Statement of Informed Consent

Patients have a right to privacy that must be respected and should not be violated without informed consent. Identifiable information, such as names, initials, or hospital numbers, should not be published unless essential for scientific purposes and the patient (or guardian) has given written informed consent for publication.

Informed consent requires that identifiable patients are shown the manuscript to be published. Authors must disclose to the patient whether identifiable material will be available online or in print after publication.

Informed consent should be obtained when there is any doubt about maintaining patient anonymity. For example, simply masking the eye region in photographs is inadequate. If identifying details are removed, authors must ensure and editors should verify that such changes do not distort the scientific meaning.

The requirement for informed consent should be included in the journal’s instructions for authors. When consent is obtained, it should be indicated in the published article.