Manuscripts reporting studies involving human participants, human data, human tissue, or live animals must include:

An Ethical approval statement is required for publishing in the journal SMHS and is placed in the beginning of the methods and again at the end of the manuscript in a list of journal statements. The first Ethical approval statement is placed as a subsection titled “Ethical approval” at the beginning of the Methods section. As a second placement, this same Ethical approval statement is placed at the end of the manuscript before the reference list and is part of a list of journal statements. The Ethical approval statement includes the following 1) informed consent from each participant was collected unless your is exempted by the institutional review board, 2) the study was reviewed and received approval to implement the study by the author’s institution, 3) must include the institution’s name and the required institutional approval numbers given by the institution review committee, and 4) a statement the study was implemented in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.

All materials and methods must adhere to high ethical and animal welfare standards. Any use of animals must be based on ethological knowledge and respect for species-specific requirements for health and well-being. A statement indicating that the protocol and procedures employed were ethically reviewed and approved, and the name of the body giving approval must be included as a subsection titled Ethical approval found in the manuscript’s Methods section. An ethical approval document showing the approval from the institution’s ethical committee must be uploaded along with manuscript when you submit the manuscript. All components of this requirement is mandatory for a manuscript involving human participants, human data, or human tissue to be moved forward in the publication process. Failing to provide the ethical approval document and the associated statement in a subsection of the Methods section of the document will result in manuscript rejection.