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Author Instructions

consent to participate should be included in a declaration statement of Ethical Approval and Consent to Participate in the
manuscript. If informed consent is not required, the name of the ethics committee granting the exemption and the reason
for the exemption must be listed. If any ethical violation is found at any stage of publication, the issue will be investigated
seriously based on COPE Guidelines.

3.1.2 Consent for Publication
All articles published by OAE are freely available on the Internet. All manuscripts that include individual participants’
data in any form (i.e., details, images, videos, etc.) will not be published without Consent for Publication obtained from that
person(s), or for children, their parents or legal guardians. If the person has died, Consent for Publication must be obtained
from the next of kin. Authors must add a declaration statement of Consent for Publication in the manuscript, specifying
written informed consent for publication has been obtained.

3.1.3 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.
3.1.4 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.

3.1.5 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

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