Policy on Research Ethics
The following essential practices are established to ensure that the Journal of Nutrition and Dietetics publishes ethical and responsible research.
A. Animals in Research
- Ethical and legal approval shall be obtained before the start of the study, with the approving body clearly stated, and a copy of the approval attached during initial submission.
- Research involving animals shall be conducted with the same rigor as human research. Authors shall implement the 3Rs principles:
- Replacement: Approaches that avoid or replace the use of animals.
- Reduction: Methods that minimize the number of animals used.
- Refinement: Methods that minimize animal suffering and improve welfare.
- Authors shall adhere to animal research reporting standards, following the ARRIVE reporting guidelines, including:
- Study design and statistical analysis.
- Experimental procedures.
- Experimental animals.
- Housing and husbandry.
B. Human Studies and Subjects
- Manuscripts reporting studies involving human participants must confirm that ethical approval has been received, specifying the approving ethics committee and adherence to the Declaration of Helsinki.
- The journal shall only publish original research in which authors obtained prior consent from all participants before data collection.
- If manuscripts contain information that may identify individuals, consent to publish from the participants must be obtained.
- Bias Language: Research including human participants must detail the study population using bias-free language. When reporting qualitative data (e.g., direct quotes), authors should avoid derogatory demographic descriptors unless essential to the research.
- Clinical Trials: Clinical trials must be registered prospectively before enrolling participants and follow CONSORT (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials) guidelines. Registration numbers shall be included in all papers reporting their results.
