacceptable under applicable standards.

The absence of an ethics approval statement in a published article does not automatically establish that research was conducted without appropriate oversight. Conversely, a statement claiming ethics approval does not prevent further assessment when credible evidence raises doubt about that claim.

Post-publication action is intended to protect participants and maintain an accurate scholarly record rather than to punish authors.

18. Relationship to Research Misconduct

Not every ethical concern constitutes research misconduct. Some matters may result from genuine error, uncertainty concerning applicable requirements, or incomplete reporting.

Potential fabrication of ethical approval, deliberate misrepresentation of consent, intentional concealment of serious ethical violations, or other substantial integrity concerns will be handled under the IJASCE Allegations of Misconduct Policy.

Where a formal investigation of researcher conduct is required, IJASCE may refer the matter to the author's institution, employer, research integrity office, ethics authority, funder, or other competent body. The journal remains responsible for any editorial action necessary to protect or correct the scholarly record.

19. Related Policies and References

• COPE Core Practice — Ethical Oversight

• COPE Ethics Toolkit for a Successful Editorial Office

• COPE guidance and flowcharts concerning ethical oversight and research integrity

• COPE Guidelines on Cooperation Between Research Institutions and Journals on Research Integrity and Publication Misconduct Cases

• COPE guidance on consent for publication where identifiable individual information is reported

• Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing, developed by COPE, DOAJ, OASPA, and WAME

• relevant international, national, institutional, and disciplinary ethical standards applicable to the reported research

• IJASCE Allegations of Misconduct Policy

• IJASCE Data and Reproducibility Policy

• IJASCE Conflicts of Interest / Competing Interests Policy

• IJASCE Post-Publication Discussion and Corrections Policy

20. Review and Updates

This policy was reviewed in September 2026. IJASCE will review and update the policy periodically in response to developments in COPE guidance, research ethics standards, data-protection requirements, disciplinary practices, and applicable legal or regulatory requirements.