Editorial Policy

Editorial Policies

The Journal of Experimental and Clinical Anatomy (JECA) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of integrity, transparency, ethical conduct, and scholarly quality in research and publication. Authors, reviewers, editors, and the publisher are expected to adhere to internationally recognized standards of good publication practice.

JECA’s editorial policies are informed by the guidance of the following organizations and initiatives, as applicable:

1. Ethics Approval

All research involving human participants, human tissue, human materials, or human data must have been conducted in accordance with the ethical principles of the Declaration of Helsinki and must have received approval from an appropriate Institutional Ethics Committee (IEC), Institutional Review Board (IRB), or equivalent review body, where such approval is required.

A manuscript reporting such research must include a clear ethics statement specifying:

  • the name of the approving ethics committee or review board;
  • the approval or reference number, where available; and
  • confirmation that approval was obtained before the study commenced.

Where a study was exempt from ethics approval, the manuscript must state:

  • that an exemption was granted;
  • the name of the body granting the exemption; and
  • the reason or basis for the exemption, where appropriate.

The corresponding author must be prepared to provide additional documentation on request. JECA reserves the right to contact the relevant ethics committee or institution where clarification is needed.

The journal may reject a manuscript if the Editor considers that the research was not conducted within an appropriate ethical framework.

2. Informed Consent

For all research involving human participants, informed consent to participate must have been obtained from participants, or from a parent or legal guardian where applicable under relevant law and ethical standards.

A statement confirming informed consent must appear in the manuscript.

Where consent was verbal rather than written, or where a waiver of consent was granted, the manuscript must explain the reason and state that the procedure was approved by the appropriate ethics committee.

For manuscripts containing identifiable personal information, images, videos, or case details, authors must also obtain consent for publication from the participant or appropriate legal representative.

The Editor may request supporting documentation, including redacted sample consent forms, where necessary.

3. Non-Experimental Studies Involving Humans

Field studies, surveys, observational studies, qualitative research, and other non-interventional research involving human participants or human data must also comply with applicable institutional, national, and international ethical requirements.

Where required, such studies must have been approved by an appropriate ethics committee, and the manuscript must include a statement describing this approval or explaining why it was not required.

4. Animal Studies

Research involving vertebrate animals, cephalopods, or other regulated animals must comply with applicable institutional, national, and international regulations and accepted standards of animal welfare.

Where required, the research must have been approved by an appropriate Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) or equivalent ethics committee.

A manuscript reporting animal research must include:

  • the name of the approving ethics committee;
  • the approval or protocol number, where available; and
  • a statement confirming compliance with relevant animal care and welfare guidelines.

Where ethics approval was not required, the manuscript must explain the basis for the exemption.

For studies involving client-owned animals, authors should confirm that informed owner consent was obtained and that the work was conducted in accordance with accepted veterinary standards.

Field studies and other non-experimental research involving animals must also comply with relevant legal and ethical requirements, including permissions or licenses where applicable.

5. Research Involving Plants

Research involving plants must be conducted in accordance with institutional, national, and international regulations and best practice.

Where relevant, manuscripts should include:

  • details of permits, permissions, or licenses obtained for collection or study;
  • confirmation of compliance with local legislation and institutional requirements;
  • information on voucher specimens, including the repository and accession details where applicable;
  • identification details, including who identified the plant material.

Authors should also comply with relevant international frameworks, including the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and CITES, where applicable.

6. Clinical Trial Registration

JECA supports prospective registration of clinical trials in publicly accessible trial registries.

In line with ICMJE recommendations, all clinical trials reported in manuscripts submitted to JECA must be registered in a suitable public registry.

For the purposes of this policy, JECA adopts the WHO/ICMJE definition of a clinical trial.

The manuscript must include:

  • the trial registration number (TRN);
  • the name of the registry; and
  • the date of registration.

This information should be included in the abstract and/or methods section in accordance with journal instructions.

Where a trial was registered retrospectively, this should be stated clearly.

7. Registration of Systematic Reviews

JECA encourages the prospective registration of systematic reviews, where appropriate, in a suitable public registry such as PROSPERO.

Where a systematic review has been registered, the registration number should be included in the manuscript.

8. Data Availability and Materials Sharing

JECA supports transparency, reproducibility, and responsible sharing of research data and materials.

All submitted manuscripts must include a Data Availability Statement. Manuscripts reporting clinical trial results must include a Data Sharing Statement in accordance with JECA’s Data Sharing Policy and ICMJE recommendations.

Authors are encouraged to make all data underlying the findings of the study available, subject to ethical, legal, institutional, and confidentiality considerations.

Where datasets are deposited in a public repository, the manuscript should provide the repository name and the relevant accession number, DOI, or persistent link.

Where data cannot be shared publicly, authors should explain the reason.

Authors are also encouraged to make relevant materials, protocols, and methods available to the research community where feasible and lawful.

9. Biological Materials

JECA encourages the deposition of biological materials, including plasmids, mutant strains, and cell lines, in appropriate public repositories where possible.

Authors using cell lines should ensure that the materials are authentic and should consult relevant resources such as the International Cell Line Authentication Committee (ICLAC) database of misidentified cell lines.

