Clinical Case Library
Publication Ethics & Patient Consent
Integrity, consent, and how we handle misconduct.
Standards
The Library follows the principles of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Editors, reviewers, and authors are expected to act with integrity, transparency, and respect for patient welfare.
Patient consent & anonymization
Every case must be fully anonymized — no name, medical-record number, date of birth, face, or any other identifier in the text or images. Authors confirm anonymization on submission. Where a patient could still be identifiable, written informed consent (or guardian consent) must be uploaded. Cases must comply with the Declaration of Helsinki and local/IRB requirements.
Authorship & conflicts
Authorship requires substantial contribution to the case. All authors must approve submission. Financial or personal conflicts of interest must be disclosed. The submitting author may choose to be named or to remain anonymous, subject to committee approval.
Plagiarism, corrections & retractions
Submissions must be original and not under review elsewhere; plagiarism or fabricated content is rejected. Genuine errors are corrected with a dated correction notice; serious problems (e.g., consent or integrity violations) lead to a clearly-labelled retraction while preserving the record.
Editorial enquiries: Maytham.m.altaan@gmail.com