Code of Ethics

1)

In clinical research, the ethical code set forth in the Declaration of Helsinki by the World Medical Association must be observed. Animal experiments should comply with the recommendations of the International Guidelines for Medical Biology Research. In addition, "Ethical Guidelines for Medical and Health Research Involving Human Subjects", "Ethical Guidelines for Human Genome / Gene Analysis Research", "Research and Development Using Human Tissues Extracted by Surgery", "Basic guidelines for the conduct of animal experiments in implementing agencies under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare" , "Guidelines for infectious diseases in public health in association with xenotransplant" "Ethical guidelines for the research on assisted reproductive technology utilizing human fertilized embryos" and "The ethical guidelines for epidemiological research” must be observed. The submission must accompany necessary certificates from the Facility Ethics Review Committees with the approved date.

2)

"Case report"
Sufficient anonymization is recommended by omitting matters that could identify patients and related parties as much as possible (see i) to v) below). The submission must be examined by the Ethics Review Committee of the Institution to which the author belongs. If anonymization is difficult, obtain consent from the patient or his/her parents, relatives, etc. The approval of the Ethics Review Committee or the consent of patients should be described in the submission along with the approved date.

i)

Do not include the initials, ID number, examination number, patient's address, name or location of the previous doctor.

ii)

If it is necessary to describe the place of occurrence, limit it to the area up to the prefecture or city.

iii)

The date should be up to the year and month. Even if the time of onset or administration is specified, the subsequent events should be in documented by relative date/time thereof.

iv)

If the name of the department leads to individual identification, do not list it.

v)

The eye region face photo should be masked. If the eyes are the subject of concern, the photos should contain magnified eyes only. It is advised to obtain written consent from the patient or stakeholders, or to obtain approval from the Ethics Review Committee.