Informed Consent Policy

Impact Health Publishing Group is committed to the protection of research participants and to upholding the highest standards of research ethics across all journals it publishes. All research involving human participants must be conducted in accordance with recognised ethical principles, relevant national and international regulations, and accepted standards of good clinical and research practice.

Consent to participate

For all research involving human participants, authors must confirm that informed consent to participate in the study was obtained from participants or their legally authorised representatives, unless a formal ethics committee or institutional review board has granted an explicit waiver of consent. Manuscripts must state the name of the approving ethics committee, the approval reference where applicable, and the basis on which consent was obtained or waived.

Consent for publication

Where manuscripts contain personal information about identifiable individuals, including clinical details, images, videos, audio recordings, or other data that could reasonably lead to identification, authors must obtain explicit written informed consent for publication. Consent for publication is distinct from consent to participate and must cover publication in all formats, including online, print, and supplementary materials. Authors must confirm in the manuscript that informed consent for publication was obtained. If no identifiable personal information is included, authors should state that consent for publication was not applicable.

Anonymisation and confidentiality

Authors are required to take all reasonable steps to protect participant confidentiality and to anonymise data wherever possible. Identifiable information should not be included unless it is scientifically necessary and explicit consent for publication has been obtained. The removal of names alone may not be sufficient to prevent identification, particularly in rare conditions or small populations.

Vulnerable populations

Research involving vulnerable populations, including children or adults lacking capacity, requires particular care. In such cases, consent must be obtained from a parent, guardian, or legally authorised representative, and the manuscript must clearly describe the consent process and ethical approvals.

Documentation and verification

Impact Health Publishing Group reserves the right to request copies of consent documentation and ethics approvals where necessary to verify compliance with this policy. Failure to provide adequate documentation may result in rejection of a manuscript or post-publication editorial action.

Editorial oversight

Editors are responsible for ensuring that manuscripts comply with this informed consent policy. Concerns relating to consent, confidentiality, or ethical approval may be referred for further investigation and handled in accordance with the publisher’s policies on corrections, retractions, and allegations of misconduct. This policy applies to all journals published by Impact Health Publishing Group and forms part of the publisher’s commitment to ethical, responsible, and transparent scholarly publishing.