ETHICAL GUIDELINES

Human subjects

All studies that involve human subjects must abide by the rules of the appropriate Internal Review board and the tenets of the World Medical Association’s Declaration of Helsinki.

Appropriate institutional review committee approval must be stated in the Materials and Methods section for human or animal subjects involved in experimental investigations. This statement should also show how informed consent was obtained for human subjects. Such manuscripts must include a statement verifying that the human investigations were preceded by local institutional review board approval and, if appropriate, in accordance with an assurance filed with and approved by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

For manuscripts reporting on studies involving human subjects, signed consent statements from persons, parents, and/or legal guardians of minors who can be identified from the text or photographs must accompany the manuscript at the time of submission. If a pedigree or family tree is depicted, a statement must be included verifying that written informed consent was obtained from each living individual represented and that the authors have not modified the pedigree or family tree in any manner to avoid identification of the subjects.

No published studies that involve human subjects should mention subjects’ identifying information (e.g., initials) unless the information is essential for scientific purposes and the patient (or parent or guardian) gives written informed consent for publication. See Section II (Ethical Considerations in the Conduct and Reporting of Research) of the "Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals" at http://www.icmje.org/index.html for further information.

Animal welfare
Manuscripts reporting on studies that involve experiments with animals must include a statement verifying that care of animals was in accordance with institutional guidelines.

Data sharing
The Oncologist supports the efforts of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to encourage the open sharing of publication-related data. The Oncologist adheres to the belief that authors should include in their publications the data, algorithms, or other information that is central or integral to the publication, or make it freely and readily accessible; use public repositories for data whenever possible; and make patented material available under a license for research use. For more information, see the NAS website (http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=10613&page=35).

Guidelines for stem cell research
Research with embryonic stem cells should adhere to the guidelines established by the NAS, as published by the National Academies Press, at http://nap.edu/books/0309096537/html.

Recombinant DNA research guidelines
Any recombinant DNA research must follow the National Institutes of Health Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant DNA Molecules (available at http://oba.od.nih.gov/rdna/nih_guidelines_oba.html) and should be described within the manuscript.

Distribution of reagents
In January 1998, the Editors of The Oncologist adopted the policy that any readily renewable resources mentioned in a Journal article not already obtainable from commercial sources shall be made available to all qualified investigators in the field. The policy stems from the long-standing scientific principle that authenticity requires reproducibility. Publication in The Oncologist constitutes a de facto acceptance of this policy. Included are reagents that can be easily provided—specifically, nucleic acid sequences, cDNA and genomic clones, cell lines, and monoclonal antibody clones. Small amounts (sufficient for the replication of any in vitro work reported) of novel protein reagents are also considered easily transferable.

Although the Editors appreciate that many of the reagents mentioned in The Oncologist are proprietary or unique, neither condition is considered adequate grounds for deviation from this policy. Suitable material transfer agreements can be drawn up between the provider and requester, but if a reasonable request is turned down and submitted to the Editor-in-Chief, the Corresponding Author will be held accountable. The consequence for noncompliance is simple: the Corresponding Author will not publish in The Oncologist for the following 3 years.