Conflict of Interest Statement, Human and Animal Rights, and Statement of Informed Consent
Conflict-of-Interest Statement
Authors are expected to disclose any commercial or other associations that might pose a conflict of interest in connection with the submitted article, reports of clinical trials and reports on pharmaceutical products or medical devices. All funding sources supporting the work and the institutional or corporate affiliations of the authors should be acknowledged on the title page. Articles are considered for publication on the understanding that neither the article nor its essential substance has been or will be published elsewhere before appearing in the Journal of Southern Medical University. Abstracts and press reports published in connection with scientific meetings are not considered as publications. The authors should specifically confirm in their cover letter that there has been no ghost writing by anyone not named as a co-author of the manuscript.
Human and Animal Rights
Depending on the nature of the regarding research, manuscripts submitted for publication in the Journal of Southern Medical University must contain a statement to the effect that the concerning legally binding ethical standards have been met.
Reports of animal experiments must state that the "Principles of Laboratory Animal Care" (NIH publication No. 85-23, revised 1985) were followed. Moreover authors may have to state that specific national laws (e.g., the current version of the German Law on the Protection of Animals) have been observed, too.
All human studies must state that they have been approved by the appropriate ethics committee and have therefore been performed in accordance with the ethical standards laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki. The author hereby declares that the research documented in the submitted manuscript has been carried out in accordance with the above stated ethical standards.
Statement of Informed Consent
Patients have a right to privacy that should not be infringed without informed consent. Identifying information, including patients’ names, initials, or hospital numbers, should not be published in written descriptions, photographs, and pedigrees unless the information is essential for scientific purposes and the patient (or parent or guardian) gives written informed consent for publication. Informed consent for this purpose requires that a patient who is identifiable be shown the manuscript to be published. Authors should identify Individuals who provide writing assistance and disclose the funding source for this assistance. Identifying details should be omitted if they are not essential. Complete anonymity is difficult to achieve, however, and informed consent should be obtained if there is any doubt. For example, masking the eye region in photographs of patients is inadequate protection of anonymity. If identifying characteristics are altered to protect anonymity, such as in genetic pedigrees, authors should provide assurance that alterations do not distort scientific meaning and editors should so note. When informed consent has been obtained it should be indicated in the published article.