Research Ethics and Approval

All research published in the Iraqi Journal of Agricultural Sciences must have been conducted in a fair and ethical manner. Where applicable, research involving human participants or animals must be approved by an independent institutional, local, regional, or national review body (e.g., ethics committee or institutional review board).

Reporting Ethics Approval at Submission

Authors must upload a completed Ethics Approval Form (available in the submission system) signed by all authors. In addition, the manuscript itself must include an "Ethics Approval" statement in the Methods section (or a dedicated section before References) containing:

  • The name of the ethics committee or institutional review board that granted approval.
  • The approval number/ID.
  • A statement that informed consent was obtained from all participants (for human studies), including consent for publication of the data collected.
  • For studies where verbal consent was obtained, an explanation of why written consent was not possible.

If Ethics Approval Was Not Required

Authors must state this clearly in the manuscript and provide the reason. Where possible, authors should include a link to an official national or government policy confirming that ethics approval is not required for this type of research.

Animal Research

Studies involving animals must comply with international guidelines (e.g., ARRIVE guidelines) and include a statement confirming that all applicable international, national, and/or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed.
Human Research

Studies involving human participants must comply with the Declaration of Helsinki and include a statement of informed consent for both participation and publication of data.

Participant Consent for Publication

For manuscripts containing personal information about an identifiable individual (including case reports, images, videos, or detailed clinical data), authors must obtain written informed consent for publication from the participant (or their legal guardian) before submission. This consent is separate from consent to participate in the study and must explicitly cover the publication of any identifying data.

The manuscript must include a statement confirming that such consent was obtained. If the participant is deceased, consent should be sought from the next of kin where possible.

Anonymisation and Confidentiality: Authors should anonymise identifying details to the extent possible without compromising scientific value. The journal reserves the right to request further anonymisation or to reject manuscripts where identification risk cannot be adequately managed.

 

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