Research Ethics Guidelines

Manuscripts submitted to Ant journals should follow the guidelines listed below. Editors will check each manuscript. Lack of the following statement or failure to meet the requirements may result in rejection. Even after publication, any concerns associated with ethics are still subjects to further investigation and action.

Research Involving Human Subjects

Research involving human subjects, human material, human tissues or human data should comply with the Declaration of Helsinki. Prior to initializing research, an appropriate approval, licensing or registration must be obtained from an institutional review board or equivalent ethics committee(s).

Ant journals require authors to include a section (Ethics Statement), describing how the ethical principles were considered when the experiment was designed and ensured when conducted. The description should contain, at least:

  • The name of the ethics committee;
  • The approval identification code;
  • The date of approval;
  • The national legislation followed.

Relevant documents showing that research received the appropriate approval and was carried out ethically should be provided if requested by the editors.

Identifying information of participants should not be shared or disclosed unless strictly necessary for the submission. Written consent for the use of that information should be obtained from participants in that case.

Research Involving Animal Subjects

If there were animals used in an experiment, the authors are required to comply with the internationally-accepted "3Rs" principles and get approval first from the ethics committee in their institutes.

"3Rs" principles are summarized below:

  • Replacement of animals by alternatives wherever possible;
  • Reduction in number of animals used;
  • Refinement of experimental conditions and procedures to minimize the harm to animals.

Ant journals require authors to include a section (Ethics Statement), describing how ethical principles were considered when the experiment was designed and ensured when conducted. The description should contain, at least:

  • The name of the ethics committee;
  • The approval identification code;
  • The date of approval;
  • The national legislation followed.

Ant journals endorse the NC3Rs ARRIVE Guidelines (Animal Research: Reporting of In Vivo Experiments). Authors and reviewers are strongly recommended to use the ARRIVE Guidelines Checklist.

Research Involving Plant Subjects

Experimental research using plants (either cultivated or wild) including collection of plant material, must comply with institutional, national, or international guidelines. Ant journals recommend the Convention on the Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

Voucher specimens must be deposited in a public herbarium or other public collection providing access to deposited material. Ant journals ask authors to include a section (Ethics Statement), detailing the populations sampled on the site of collection (GPS coordinates), date of collection, and document the part(s) used in the study where appropriate.

Research Involving Cell Lines

Authors must describe what cell lines were used and their origin so that the research can be reproduced.

For de novo cell lines derived from human tissue, an appropriate approval from an institutional review board or equivalent ethics committee and consent from the donor or next of kin should be obtained.

Clinical Trials Registration

Authors are strongly encouraged to register their clinical trials in suitable publicly available databases, including those listed on the ICMJE website, as well as any of the primary registries that participate in the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform or ClinicalTrials.gov.

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