Informed Consent Policy

Ethical Handling of Patient Information in Case Reports

Informed Consent Policy – Contusm Publications

At Contusm Publications, authors are required to obtain written informed consent from patients involved in case reports or whose images are included in the manuscript. This ensures that patient privacy and rights are respected. Authors do not need to submit the consent letter during manuscript submission, but they must have it on record in case the journal requests verification.

Publication Without Explicit Consent

A case report may be published without explicit patient consent only if all the following conditions are met:

• The article presents significant importance to public health.
• The case is rare or unusual, making it impractical to obtain consent from the patient.
• The patient does not object to publication after being informed.

Maintaining Confidentiality

Authors must ensure that patient confidentiality is preserved and that identifying information is not disclosed unless essential for scientific purposes. Maintaining the consent letter ensures compliance with ethical standards while facilitating the dissemination of important medical knowledge.

Conflict Responsibility

In case of any dispute or conflict regarding patient consent or publication:

• Authors are fully responsible for obtaining informed consent and addressing any patient concerns.
• The journal acts as a supervisory and advisory body, ensuring ethical compliance but does not assume liability for conflicts arising from missing or improperly obtained consent.
• Authors may be required to provide documentation or take corrective actions, such as anonymizing data or withdrawing the article if ethical concerns are raised.