CASE REPORTS AND PUBLICATION CONSENT POLICY

1. When Consent for Publication Is Required

Written consent for publication is required for any case report, case series, or clinical material in which an individual or group of individuals could be identified.

This requirement applies to potentially identifiable:

• Case histories and clinical descriptions
• Patient photographs
• Radiographs and other medical images
• Histopathological images
• Genetic pedigrees
• Other potentially identifiable clinical information

Consent for publication should also be considered and obtained where applicable when a report concerns a deceased individual.

2. Responsibility for Obtaining Consent

Authors are responsible for obtaining appropriate written consent for publication from the patient or an authorized proxy before submission.

The patient or proxy should be informed that the material may be published in an open-access journal and may remain permanently available online.

3. Patient or Proxy Consent

The publication consent form must identify:

• The name of the patient;
• The name of the person providing consent;
• The relationship of the signer to the patient, where the signer is not the patient.

Where consent is provided by a proxy, the circumstances requiring proxy consent should be documented. Examples may include:

• Minors;
• Individuals lacking cognitive or intellectual capacity;
• Individuals lacking physical or legal capacity to provide consent;
• Deceased individuals.

Where consent is provided on behalf of a family or group, the person signing should confirm that all relevant members have been appropriately informed.

4. The Journal Does Not Collect Signed Consent Forms

Authors should retain the original signed consent documentation and provide appropriate confirmation to the journal when submitting the manuscript.

This approach avoids unnecessary collection and storage of confidential patient information by the journal.

5. Author Attestation

At submission, authors must attest that:

“Written consent for publication has been obtained from the patient or an authorized proxy where required. The consent covers publication of the case information and any accompanying images or other potentially identifiable material. The original signed consent form is retained by the treating institution and can be made available for verification if required.”

6. Journal Consent Form

MSAR Institute journals provide a blank publication consent form on the journal website.

Authors may use the journal's form or an alternative institutional form, provided that the alternative form contains all required elements for publication consent.

Where an alternative consent form has been used, the journal may request a blank copy of that form to verify that the necessary consent elements are included.

7. Original Consent Documentation

The original signed consent form should be retained by the treating institution or responsible clinical authority, rather than routinely submitted to or stored by the journal.

The journal may request appropriate evidence or clarification if there is a legitimate concern regarding consent.

8. Anonymisation

Authors must remove unnecessary identifying information from the manuscript and accompanying material.

Authors should therefore obtain publication consent whenever there is reasonable potential for identification.

9. Images and Other Clinical Material

Patient photographs, radiographs, CT/MRI images, ultrasound images, pathology images, operative photographs, pedigrees, and similar material must have appropriate publication consent where an individual may be identifiable.

Authors should include an appropriate statement in the manuscript, for example:

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

10. Editorial Concerns

The journal may request clarification, additional documentation, or modification of submitted material where there are concerns regarding:

• Patient identification;
• Adequacy of publication consent;
• Proxy consent;
• Use of patient images;
• Consent involving minors or deceased individuals; or
• Potential breach of confidentiality.