Research Ethics Policy
Neural Prosody, LLC · Applies to all journals published under the Neural Prosody imprint
Neural Prosody requires that all research involving human participants, animal subjects, or vulnerable populations be conducted in accordance with applicable ethical standards and approved by a qualified institutional review body.
Authors are responsible for ethical compliance. The editorial office may request documentation at any stage of the review or publication process.
1. Purpose and Scope
This policy establishes the ethical standards that apply to all research submitted to journals published by Neural Prosody, LLC. It sets out the requirements for ethical approval, informed consent, and responsible research conduct across all study types within the scope of Neural Prosody’s publications, including human participants research, animal research, studies involving vulnerable populations, qualitative and interview-based research, and secondary data analysis.
Neural Prosody adopts the following frameworks as reference standards for research ethics. Authors are expected to be familiar with the applicable standards for their field and study type:
The American Psychological Association (APA) Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct, which govern professional and research practice in psychology
The Belmont Report (National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects, 1979), which establishes the foundational principles of respect for persons, beneficence, and justice in human subjects research
The Declaration of Helsinki (World Medical Association, as amended), which sets international standards for ethical conduct of research involving human participants
Where applicable law or institutional policy imposes requirements more stringent than those described in this policy, the more stringent standard applies. This policy does not substitute for institutional review board (IRB) or ethics committee oversight, which remains the primary mechanism of ethical accountability for individual researchers.
2. Ethical Approval Requirements by Study Type
The ethical approval requirements for manuscripts submitted to Neural Prosody journals vary by study type. The following table summarizes the baseline requirements. Authors uncertain about the applicable standard for their study are encouraged to contact the editorial office before submitting.
| Study type | Ethical approval requirement | Disclosure requirement |
| Human participants — primary data collection | Approval from an institutional review board (IRB), ethics committee, or equivalent body is required. Approval must have been obtained prior to data collection. | IRB/ethics committee name and approval number must be stated in the manuscript. Documentation available on request. |
| Human participants — exempt or expedited review | Where the study qualified for exempt or expedited review under applicable institutional or regulatory standards, authors must state this and provide the basis for the exemption. | Statement of exempt or expedited status and basis for determination must be included in the manuscript. |
| Vulnerable populations (minors, prisoners, clinical populations, individuals with diminished capacity) | Full IRB or ethics committee approval is required regardless of study design or data collection method. Additional protections applicable to the population (e.g., parental consent for minors) must be documented. | IRB approval number, additional consent procedures, and any institutional safeguards must be described in the Methods section. |
| Animal research | Approval from an Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) or equivalent body is required. Research must comply with applicable national and institutional guidelines for the humane treatment of animals. | IACUC approval number and a statement of compliance with applicable guidelines must be included in the manuscript. |
| Qualitative and interview-based research | IRB or ethics committee approval is required. Informed consent procedures must be described. Where verbal rather than written consent was obtained, the basis and IRB approval of this approach must be stated. | Consent procedures and IRB approval must be described in the Methods section. |
| Secondary data analysis | Where the original data collection was subject to ethical approval, authors must confirm that their use of the data is consistent with the original consent and approval. Where the data are publicly available and de-identified, authors should state this and provide the source. | Statement of data provenance, original ethical approval (if applicable), and consistency with original consent terms must be included in the manuscript. |
3. Informed Consent
3.1 General requirements
Research involving human participants must be conducted with the informed consent of participants, obtained prior to their participation. Informed consent must be genuine: it must be voluntary, based on adequate information about the nature and purpose of the research, the risks and benefits of participation, and the participant’s right to withdraw at any time without penalty.
Authors must describe their consent procedures in the Methods section of the manuscript, including the form of consent obtained (written, verbal, or electronic), the information provided to participants, and any IRB-approved modifications to standard consent procedures.
3.2 Waiver of consent
Where an IRB or ethics committee has approved a waiver of informed consent—for example, in research using fully de-identified archival data or in certain observational studies—authors must state that a waiver was granted and provide the basis for the waiver. Neural Prosody will not publish research in which informed consent was omitted without IRB-approved waiver.
3.3 Deception
Research designs involving deception of participants are permissible where the deception has been approved by an IRB or ethics committee, is scientifically necessary, and is followed by a thorough debriefing. Authors must describe the nature of the deception, the justification for its use, and the debriefing procedures in the Methods section. Research involving deception that causes significant distress or lasting harm to participants will not be accepted for publication regardless of IRB approval.
3.4 Confidentiality and anonymization
Authors must describe the steps taken to protect participant confidentiality in the manuscript. Where participant data are reported, all identifying information must be removed or sufficiently anonymized to prevent identification. Where case studies or qualitative data include information that could identify an individual participant, authors must obtain written consent from the participant for publication of that information, or anonymize the data to a degree that identification is not reasonably possible.
4. Research Involving Vulnerable Populations
Research involving vulnerable populations requires particular care and is subject to heightened ethical scrutiny at Neural Prosody. Vulnerable populations include, but are not limited to: minors (individuals under 18 years of age), prisoners and individuals in other custodial settings, individuals with cognitive or psychiatric conditions that affect decision-making capacity, individuals in acute clinical distress, and any population whose circumstances may compromise the voluntariness of consent or the equitable distribution of research burdens and benefits.
