Research involving humans

Human-participant research must follow the ethical principles of the current World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki and applicable law. State the name of the institutional review board or independent ethics committee, approval or exemption number, approval date where required and the consent process. If formal review was not required, cite the applicable rule and identify who made that determination.

Informed consent and privacy

Explain whether written or appropriately documented informed consent was obtained. Separate consent to participate from consent to publish identifiable information. Remove names, hospital numbers, facial features and unnecessary details; masking the eyes alone is not reliable anonymisation. For children or adults unable to consent, report permission from the authorised representative and assent where appropriate. IJF may request consent documentation, which should not be uploaded publicly.

Vulnerable groups and community research

Justify inclusion of vulnerable participants, minimise power imbalance and avoid undue inducement. Community, indigenous and traditional-knowledge research should respect local governance, attribution, access and benefit-sharing requirements. Authors must avoid stigmatising language and consider potential group harms even when individual identifiers are removed.

Clinical studies and trials

Interventional clinical studies require prospective registration in a publicly accessible, recognised trial registry before enrolment of the first participant, unless the editor accepts a documented exceptional reason consistent with recognised standards. Provide registry name, identifier and registration date. Report protocol deviations, harms and outcomes transparently and follow CONSORT or other applicable guidance.

Animal research

Animal studies must have prior approval from the responsible institutional committee and follow applicable welfare law. Report species, strain, sex, age or weight, housing, randomisation, blinding, sample-size rationale, anaesthesia, analgesia, humane endpoints and euthanasia. Authors should follow ARRIVE 2.0 and the 3Rs—replacement, reduction and refinement—and justify models and procedures likely to cause harm.

Natural products and biodiversity

Identify biological materials unambiguously through accepted taxonomy, origin, date, collector and voucher specimen deposited in an accessible collection. State permits for collection, export, import and protected species, and comply with relevant access and benefit-sharing obligations. Ethnopharmacological knowledge must be obtained and reported respectfully and lawfully.

Cell lines, microorganisms and laboratory materials

Give material provenance and authentication methods; disclose mycoplasma testing for cell cultures where relevant. Human biospecimens require lawful consent and governance. Studies involving pathogens, toxins, recombinant material, controlled drugs, genetically modified organisms or hazardous chemicals must identify applicable biosafety, biosecurity and institutional approvals.

Dual-use and environmental risk

Authors must alert the editor when methods or results could reasonably enable significant misuse. The journal may seek specialist advice, request responsible redaction or decline publication when risks cannot be mitigated without destroying scientific value. Pharmaceutical environmental studies should report safe handling and disposal practices where relevant.