The Moroccan Forensic & Law Journal (MOFORL) is committed to maintaining high standards of ethical conduct in the research it publishes. Research involving human participants, human biological material, or identifiable human data must be conducted in accordance with internationally accepted ethical principles, including the World Medical Association (WMA) Declaration of Helsinki – Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Participants, as revised in 2024, as well as applicable national legislation, institutional policies, and regulatory requirements.
Research Involving Human Participants
For research involving human participants, identifiable human biological material, or identifiable health data, authors must state whether the study protocol was reviewed and approved by an appropriate independent Research Ethics Committee (REC), Institutional Review Board (IRB), or equivalent ethics body.
The manuscript should clearly provide, where applicable:
- the name of the approving ethics committee or review body;
- the ethics approval or reference number;
- confirmation that the research was conducted in accordance with relevant ethical standards and applicable legislation; and
- information regarding informed consent or, where applicable, an ethically approved waiver or exemption from consent.
If formal ethics approval was not required, authors must clearly state this and provide the reason, together with the relevant institutional, legal, or regulatory basis, where applicable.
If there is uncertainty regarding the ethical acceptability of a study or particular aspects of its methodology, authors must explain the circumstances and demonstrate that the relevant ethics committee or institutional review body reviewed and approved the aspects concerned.
MOFORL reserves the right to request documentation of ethical approval, exemption, waiver, authorization, or informed consent at any stage of the editorial or publication process.
Informed Consent for Research Participation
Participation in research must be voluntary, and informed consent should be obtained from research participants whenever required by applicable ethical and legal standards.
Participants should receive appropriate information regarding the purpose and procedures of the research, foreseeable risks and benefits, measures taken to protect confidentiality, and their right to decline participation or withdraw where applicable.
Any waiver or modification of the requirement for informed consent must have appropriate ethical and legal justification and, where required, approval from the competent ethics committee or institutional review body.
Patient Privacy and Confidentiality
The privacy and confidentiality of patients and research participants must be protected.
Information capable of identifying an individual—including names, initials, hospital or medical-record numbers, exact addresses, or other unique identifiers—must not be published in written descriptions, photographs, figures, pedigrees, tables, supplementary material, or other content unless the information is scientifically essential and appropriate written informed consent for publication has been obtained.
Non-essential identifying information must be omitted.
When there is any doubt as to whether anonymity can be adequately maintained, informed consent for publication should be obtained.
Simply obscuring or masking the eye region of a patient’s photograph is not considered sufficient protection of anonymity when the individual may otherwise remain identifiable.
If identifying characteristics are modified or removed to protect anonymity, authors must ensure that these modifications do not alter, distort, or misrepresent the scientific meaning of the information presented.
Consent for Publication
When a manuscript contains information, photographs, radiological images, pedigrees, clinical details, or other material through which an individual could reasonably be identified, authors must obtain appropriate written informed consent for publication from the individual concerned or, where applicable, from a legally authorized representative.
The individual providing consent should be informed that the material may be published online and may therefore become publicly accessible worldwide after publication.
Where appropriate, an identifiable patient should be given the opportunity to review the material intended for publication.
Authors should retain the original consent documentation securely and must be able to confirm its existence to the Editorial Office upon request.
To protect patient confidentiality, authors should not routinely submit documents containing patient-identifying information to the journal unless specifically requested through an appropriate confidential procedure.
When informed consent for publication has been obtained, an appropriate statement should be included in the published manuscript.
Case Reports and Case Series
For case reports and case series, authors must ensure that patient confidentiality and privacy are adequately protected.
Written informed consent for publication must be obtained whenever the patient could reasonably be identified from the clinical information, photographs, imaging findings, pedigrees, dates, circumstances, or other information presented in the manuscript.
Authors should include only information that is scientifically relevant and should avoid unnecessary details that could enable identification of the patient or their relatives.
Where the patient is a minor, lacks decision-making capacity, is deceased, or is otherwise unable to provide consent, authors must comply with applicable legislation, institutional requirements, ethical guidance, and requirements concerning authorization from an appropriate parent, guardian, legal representative, or other authorized person, as applicable.
