Ethical Oversight Policy

The Journal of Responsible AI & Ethics (JRAIE) is committed to protecting the rights, dignity, safety, privacy, and legitimate interests of individuals, communities, and other research subjects represented in scholarly work submitted to the journal. Ethical oversight forms an integral part of the journal's editorial assessment and applies wherever research methods, data sources, technologies, interventions, or publication practices raise material ethical considerations.

The journal expects research to have been conducted in accordance with applicable institutional, national, professional, disciplinary, and legal requirements. Authors are responsible for identifying the ethical obligations relevant to their research and for providing sufficient information to allow editors and reviewers to assess whether those obligations have been appropriately addressed.

JRAIE's approach to ethical oversight is informed by recognized principles of responsible scholarly publishing and relevant guidance concerning human-participant research, informed consent, privacy, vulnerable populations, confidential information, research integrity, and responsible publication practices.

1. Purpose of Ethical Oversight

The purpose of ethical oversight is to ensure that research considered for publication has been conducted and reported with appropriate regard for the rights and welfare of research participants, affected communities, data subjects, and other stakeholders.

Ethical oversight also helps ensure that potentially harmful research practices, inappropriate use of personal information, inadequate consent procedures, unjustified risks, discriminatory practices, or other ethical concerns are identified during editorial evaluation.

Acceptance for peer review or publication does not remove the authors' responsibility for the ethical conduct of their research.

2. Scope of the Policy

This policy applies to research involving or materially affecting:

• Human participants

• Personal or identifiable information

• Interviews, surveys, questionnaires, and focus groups

• Behavioral or observational research

• Social-media or online-community data

• Clinical, health, or biometric information

• Vulnerable or potentially vulnerable populations

• Sensitive demographic or socioeconomic information

• Artificial intelligence systems using human-derived data

• Automated profiling or algorithmic decision-making

• Surveillance or monitoring technologies

• Research involving animals, where applicable

• Confidential organizational or institutional data

• Indigenous, marginalized, or historically disadvantaged communities

• Research capable of creating significant societal, safety, privacy, or discrimination risks

The journal may also apply ethical oversight to other research where the methodology, data source, subject matter, or potential consequences raise legitimate ethical concerns.

3. Institutional Ethics Approval

Research involving human participants or other activities requiring formal ethical review should receive approval from an appropriate Institutional Review Board (IRB), Research Ethics Committee (REC), Institutional Ethics Committee (IEC), or equivalent authorized body before the research is conducted.

Where ethics approval is required, authors should identify the approving institution or committee in the manuscript and provide the approval or reference number where available.

The ethics statement should contain sufficient information for readers and editors to understand the nature of the approval without unnecessarily disclosing confidential information.

4. Research Exempt From Formal Ethics Review

Certain research activities may be exempt from formal ethics review under applicable institutional or national rules.

Where authors state that ethics approval was not required, they should provide an appropriate explanation where the research would otherwise reasonably appear to involve human participants, personal information, or ethically sensitive methods.

Where available, authors may be asked to provide documentation confirming an exemption or determination from the appropriate institutional authority.

An author's personal assessment that research is "low risk" does not automatically replace institutional ethics requirements where formal review is required.

5. Informed Consent to Participate

Where informed consent is required, researchers should obtain appropriate consent from participants before participation in the research.

Consent procedures should be proportionate to the nature of the study and should provide participants with sufficient information to make an informed decision about participation.

Depending on the research design, relevant information may include:

• Purpose of the research

• Nature of participation

• Expected duration

• Data to be collected

• Potential risks or disadvantages

• Anticipated benefits

• Privacy and confidentiality arrangements

• Voluntary nature of participation

• Right to decline or withdraw where applicable

• Intended use of collected information

• Potential publication or data-sharing arrangements

Authors should describe the consent process in the manuscript where it is relevant to evaluation of the research.

6. Consent for Publication

Consent to participate in research and consent to publish identifiable information are distinct considerations.

Where a manuscript contains information, photographs, recordings, images, quotations, case descriptions, biometric information, or other material that could reasonably identify an individual, authors should obtain appropriate consent for publication where required.

Removing a participant's name may not be sufficient where contextual details could still permit identification.

Authors should minimize unnecessary identifying information and should not publish sensitive personal details solely because they were available to the researchers.

7. Privacy and Confidentiality

Researchers must handle personal, confidential, and sensitive information responsibly.

