Ethical Standards and Patient Consent Policy

General Principles

The Ukrainian Scientific Medical Youth Journal (USMYJ) strictly adheres to international ethical principles for research involving humans and animals.
All submitted manuscripts must include a clear statement confirming compliance with bioethical standards, approval by the relevant ethics committee, and informed consent from participants when applicable.

Ethical Approval of Research

All studies involving human participants or animals must have formal approval from a local or institutional ethics committee, clearly stating:

• the approval or protocol number;
• the date of approval;
• the full name of the institution that granted the approval.

Manuscripts must include an ethics statement such as:

“All human studies were approved by the institutional ethics committee and conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki (2013).”
“Animal experiments were performed in accordance with EU Directive 2010/63/EU for the protection of animals used for scientific purposes.”

The editorial office reserves the right to request a copy of the ethics approval before initiating peer review.

Informed Consent of Patients

Authors who publish clinical materials (case reports, photographs, radiographs, MRI scans, laboratory results, or any other data that may allow patient identification) are required to obtain written informed consent from the patient prior to publication.

A standard statement to be included in the manuscript is:

“Written informed consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this case report and accompanying images.”

The authors bear full responsibility for obtaining informed consent,
while the editorial office ensures that such a statement is included before the article is sent for peer review.

Confidentiality and Data Anonymization

The journal strictly observes the principles of patient confidentiality and anonymization of personal data.

The publication of any identifiable personal information is strictly prohibited, including:

• names, initials, identification codes, hospital numbers;
• diagnostic images that reveal facial or recognizable features;
• IDs, barcodes, or QR codes that may identify an individual.

Hazards to Humans, Animals, or the Environment

If a study involves chemicals, biological agents, or experimental procedures that may present unusual hazards to humans, animals, or the environment,
authors must explicitly identify these risks in the manuscript and describe the safety precautions taken to minimize them.

Privacy and Data Protection Policy

The journal complies with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR, Regulation (EU) 2016/679) regarding the processing of personal data.

• No personal identifiers may be published without the written consent of the individual concerned.
• Data provided during manuscript submission (names, email addresses, ORCID IDs, affiliations, etc.) are used solely for editorial purposes and are not shared with third parties.
• Authors, reviewers, and editors must handle all personal data in accordance with GDPR requirements and ethical confidentiality standards.

Ethical Assurance

Adherence to these principles ensures that all publications in USMYJ comply with:

• the Declaration of Helsinki (2013) — for human studies;
• the EU Directive 2010/63/EU — for animal research;
• the GDPR (Regulation (EU) 2016/679) — for data protection;
• and the COPE, ICMJE, and WHO international ethical guidelines for biomedical