10. Software and Code

Where manuscripts describe novel software, algorithms, scripts, or custom code essential to the study findings, authors are encouraged to make such materials available in a suitable repository that provides long-term access and a persistent identifier.

Where possible, software or code should be archived in an appropriate repository such as Zenodo, GitHub-linked archives, or other recognized platforms.

If software or code is not openly available, authors should ensure that the manuscript still provides sufficient methodological detail to support scholarly evaluation, while respecting intellectual property or licensing constraints.

Reviewers may be given access to code or software where necessary for peer review, subject to confidentiality and anonymization requirements.

11. Standards of Reporting

JECA strongly encourages authors to follow relevant reporting guidelines to promote transparency, completeness, and reproducibility.

Authors should consult the EQUATOR Network for reporting guidelines relevant to their study type, including, where appropriate:

  • CONSORT for randomized trials;
  • STROBE for observational studies;
  • PRISMA for systematic reviews and meta-analyses;
  • CARE for case reports;
  • ARRIVE for animal studies.

Where applicable, authors should submit completed reporting checklists and ensure that key methodological details are clearly stated.

Authors of systematic reviews should provide a full search strategy, preferably in a supplementary file.

12. Statistical Methods

Authors should provide sufficient detail regarding statistical methods to enable knowledgeable readers to understand and evaluate the analysis.

This should include, where appropriate:

  • the statistical methods used;
  • justification for the chosen analyses;
  • the software used;
  • treatment of missing data;
  • definition of significance thresholds;
  • whether tests were one-tailed or two-tailed.

Statistical reporting should be accurate, transparent, and appropriate to the study design.

13. Resource Identification

To support reproducibility and clear identification of research materials, JECA encourages authors to provide complete and precise descriptions of key resources used in the study.

Where applicable, authors are encouraged to use Research Resource Identifiers (RRIDs) for:

  • antibodies;
  • cell lines;
  • model organisms;
  • software tools;
  • databases and instruments.

14. Cell Line Authentication

Where human cell lines are used, authors are strongly encouraged to report:

  • the source of the cell line, including when and from where it was obtained;
  • whether the cell line was authenticated and the method used;
  • whether the cell line was tested for mycoplasma contamination, and the result.

15. Gene Nomenclature and Sequence Variants

Authors should use standardized gene nomenclature throughout the manuscript.

For human genes, authors should use nomenclature approved by the HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC). For other species, appropriate official nomenclature standards should be followed.

Authors reporting sequence variants are encouraged to follow accepted standards such as those of the Human Genome Variation Society (HGVS) and, where relevant, the Human Phenotype Ontology (HPO).

16. Competing Interests

All manuscripts must include a Competing Interests or Conflict of Interest statement.

A competing interest exists where the interpretation or presentation of the work could be influenced, or perceived to be influenced, by financial or non-financial relationships or interests.

If no competing interests exist, authors should state:

“The authors declare no competing interests.”

Authors must also disclose all funding sources and the role of the funder, if any.

17. Authorship

JECA follows internationally accepted authorship principles consistent with ICMJE recommendations.

To qualify as an author, an individual should have:

  1. made substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work, or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data;
  2. drafted the work or revised it critically for important intellectual content;
  3. approved the final version to be published; and
  4. agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Acquisition of funding, data collection, or general supervision alone does not justify authorship.

Authors may be required to provide an Author Contributions Statement.

Changes to authorship after submission require a written explanation and the written agreement of all affected authors. Changes after acceptance will be considered only in exceptional circumstances and are subject to editorial approval.

18. Acknowledgements

Contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship may be listed in the Acknowledgements section, with their permission.

This may include individuals who provided:

  • technical support;
  • administrative assistance;
  • language editing;
  • general supervision;
  • medical writing or editorial assistance.

All funding sources should also be acknowledged, including the funder name and grant number where applicable.

19. Duplicate Publication and Overlapping Publication

Submitted manuscripts must be original and must not be under consideration elsewhere.

JECA does not accept:

  • duplicate submission;
  • duplicate publication;
  • redundant publication;
  • undisclosed overlapping publication;
  • plagiarism.

Where there is any potential overlap with previously published or submitted work, authors must disclose this at submission and cite the related work appropriately.

JECA follows COPE and ICMJE guidance in handling overlapping publication and duplicate submission.

20. Corrections and Retractions

Where necessary to preserve the integrity of the scholarly record, JECA may publish:

  • Corrections
  • Errata
  • Corrigenda
  • Expressions of Concern
  • Retractions
  • Removal notices in exceptional legal circumstances

Published corrections or retractions will be linked to the original article and handled in accordance with JECA’s Corrections, Authorship Changes, Retractions, and Misconduct Management Policy and COPE guidance.

21. Appeals and Complaints

Authors have the right to appeal editorial decisions or raise complaints بشأن editorial processes, publication ethics, or journal conduct.

JECA handles appeals and complaints in accordance with its Appeals and Complaints Policy and relevant COPE guidance.

Appeals and complaints should be directed to:

Email: jecajournal@gmail.com