5. Ethics

5.1 Ethics Statement

Authors are required to complete the Ethical Statement Form and upload it during the Attach/Upload Files step in the submission system. (NOTE: An ethical statement is mandatory for all submissions, regardless of whether the study involves animal or human research.)

5.2. If the study does not involve animals or humans

No ethical approval was required for this study as it did not involve human or animal subjects.

5.3. Research Involving Animals

For studies involving animal subjects, authors must provide a statement confirming that the research was reviewed and approved — or granted an exemption — by the relevant institutional or national ethics committee. Authors are strongly encouraged to follow the 3Rs principles (Replacement, Reduction, Refinement). Further information is available at: https://nc3rs.org.uk/who-we-are/3rs.

5.4. Research Involving Humans

For studies involving human participants, human-derived materials, or associated data, authors must ensure compliance with recognized ethical standards, such as the Declaration of Helsinki (https://www.wma.net/policies-post/wma-declaration-of-helsinki/), and confirm that appropriate ethical approval or exemption has been obtained.

An Ethical Statement must be included and should cover the following:

✔ Ethics Committee Approval

• State the full name of the Institutional Review Board (IRB) or relevant institutional/national ethics committee that approved the study.

• If the study was granted an exemption, provide official documentation from the ethics committee.

✔ Informed Consent

• Consent to participate: Confirm that informed consent was obtained from all participants involved in the study. (For participants under the age of 16, informed consent must be obtained from their legal guardians.)

• Consent to publish: Where applicable, confirm that participants provided consent for publication of identifiable images (e.g., “The authors affirm that human participants provided informed consent for publication of the images in Figure XXX.”).

For clinical studies or case reports, confirm that patients signed informed consent for the publication of their data and photographs.