Manuscripts should not disclose information that could unnecessarily compromise participant privacy, institutional confidentiality, commercial confidentiality, or legitimate data-protection obligations.

Where data have been anonymized or de-identified, authors should avoid claims of complete anonymity where re-identification remains reasonably possible.

Editors may request clarification regarding privacy safeguards where the nature of the data creates substantial confidentiality concerns.

8. Vulnerable Populations

Research involving vulnerable or potentially vulnerable individuals or communities requires particular ethical care.

Depending on the context, vulnerability may arise from age, disability, health status, socioeconomic circumstances, institutional dependence, unequal power relationships, displacement, limited autonomy, legal status, or other circumstances that may affect an individual's ability to make fully voluntary decisions.

Authors should explain appropriate safeguards where the study involves populations whose participation may require additional ethical protection.

Researchers should avoid exploitative recruitment, coercive participation, inappropriate incentives, stigmatizing representations, or research practices that expose vulnerable populations to disproportionate risk.

9. Children and Minors

Research involving children or minors should comply with applicable ethical and legal requirements.

Where required, appropriate permission from a parent, guardian, or legally authorized representative should be obtained together with assent from the minor when the participant's age and capacity make assent appropriate.

Authors should describe relevant consent, assent, privacy, and safeguarding arrangements in the manuscript.

10. Research Using Online and Social-Media Data

The public accessibility of online information does not automatically eliminate ethical responsibilities associated with its collection, analysis, or publication.

Research involving social-media content, online forums, digital communities, user-generated content, or other internet-based data should consider:

• Reasonable expectations of privacy

• Terms governing data access

• Sensitivity of the information

• Potential for user identification or re-identification

• Vulnerability of individuals or communities

• Potential harm resulting from publication

• Whether consent is ethically or legally required

• Appropriate anonymization or paraphrasing

Authors should describe ethically significant decisions concerning online data where these decisions affect interpretation of the study.

11. Artificial Intelligence and Human-Derived Data

Research involving artificial intelligence systems frequently relies on data derived directly or indirectly from individuals. Authors should consider whether the collection, processing, training, evaluation, or reuse of such data creates ethical obligations.

Relevant considerations may include:

• Lawful and ethical provenance of datasets

• Consent for data collection or secondary use

• Privacy and confidentiality

• Re-identification risk

• Sensitive attributes

• Representativeness of datasets

• Historical or structural bias

• Exclusion or underrepresentation

• Data ownership and access rights

• Appropriate documentation of dataset limitations

The availability of a dataset online does not by itself establish that every form of reuse is ethically appropriate.

12. Algorithmic Bias, Fairness, and Discrimination

Where research develops, evaluates, or applies AI systems to individuals or groups, authors should consider the potential for algorithmic bias and discriminatory effects.

Claims that an AI system is "fair," "unbiased," "equitable," or "nondiscriminatory" should be supported by clearly defined criteria and appropriate evidence.

Where demographic or protected characteristics are relevant to the analysis, authors should explain how those variables were collected, categorized, evaluated, or protected.

Research should acknowledge significant limitations where the available data do not permit a comprehensive assessment of fairness across relevant populations.

13. Automated Decision-Making and Human Oversight

Research involving automated or AI-assisted decisions that may materially affect individuals should describe the role of human judgment and oversight where relevant.

Examples may include AI systems used in:

• Healthcare

• Recruitment

• Education

• Financial services

• Credit assessment

• Insurance

• Criminal justice

• Public administration

• Employee monitoring

• Social services

• Biometric identification

• Content moderation

Authors should avoid overstating the suitability of automated systems for high-impact decisions where human oversight, contextual judgment, or procedural safeguards remain necessary.

14. AI Safety and Potential Misuse

Research involving advanced AI capabilities may raise concerns regarding misuse, security, safety, or foreseeable harmful applications.

Authors should consider whether publication of particular technical information could create substantial and reasonably foreseeable risks.

Where appropriate, manuscripts should discuss relevant safeguards, limitations, risk-mitigation strategies, or responsible-use considerations.

Ethical oversight should not be used to suppress legitimate scholarly inquiry, but authors and editors should consider whether the manner in which sensitive capabilities are described creates avoidable harm.

