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Author Instructions

informed consent, or next of kin if deceased. A statement confirming consent for publication has been obtained must be
included in the manuscript. Authors should share this with the journal Editorial Office if requested.

3.1.4 Ethical Approval and Informed Consent for Retrospective/Database Studies
Researchers must confirm they have obtained ethical approval from ethical review boards to perform the study, as
well as permission from the dataset owner to use the information in databases for the purposes of the research they are
performing. If permission to use information from a database is not required (e.g., it is publicly available and unrestricted
re-use is permitted under an open license), a statement explaining this must be included in the manuscript. For studies
which ethics approval has been waived, authors must state clearly in the manuscript and provide brief details of the waive
policy. The statement should include details of the policies under which the waive was granted.
Authors must keep data anonymized. If participants’ details are not to be anonymized, authors must ensure that written
informed consent, including consent for publication, was obtained from each participant, and consent statement must be
included in the manuscript.

3.1.5 Ethical Approval and Informed Consent for Survey Studies
Researchers must ensure the participant’s right to confidentiality has been considered, and they must inform all
participants about the aims of the research and if there are any possible risks, and how the collecting data is being stored.
The voluntary consent to participate of participants should be recorded and any legal requirements on data protection
should be adhered to. Same with all research studies, ethics approval from IRB/local ethics committee for survey studies
must be obtained before performing study. If ethics approval for certain survey study is not required, authors must include
a statement to explain this clearly in the manuscript.
3.1.6 Trial Registration
OAE requires all authors to register all relevant clinical trials that are reported in manuscripts submitted. OAE follows the
World Health Organization (WHO)’s definition of clinical trials: “A clinical trial is any research study that prospectively
assigns human participants or groups of humans to one or more health-related interventions to evaluate the effects on
health outcomes. Interventions include but are not restricted to drugs, cells, other biological products, surgical procedures,
radiologic procedures, devices, behavioral treatments, process-of-care changes, preventive care, etc.”.
In line with International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) recommendation, OAE requires the registration
of clinical trials in a public trial registry at or before the time of first patient enrollment. OAE accepts publicly accessible
registration in any registry that is a primary register of the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform or in
ClinicalTrials.gov. The trial registration number should be listed at the end of the Abstract section.
Secondary data analyses of primary (parent) clinical trials should not be registered as a new clinical trial, but rather
reference the trial registration number of the primary trial.
Editors of OAE journals will consider carefully whether studies failed to register or had an incomplete trial registration.
Because of the importance of prospective trial registration, if there is an exception to this policy, trials must be registered
and the authors should indicate in the publication when registration was completed and why it was delayed. Editors will
publish a statement indicating why an exception was allowed. Please note such exceptions should be rare, and authors
failing to prospectively register a trial risk its inadmissibility to OAE journals.
Authors who are not sure whether they need trial registration may refer to ICMJE FAQs for further information.

3.2 Research Involving Animals
Experimental research on animals should be approved by an appropriate ethics committee and must comply with
institutional, national, or international guidelines. OAE encourages authors to comply with the AALAS Guidelines,
the ARRIVE Guidelines, and/or the ICLAS Guidelines, and obtain prior approval from the relevant ethics committee.
Manuscripts must include a statement indicating that the study has been approved by the relevant ethical committee and
the whole research process complies with ethical guidelines. If a study is granted an exemption from requiring ethics
approval, the name of the ethics committee granting the exemption and the reason(s) for the exemption should be detailed.
Editors will take account of animal welfare issues and reserve the right to reject a manuscript, especially if the research
involves protocols that are inconsistent with commonly accepted norms of animal research.

3.3 Research Involving Cell Lines
Authors must describe what cell lines are used and their origin so that the research can be reproduced. For established cell
lines, the provenance should be stated and references must also be given to either a published paper or to a commercial
source. For de novo cell lines derived from human tissue, appropriate approval from an institutional review board or
equivalent ethical committee, and consent from the donor or next of kin, should be obtained. Such statements should be
listed on the Declaration section of Ethical Approval and Consent to Participate in the manuscript.
Further information is available from the International Cell Line Authentication Committee (ICLAC). OAE recommends
that authors check the NCBI database for misidentification and contamination of human cell lines.