Research Involving Human Participants

Palestine Technical University Research Journal (PTURJ) requires all research involving human participants, human data, or identifiable human material to be conducted in accordance with applicable institutional, national, and internationally recognized ethical standards.

Ethical Approval: Research involving human participants must receive approval from an appropriate Institutional Review Board (IRB), Research Ethics Committee (REC), or equivalent authorized ethics body before the study is conducted, where such approval is required. Authors must clearly state in the manuscript the name of the approving institution or ethics committee and, where applicable, the approval or reference number.

Informed Consent: Authors must confirm that informed consent to participate was obtained from all participants, where applicable. The consent process should be appropriate to the nature of the research and consistent with relevant ethical and legal requirements.

Research Involving Children and Minors: For studies involving children or minors, authors must confirm that appropriate informed consent was obtained from a parent or legal guardian and that assent from the child or minor was obtained where appropriate, taking into account the participant's age, capacity, applicable regulations, and the nature of the research.

Vulnerable Participants: Research involving vulnerable individuals or populations must include appropriate additional safeguards to protect their rights, dignity, safety, privacy, and welfare.

Privacy and Confidentiality: Authors must protect the privacy and confidentiality of research participants. Personally identifiable information, photographs, recordings, or other materials that could reveal a participant's identity must not be published unless appropriate consent for publication has been obtained.

Waiver or Exemption from Ethical Approval: If a study is exempt from formal ethical approval under applicable institutional or national regulations, authors must clearly state this in the manuscript and provide the name of the authority granting the exemption or the basis for the exemption, where applicable.

Documentation: PTURJ reserves the right to request copies of ethical approval documents, informed-consent documentation, or other evidence of compliance with ethical requirements at any stage of the editorial or peer-review process. Failure to provide satisfactory evidence may result in rejection of the manuscript or other appropriate editorial action.

Editorial Oversight: If concerns arise regarding the ethical conduct of research involving human participants, PTURJ may request additional information from the authors and/or their institution and will address such concerns in accordance with the journal's publication-ethics procedures and relevant COPE guidance.