Informed Consent Policy

Bayrakol Medical Publishing requires authors to obtain appropriate informed consent from all individuals whose personal data, clinical information, or identifiable images are included in their manuscripts. This policy applies to case reports, clinical images, original research, review articles containing patient materials, and supplementary files.

Requirement for Informed Consent

Authors must ensure that written informed consent is obtained from all individuals whose identifiable information, photographs, radiology images, clinical descriptions, or personal details appear in the manuscript. Consent must explicitly include permission for publication, not only consent for treatment or participation in a clinical study. For minors or individuals lacking decision-making capacity, consent must be obtained from a parent, guardian, or legally authorized representative. When appropriate, assent from minors should also be documented.

Identifiability Standards

In accordance with international editorial and ethics guidelines, material is considered identifiable when any of the following apply:

• Facial or body features can be recognized.
• Tattoos, scars, birthmarks, implants, or other unique markers are visible.
• Rare conditions or distinctive clinical findings could reveal identity.
• Clinical data in combination could reasonably allow an individual to be identified.

If there is any reasonable possibility of recognition, explicit informed consent for publication is mandatory.

Case Reports and Clinical Images

For case reports, case series, clinical photographs, videos, pathology slides, or radiology images, written consent for publication is required even when the material appears anonymized. Patients must be clearly informed that:

• The material will be published in a scientific journal.
• Online publication may be permanent and accessible worldwide.
• Complete anonymity cannot be fully guaranteed despite efforts to conceal identity.

Data Privacy and Legal Compliance

Authors must comply with applicable data protection regulations, including (where relevant) GDPR, HIPAA de-identification standards, and national or institutional data privacy laws. Personally identifiable data must not be published without documented informed consent. Data should be minimized to what is necessary for the scientific purpose and anonymized whenever possible.

Documentation and Editorial Verification

Authors must explicitly state within the manuscript that informed consent was obtained from the individuals involved. Consent forms are not submitted with the manuscript but must be retained by the authors and be available upon request by the editorial office. Editors may require additional anonymization, clarification, or further consent when deemed necessary. Failure to provide adequate documentation may result in rejection of the submission or retraction of the article.

Exceptions

Informed consent may not be required when all data are fully anonymized and cannot reasonably be linked back to an individual, or when institutional or national regulations explicitly exempt the use of certain non-identifiable data. The editorial office has the final authority to determine whether an exemption applies in a given case.

Publisher Responsibility

Bayrakol Medical Publishing is committed to protecting the rights, dignity, and privacy of research participants. The journal follows recognized international recommendations on the protection of research participants and ethical publication practices. Manuscripts that do not comply with these informed consent standards may be rejected during peer review or retracted after publication.