Ethical Approvals and Informed Consent

JESFT holds research involving people and animals to high ethical standards. This page sets out exactly what authors need to confirm and include. It applies whenever engineering research involves human participants, personal data or animals, for example user studies, ergonomics or biomedical device testing.

Research Involving People

For any study involving human participants, authors must confirm that:

• The study followed the ethical principles of the current revision of the Declaration of Helsinki
• It was approved by an appropriate institutional review board or independent ethics committee, named in the manuscript together with the approval reference number
• Informed consent was obtained from every participant, or from a parent, guardian or legal representative, including specific consent for publication where identifiable details or images appear
• Participants' confidentiality and privacy were protected throughout

Research Involving Animals

For animal studies, authors must confirm that:

• The work followed institutional, national or international animal welfare guidelines, such as the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals
• It was approved by an institutional animal care and use committee or equivalent body, with the approval reference given in the manuscript
• Every reasonable step was taken to minimise suffering and use the fewest animals needed for valid results

Non-Compliance

Manuscripts missing the required ethics and consent statements are returned to the authors before peer review. JESFT may reject or retract an article at any stage if serious ethical concerns about human or animal research come to light, in line with COPE guidance.