Ethical Compliance Requirements

Ethical Oversight and Reporting Guidelines

To enhance research transparency and reproducibility, authors submitting to CBTT are encouraged to adhere to appropriate reporting guidelines based on study design, including but not limited to:

  • CONSORT for randomized controlled trials
  • PRISMA for systematic reviews and meta-analyses
  • ARRIVE for animal research
  • STROBE for observational studies

Authors should clearly state compliance with these guidelines in their manuscripts where applicable.

Human Subjects Research: 

All manuscripts involving human participants must include a clear statement confirming that the research was conducted following relevant national and institutional laws, regulations, and ethical guidelines, and that approval was obtained from the appropriate institutional review board (IRB) or ethics committee. This statement should specify the committee’s name, approval title, date, and reference number. If an ethics committee or IRB does not exist, the authors must affirm that the study was conducted following the ethical principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki (as revised in 2013). This information should appear in the Materials and Methods section.

For studies involving human tissue or data, manuscripts must also adhere to the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) recommendations. Authors must affirm that the privacy rights of participants were protected and that informed consent was obtained for all human experimentation. Following ICMJE standards, clinical trials must be prospectively registered in a publicly accessible registry.

Animal Use Policy:

The journal is committed to the ethical use of animals in research and supports the principles of the 3Rs: Replacement, Reduction, and Refinement. Authors should only involve animals when no suitable alternative exists. We encourage the use of alternative methods, including 3D organoid culture systems for investigating drug sensitivity and resistance, analysis of public databases, and application of AI-based predictive tools. Manuscripts should clearly explain efforts made to minimize animal use in the materials and methods.

Animal Research: 

Manuscripts describing studies involving animals must comply with established international ethical standards. Authors should follow the ARRIVE (Animal Research: Reporting of In Vivo Experiments) guidelines to ensure transparency and reproducibility. Research should be conducted following applicable national legislation, such as the UK Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, associated Home Office guidelines, or the U.S. National Research Council’s Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals.

All animal research must receive ethical review and approval (or waiver) from the institution's Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) or equivalent oversight body before manuscript submission. For multisite studies, approvals from all participating institutions are required. Authors must indicate the IACUC approval date and protocol number or waiver, including the rationale for a waiver, in the Materials and Methods section. If no formal oversight body exists, the study must conform to the International Guiding Principles for Biomedical Research Involving Animals (2012), established by ICLAS and CIOMS. Documentation of IACUC or equivalent approval must be available upon request. If ethics committee approval was not obtained before the initiation of the study, it is not possible to secure approval retrospectively. As a result, such manuscripts may be regarded as ineligible for peer review and publication.

Last updated: August 2025