General Principle

JAIHL expects authors to obtain informed consent when required by the applicable ethics framework for participation, use of identifiable clinical information, or publication of identifiable material, including medical images.

What Consent Should Address

• Purpose and nature of the research, including any AI/ML processing of the participant’s data.
• Voluntary participation and the right to decline or withdraw where applicable.
• How personal and clinical data will be handled, stored, and potentially used to train or evaluate a model.
• Potential publication of anonymized or identifiable information, including medical images, when relevant.

Waiver or Alternative Consent

Written consent is preferred where practical, but a waiver may be acceptable when approved by the responsible ethics body for retrospective or de-identified data research, and permitted by applicable law. Authors explain the basis for any waiver.

Publication of Identifiable Material

Separate consent for publication is obtained when a patient may be identifiable from medical images, case descriptions, or other material, unless a valid legal or ethical exception applies. Consent documentation is retained by the authors and is not normally uploaded to the submission system.

Children and Adults Lacking Capacity

For minors or individuals who cannot provide valid consent, consent and assent are obtained as required by applicable law, ethics guidance, and the responsible institution.