Research Involving Deceased Persons, Autopsy Material, and Medico-Legal Data
Given the specific scope of the Moroccan Forensic & Law Journal, particular attention must be given to research involving deceased persons, forensic autopsies, post-mortem biological material, medico-legal records, judicial case files, photographs, radiological examinations, histological material, and other post-mortem data.
Such research must comply with applicable national legislation, judicial requirements, institutional policies, confidentiality obligations, and relevant ethical standards.
Authors must clearly state, where applicable, whether ethical review, institutional authorization, judicial authorization, consent, exemption, waiver, or another form of approval was required and obtained.
Where ethical review was considered unnecessary or an exemption was granted, this should be clearly stated and appropriately justified.
The fact that an autopsy, examination, or collection of material was performed under judicial or medico-legal authority does not, by itself, remove the obligation to protect confidentiality or to comply with applicable ethical and legal requirements governing the secondary use of data or biological material for research and publication.
Authors must take particular care to avoid publishing unnecessary circumstantial, personal, familial, geographical, photographic, or administrative information that could permit identification of the deceased person or their relatives.
Retrospective Studies and Medical or Medico-Legal Records
Studies based on retrospective review of medical records, medico-legal files, autopsy reports, databases, archived specimens, or other previously collected material must comply with applicable institutional, ethical, and legal requirements.
Authors should state whether approval or exemption was obtained from an appropriate ethics committee or institutional authority and whether individual informed consent was required, waived, or considered not applicable.
All data should be appropriately anonymized or de-identified whenever possible, and access to confidential information must be restricted to authorized persons.
Ethical Approval Statement
Where applicable, manuscripts should contain an Ethics Approval or equivalent statement specifying:
- the name of the approving ethics committee or institutional review body;
- the approval or reference number, where available;
- the relevant ethical framework under which the study was conducted; and
- whether informed consent was obtained, waived, or considered not applicable.
Authors must not claim ethical approval, informed consent, exemption, waiver, institutional authorization, or judicial authorization unless it was actually obtained.
Consent for Publication Statement
Where applicable, authors should include a separate Consent for Publication statement.
Examples include:
“Written informed consent for publication was obtained from the patient.”
or, where applicable:
“Written informed consent for publication was obtained from the patient’s legally authorized representative.”
When consent for publication is not required or is not applicable, authors should provide an appropriate statement explaining the basis for this determination when relevant.
Editorial Oversight
Ethical approval by an institutional or independent review body does not prevent the editors of MOFORL from independently evaluating whether the ethical conduct, protection of participants, confidentiality safeguards, and reporting of a submitted study are appropriate for publication.
MOFORL may request additional information or documentation when ethical issues require clarification.
The journal reserves the right to reject, suspend the evaluation of, retract, or take other appropriate editorial action regarding manuscripts when serious concerns arise regarding:
- protection of research participants;
- informed consent;
- consent for publication;
- patient or participant confidentiality;
- ethical approval;
- inappropriate use of human biological material or data;
- research involving deceased persons or medico-legal material; or
- compliance with applicable ethical, institutional, judicial, or legal requirements.
Ethical Responsibility of Authors
Authors are responsible for ensuring that their research and manuscripts comply with applicable ethical, scientific, legal, institutional, and professional standards.
Ethical information provided to MOFORL must be accurate, complete, and transparent.
Ethical approval, informed consent, consent for publication, exemptions, waivers, institutional authorizations, and judicial authorizations must never be stated or implied unless they were actually obtained.
Where circumstances differ from conventional biomedical research—for example, forensic investigations, judicial autopsies, retrospective medico-legal studies, or research involving deceased persons—authors should transparently describe the ethical and legal framework applicable to their work rather than making inappropriate or unsupported declarations of consent or ethical approval.
International Ethical Standards
MOFORL’s research ethics policy is informed by internationally recognized standards, particularly:
- World Medical Association (WMA). Declaration of Helsinki – Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Participants. Current revision: 2024.
- International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals – Protection of Research Participants.
Authors are expected to comply with the most recent applicable versions of these standards, together with relevant national legislation and institutional requirements.