01. Conflicts of Interest and Competing Interests

A conflict of interest, also called a competing interest, exists when a financial or non-financial relationship or circumstance could influence, or reasonably be perceived to influence, a person’s professional judgement, research, interpretation, peer review, or editorial decision-making. Disclosure does not necessarily mean that a conflict has affected the work or makes a manuscript ineligible for publication.

Authors

All authors must disclose relevant actual, potential, or perceived competing interests, including:

• Research funding, sponsorship, grants, honoraria, consultancy fees, employment, or paid advisory roles.
• Equity holdings, patents, royalties, intellectual property, or commercial relationships related to the subject of the manuscript.
• Professional, institutional, academic, personal, or other relationships that could reasonably affect objectivity.
• Relevant relationships involving organisations, products, interventions, devices, or services discussed in the work.

The corresponding author must obtain accurate declarations from every co-author and include a competing-interest statement in the manuscript. Where none exist, authors should state: “The authors declare no competing interests.” Authors must also disclose the sources of funding and the role of any funder in the research and publication process.

Editors and editorial board members

Editors must disclose relevant conflicts and recuse themselves from handling or deciding manuscripts where impartiality could reasonably be questioned. Such submissions must be assigned to an appropriately independent editor. Editors and board members submitting their own work must not select reviewers, handle reviews, or influence editorial decisions concerning their manuscripts.

Peer reviewers

Invited reviewers must disclose relevant competing interests before accepting an assignment and decline or seek editorial guidance when an interest may compromise independent assessment. Reviewers must not use confidential manuscript information for personal, academic, or commercial advantage.

02. Human Research Ethics and Participant Rights

Research involving human participants, human-derived materials, identifiable records, or personal health information must comply with applicable ethical and legal requirements and recognised principles of respect for persons, beneficence, justice, privacy, and confidentiality.

• Where required, authors must obtain approval from a competent institutional review board, research ethics committee, or equivalent body before beginning the research.
• The manuscript must identify the approving body and provide an approval or reference number and date where available.
• Authors should describe how participant rights, welfare, privacy, and confidentiality were protected.
• Human research should be conducted consistently with applicable provisions of the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki and relevant national or institutional standards.
• Participant recruitment, consent, and data use must be consistent with the approved protocol and applicable privacy and data-protection laws.

Editors may request clarification or supporting documentation regarding ethical approval, participant protections, and lawful data use. Publication in TORGJ does not replace the need for local institutional approval.

03. Animal Research Ethics and Welfare

Studies involving live vertebrate animals or other animals covered by applicable law or institutional policy must demonstrate appropriate ethical oversight and humane treatment.

• Obtain approval from the relevant animal care and use committee, animal research ethics committee, or other authorised oversight body where required.
• Report the name of the approving body and the approval reference or licence number where available.
• Describe relevant animal welfare safeguards, anaesthesia and analgesia where appropriate, humane endpoints, and measures taken to minimise pain, distress, and unnecessary use of animals.
• Apply the 3Rs principles: Replacement, Reduction, and Refinement.
• Follow applicable national legislation, institutional standards, and relevant reporting guidance such as ARRIVE for in vivo animal experiments.

Where approval is not required under applicable rules, authors must provide a clear explanation. The Editorial Office may request evidence supporting that determination.

04. Informed Consent for Research Participation

When research involves human participants, authors must obtain informed consent where required by law, the approved study protocol, and the responsible ethics committee. Consent should be freely given, based on understandable information, and documented in an appropriate manner.

• Participants should receive appropriate information about the study purpose, procedures, foreseeable risks and benefits, confidentiality, voluntary participation, and withdrawal rights, subject to applicable study arrangements.
• Consent must be obtained from participants with decision-making capacity or from an authorised representative where permitted and appropriate.
• Additional safeguards must be used for children, people with impaired capacity, and other populations requiring special protection, including assent where appropriate.
• Consent procedures should be adapted for language, accessibility, literacy, and cultural considerations without undermining voluntariness.
• Authors should report whether informed consent was obtained, the method used where relevant, and any approved waiver or alteration.

05. Clinical Case Reports, Identifiable Images and Privacy

For case reports, case series, clinical images, videos, or other publications that may identify an individual, authors must protect privacy and obtain appropriate consent for publication from the patient or an authorised representative where required.

• Written consent for publication should be obtained before submission whenever identifiable clinical information or images are included.
• Removing names or masking the eyes does not always guarantee anonymity; indirect identifiers and distinctive clinical circumstances must also be considered.
• Authors should avoid unnecessary personal details and should not alter clinical information in a way that misrepresents the case.
• For minors or people unable to provide valid consent, consent should be obtained from an authorised representative as required by applicable law and ethical standards, with the individual’s wishes or assent considered where appropriate.
• Where a patient has died or cannot be contacted, authors must follow applicable law, institutional guidance, and editorial requirements; publication without consent is not automatically permissible.

Consent forms containing personal information should normally be retained securely by the authors or their institution rather than included in publicly accessible article files. TORGJ may request a declaration or suitable evidence that valid publication consent was obtained.

06. Exemptions, Waivers and Special Circumstances

Some activities, including certain secondary analyses of anonymised data, service evaluations, audits, or literature reviews, may not require full ethics committee approval or individual consent. The applicable determination depends on local law, institutional rules, study design, and data identifiability.

• Authors must not assume that an audit, quality-improvement project, retrospective study, or anonymised-data analysis is automatically exempt.
• Where approval or consent was waived, authors must identify the authority or basis for the waiver and explain it in the manuscript.
• Where a project is outside the scope of human or animal research, authors should include a proportionate “not applicable” statement and rationale.
• Retrospective approval is not a substitute for approval that should have been obtained before a study commenced.

The Editorial Office may seek supporting information when an exemption or waiver is unclear.

07. Required Manuscript Declarations

Authors should include the following declarations in the manuscript, adapted to the study design and circumstances.

Suggested declaration formats

Competing interests: “The authors declare no competing interests.”

Human research ethics: “The study was approved by [name of committee] (approval reference: [number], date: [date]).”

Consent to participate: “Informed consent was obtained from all participants [or describe the applicable approved waiver].”

Consent for publication: “Written informed consent for publication of the identifiable clinical information/images was obtained from the patient [or authorised representative].”

Not applicable: “Ethics approval and informed consent were not applicable because this manuscript is a literature review involving no new human participants, identifiable patient information, or animal experimentation.”

08. Editorial Review, Verification and Non-Compliance

TORGJ may screen manuscripts for competing-interest disclosures, ethical approval, consent, and participant or animal welfare considerations during submission, editorial assessment, peer review, and after publication.

Where information is incomplete or a concern is raised, the Editorial Office may request clarification, amended declarations, consent or approval documentation, or an independent ethical assessment. Concerns will be handled proportionately, confidentially where possible, and in accordance with the journal’s publication ethics procedures.

Where material non-compliance is substantiated, actions may include suspension of editorial processing, rejection, correction, expression of concern, retraction, or referral to an appropriate institution or authority, depending on the circumstances. Editors should provide affected parties a fair opportunity to respond where appropriate.

Authors must promptly inform the journal if they become aware of a previously undisclosed competing interest, missing ethical approval, invalid consent, or other significant concern affecting a submitted or published manuscript.

09. Related Policies and Guidance

This policy should be read alongside other TORGJ policies and author requirements.