Authors submitting research involving vulnerable populations must address all of the following in the manuscript:
The specific vulnerability of the population and the ethical justification for conducting the research with this group rather than a less vulnerable population
The additional consent procedures applied, including procedures for assent by minors and consent by legally authorized representatives where applicable
The specific protections in place to minimize risk and protect participant welfare throughout the study
The IRB or ethics committee’s assessment of the risk-benefit profile of the research for this population
Research involving minors requires written parental or guardian consent and, where the minor is of sufficient maturity, the minor’s assent.
Both must be documented and described in the Methods section. Studies involving minors in which consent and assent procedures are not clearly described will be returned without review.
5. Animal Research
Neural Prosody publishes research involving animal subjects where the research has been conducted in accordance with applicable national and institutional guidelines for the humane treatment of animals and has received approval from an Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) or equivalent body.
Authors must report IACUC approval details and must describe, in the Methods section, the species, number, and source of animals used; housing and husbandry conditions; procedures performed; and measures taken to minimize suffering. Neural Prosody expects authors to adhere to the 3Rs framework—Replacement, Reduction, and Refinement—and to address the 3Rs explicitly in the manuscript where applicable.
6. Secondary Data Analysis
Research based on secondary analysis of existing datasets is subject to the ethical requirements of this policy to the extent applicable. Authors must confirm that their use of the data is consistent with the terms under which the data were originally collected and consented, and must provide a clear statement of data provenance in the manuscript.
Where the original data collection involved human participants, authors must confirm that the secondary analysis falls within the scope of the original informed consent or that an IRB or ethics committee has reviewed and approved the secondary use. For publicly available, de-identified datasets, authors should identify the data source and confirm the de-identified status of the data.
Authors conducting secondary analyses are strongly encouraged to pre-register their analytical plan prior to accessing the data, in order to distinguish confirmatory from exploratory analyses and to minimize the risk of outcome-dependent reporting.
7. Verification of Ethical Compliance
Authors self-certify their compliance with this policy at the time of submission by completing the Ethical Approval disclosure in the manuscript and confirming adherence to the Author Guidelines. Self-certification does not relieve authors of responsibility for the accuracy of their disclosures.
The editorial office may request supporting documentation—including the IRB or ethics committee approval letter, consent forms, or IACUC approval—at any stage of the review or publication process. Authors must be prepared to provide this documentation within 14 days of request. Failure to provide requested documentation will result in the manuscript being placed on hold or rejected.
Neural Prosody reserves the right to contact an author’s institutional IRB or ethics committee directly to verify approval where there is reasonable cause for concern. Such contact will be made with notice to the corresponding author.
8. Publication Ethics
8.1 Authorship
All individuals listed as authors must meet the ICMJE criteria for authorship. Honorary, gift, or ghost authorship is not permitted. Authors are jointly responsible for the ethical conduct and reporting of the research. Disputes about authorship that arise prior to or following publication are handled in accordance with the Corrections, Expressions of Concern, and Retractions Policy.
8.2 Duplicate submission and redundant publication
Authors may not submit a manuscript to H0 Journal or any Neural Prosody journal while it is under review elsewhere. Submission of the same or substantially similar work to more than one journal simultaneously, or publication of the same work in more than one venue without disclosure and justification, constitutes redundant publication and is grounds for rejection or retraction.
Prior publication as a preprint does not constitute prior publication for the purposes of this policy. Authors who have posted their manuscript as a preprint must disclose this at submission and provide the preprint server name and URL.
8.3 Data integrity
Authors are responsible for the accuracy and integrity of all data reported in their manuscript. Data must not be fabricated, falsified, or selectively reported in a manner that misrepresents the findings. All analytical decisions—including exclusion criteria, variable transformations, and model specifications—must be disclosed. Where analytical decisions were made after viewing the data, this must be stated explicitly.
8.4 Image and figure integrity
Figures, images, and graphical representations of data must accurately represent the underlying data. Manipulation of images beyond standard adjustments for brightness, contrast, and color balance that are applied uniformly and do not obscure, eliminate, or misrepresent any information in the original is not permitted. Authors may be asked to provide original, unprocessed images for editorial review.
8.5 Conflicts of interest
All financial, professional, personal, and intellectual relationships that could be perceived as influencing the conduct or reporting of the research must be disclosed at the time of submission. This includes funding sources, employment relationships, consulting arrangements, equity interests, and personal or ideological commitments relevant to the subject matter of the research. Disclosure of a conflict of interest does not preclude publication; failure to disclose does.
9. Reporting Ethical Concerns
Any party who has reasonable grounds to believe that research published in or submitted to a Neural Prosody journal was conducted in violation of applicable ethical standards is encouraged to contact the editorial office. Reports are treated with confidentiality and handled in accordance with the Corrections, Expressions of Concern, and Retractions Policy and COPE guidelines.
Neural Prosody does not tolerate retaliation against individuals who report ethical concerns in good faith. Individuals who believe they have been subjected to retaliation in connection with a report made under this policy should contact the editorial office.
Questions about ethical requirements for your study?
Contact the H0 Journal editorial office before submitting. We are happy to advise on ethical approval requirements, consent procedures, or any aspect of this policy.
Related Policies
Author Guidelines (H0 Journal)
Peer Review Policy
Corrections, Expressions of Concern, and Retractions Policy
AI Use Policy
Editorial Bylaws and Governance