15. Surveillance, Profiling, and Monitoring Research

Research involving surveillance technologies, facial recognition, behavioral monitoring, workplace analytics, biometric systems, location tracking, predictive profiling, or similar technologies should address significant ethical implications where relevant.

Authors should consider:

• Privacy intrusion

• Consent

• Proportionality

• Data retention

• Purpose limitation

• Misclassification

• Discriminatory outcomes

• Power imbalances

• Human oversight

• Potential chilling effects

• Consequences of erroneous predictions

Technical accuracy alone should not be treated as sufficient evidence that a surveillance or profiling application is ethically acceptable.

16. Sensitive and Confidential Data

Research involving medical, biometric, financial, legal, educational, employment, political, or other sensitive information should implement safeguards proportionate to the sensitivity of the data.

Authors should avoid publishing raw or detailed information that could expose individuals to harm, discrimination, stigmatization, financial loss, legal consequences, or other foreseeable adverse effects.

Where access to underlying data must be restricted for legitimate ethical or legal reasons, those restrictions should be explained through an appropriate data-availability statement.

17. Secondary Use of Existing Data

Secondary analysis of previously collected data should comply with applicable ethical, legal, and contractual requirements.

Authors should consider whether the intended secondary use is consistent with:

• Original consent

• Dataset licensing conditions

• Institutional permissions

• Privacy protections

• Data-use agreements

• Applicable legal restrictions

• Expectations of affected individuals or communities

Where formal ethics review is required for secondary analysis, appropriate approval should be obtained.

18. Web Scraping and Automated Data Collection

Research involving web scraping, automated extraction, crawling, or large-scale collection of digital information should consider the ethical implications of the data-acquisition method.

Authors should consider whether the collection involves:

• Personal information

• Sensitive data

• Restricted platforms

• Private or semi-private spaces

• Vulnerable users

• Circumvention of technical controls

• Material risk of re-identification

• Significant privacy expectations

Authors should describe ethically relevant data-collection practices where necessary for appropriate evaluation of the research.

19. Indigenous and Community-Based Research

Research involving Indigenous peoples, traditional knowledge, local communities, or culturally sensitive information should respect applicable community rights, cultural expectations, governance arrangements, and ethical standards.

Where community consultation, permission, benefit sharing, or specialized consent procedures are relevant, authors should describe these appropriately.

Researchers should avoid extracting culturally sensitive knowledge or community data without appropriate consideration of ownership, attribution, confidentiality, and potential consequences.

20. Research Involving Animals

Where a manuscript reports research involving animals, the work should comply with applicable institutional, national, and disciplinary requirements for animal welfare and ethical research.

Authors should report relevant ethical approval or authorization where required and should describe measures taken to minimize unnecessary pain, suffering, distress, or harm.

Animal research should be scientifically justified and conducted according to appropriate welfare standards.

21. Clinical and Health-Related Research

Where manuscripts concern clinical, medical, behavioral-health, or other health-related research involving human participants, authors should comply with applicable ethics-review, informed-consent, confidentiality, and reporting requirements.

Where prospective registration of a clinical or intervention study is required under applicable standards, authors should provide relevant registration information.

The journal may request supporting documentation where questions arise regarding the ethical authorization of health-related research.

22. Case Reports and Identifiable Cases

Case reports or other descriptions of identifiable individuals require careful attention to privacy and publication consent.

Authors should remove unnecessary identifying details and obtain appropriate consent for publication where required.

Alteration of factual information solely to disguise identity should be avoided where doing so could compromise the accuracy of the scholarly record.

23. Ethical Use of Images, Audio, and Video

Images, audio recordings, videos, screenshots, or other media containing identifiable individuals should be used only when their inclusion is academically justified and consistent with applicable consent and privacy requirements.

Authors should not assume that publication of an image on a public digital platform automatically permits unrestricted scholarly republication.

Where appropriate, written permission or consent should be obtained.

24. Research Conducted Without Appropriate Ethical Approval

If the journal identifies a credible concern that research requiring ethics approval was conducted without appropriate authorization, editorial processing may be suspended while the matter is evaluated.

Authors may be asked to provide:

• Ethics approval documentation

• Exemption documentation

• Institutional correspondence

• Consent documentation

• Research protocols

• Other relevant records

The journal will consider the circumstances of the research, applicable standards at the time it was conducted, and the seriousness of the ethical concern before determining further editorial action.

Retrospective ethics approval does not automatically resolve concerns arising from research that should have received prospective review.

