Research Ethics Policy

Asian Journal of Qualitative Research (AJQR) is committed to promoting responsible and ethical research practices. Authors are responsible for ensuring that their research complies with applicable ethical standards, institutional requirements, and relevant laws and regulations.

This policy applies particularly to research involving human participants, personal or sensitive information, vulnerable populations, and other ethically sensitive research activities.

1. Ethical Conduct of Research

Research submitted to AJQR should be conducted honestly, responsibly, and with appropriate respect for the rights, dignity, privacy, safety, and welfare of research participants.

Authors are responsible for obtaining any ethical approval, permission, or authorization required for their research before conducting the relevant research activities.

2. Research Involving Human Participants

Research involving human participants should comply with applicable institutional, national, and international ethical requirements.

Depending on the nature of the study, authors may be required to obtain approval from an institutional ethics committee, institutional review board, research ethics committee, or another appropriate authority.

Where ethical approval has been obtained, authors should provide relevant information in the manuscript.

3. Ethical Approval

Where required, manuscripts should identify:

• The name of the ethics committee or approving institution

• The approval or reference number, where applicable

• The date or relevant details of approval, where appropriate

If formal ethical approval was not required, authors should provide an appropriate explanation where relevant.

The journal may request evidence of ethical approval where necessary.

4. Informed Consent

Authors should obtain informed consent from research participants where required by the nature of the research and applicable ethical standards.

Participants should receive sufficient information about the research to make an informed decision about participation.

Consent procedures should be appropriate to the participants, research design, and applicable ethical requirements.

5. Privacy and Confidentiality

Authors must take appropriate measures to protect the privacy and confidentiality of research participants.

Personally identifiable information should not be disclosed unnecessarily.

Authors should remove or appropriately protect identifying information from manuscripts, datasets, images, transcripts, quotations, and supplementary materials where required.

6. Sensitive and Personal Data

Research involving sensitive personal information must be conducted with appropriate safeguards.

Authors should not publish personal information unless there is a legitimate scholarly and ethical basis and the necessary permissions or consent have been obtained.

Where data can be reported in anonymized or aggregated form, authors should consider doing so to reduce privacy risks.

7. Vulnerable Participants

Additional care should be taken when research involves vulnerable individuals or groups.

Authors should demonstrate that appropriate safeguards were used to protect participants from unnecessary harm, coercion, exploitation, or undue pressure.

Where additional consent or safeguarding requirements apply, authors are responsible for meeting those requirements.

8. Children and Participants Unable to Provide Consent

Research involving children or individuals who cannot provide informed consent should comply with applicable ethical requirements.

Where required, consent should be obtained from an authorized parent, guardian, or legally appropriate representative, together with participant assent where applicable.

9. Risk of Harm

Authors should take reasonable steps to minimize physical, psychological, social, legal, professional, or other foreseeable risks to participants.

Research involving sensitive topics should be designed and reported with particular attention to participant safety and confidentiality.

10. Online and Digital Research

Research conducted through websites, social media, online communities, digital platforms, or other electronic environments must consider privacy, consent, platform rules, and applicable ethical requirements.

The fact that information is publicly accessible online does not automatically mean that it can be used or reproduced without ethical consideration.

11. Data Protection

Authors must handle personal and research data responsibly and in accordance with applicable data-protection requirements.

Where data are stored, transferred, shared, or archived, appropriate safeguards should be applied to protect confidentiality and participant privacy.

12. Consent for Publication

Where identifiable information, photographs, case details, quotations, or other material could identify an individual, authors should obtain appropriate consent for publication where required.

Authors should avoid publishing unnecessary identifying information.

13. Animal Research

Where a manuscript involves research using animals, authors must comply with applicable institutional and legal ethical requirements and should provide relevant ethical approval information where applicable.

14. Ethical Concerns After Submission or Publication

If ethical concerns arise during peer review or after publication, AJQR may request additional information or documentation from the authors.

Where appropriate, the journal may contact the relevant institution or ethics authority and may take editorial action in accordance with its publication ethics policies.

Possible actions may include correction, expression of concern, retraction, or other appropriate measures.

15. Authors' Responsibility

Authors are responsible for ensuring that their research has been conducted ethically and that all required approvals, permissions, and consent procedures have been completed.

Publication in AJQR does not constitute confirmation that a research project has received ethical approval.

16. Ethical Compliance Statement

Where applicable, authors should include an ethics statement in the manuscript describing relevant ethical approval, consent procedures, and participant protections.

17. Editorial Review of Ethical Issues

The editorial team may raise questions about ethical aspects of submitted research where necessary.

Ethical concerns may be considered during initial editorial assessment, peer review, revision, or after publication.

Journal: Asian Journal of Qualitative Research (AJQR)
Email: editor@ajqr.ibexinstitute.org