25. Editorial Assessment of Ethical Concerns

Editors may seek additional information whenever a manuscript raises significant ethical questions.

Where necessary, the journal may consult independent experts, ethics specialists, members of the editorial board, or relevant institutions while protecting appropriate confidentiality.

Editorial assessment may consider both formal ethics approval and the substantive ethical conduct of the research.

An approval certificate does not prevent editors from raising legitimate ethical concerns where the reported research appears inconsistent with responsible research practices.

26. Role of Peer Reviewers

Reviewers are encouraged to identify ethical issues that may affect the validity, acceptability, or responsible reporting of a manuscript.

Potential concerns may include:

• Missing ethics approval

• Inadequate consent

• Unnecessary disclosure of personal information

• Unclear data provenance

• Potentially discriminatory methods

• Inappropriate treatment of vulnerable populations

• Undisclosed risks

• Questions concerning research integrity

• Unsupported claims of ethical or responsible AI

Reviewers should communicate such concerns confidentially to the responsible editor rather than independently investigating authors or participants.

27. Ethical Concerns Identified After Publication

Ethical responsibility continues after an article has been published.

Where credible concerns arise regarding participant protection, informed consent, privacy, research approval, data provenance, or other significant ethical matters, the journal may initiate an appropriate post-publication assessment.

Authors may be asked to provide supporting information or documentation.

Depending on the seriousness and outcome of the assessment, the journal may issue a correction, clarification, expression of concern, retraction, or other appropriate editorial notice.

28. Cooperation With Institutions

Certain ethical concerns may require investigation by the institution or organization responsible for overseeing the research.

Where appropriate, the journal may communicate with an author's institution, ethics committee, research organization, funding body, or another responsible authority.

The journal does not ordinarily replace institutional investigations where those institutions have greater authority, access to evidence, or responsibility for determining research misconduct or ethics violations.

The journal may nevertheless take independent editorial action where necessary to protect the reliability of its published record.

29. Protection Against Retaliation and Unnecessary Disclosure

Individuals raising ethical concerns in good faith should be treated fairly and their information should be handled with appropriate confidentiality.

The journal will seek to avoid unnecessary disclosure of identities or allegations during the assessment of ethical concerns.

At the same time, anonymity should not be used to support knowingly false, malicious, or abusive allegations.

Editorial decisions should be based on available evidence rather than the identity or status of the person raising a concern.

30. Ethical Responsibility of Authors

Authors bear primary responsibility for ensuring that their research complies with relevant ethical requirements.

Authors should not rely solely on journal review to identify ethical deficiencies that should have been addressed during research design or conduct.

The corresponding author should ensure that relevant ethics information is accurately reported, while each co-author remains responsible for the integrity of their own contribution and for raising concerns about ethical matters known to them.

31. Transparency in Ethical Statements

Where ethical oversight is applicable, manuscripts should contain an appropriately detailed ethics statement.

Depending on the research, the statement may identify:

• Name of the approving ethics committee

• Approval or reference number

• Consent procedures

• Exemption status

• Participant-protection measures

• Privacy safeguards

• Data-governance arrangements

• Relevant regulatory requirements

Statements should be accurate and sufficiently specific to permit appropriate scholarly evaluation.

32. No Ethics Approval Required Statement

Where research does not involve activities requiring formal ethics approval, authors may provide an appropriate statement when relevant.

An example may be:

Ethics Statement: Ethical approval was not required for this study because it did not involve human participants, identifiable personal data, animals, or other activities requiring institutional ethical review.

Authors should adapt such a statement to the actual design of their study and should not use standardized wording where it does not accurately describe the research.

33. Human-Participant Ethics Statement

Where ethics approval and consent were required, a declaration may include information such as:

Ethics Approval: The study involving human participants was reviewed and approved by the appropriate institutional ethics committee. Informed consent was obtained from participants in accordance with applicable ethical requirements.

The actual committee name, approval number, and applicable information should be provided where available and appropriate.

Authors must not fabricate ethics approval numbers, committee names, or consent information.

34. Relationship With Other Journal Policies

This Ethical Oversight Policy should be read together with the journal's policies concerning:

• Publication Ethics and Malpractice

• Research Misconduct

• Authorship

• Conflicts of Interest

• Research Data Sharing

• Data Availability

• Generative Artificial Intelligence

• Plagiarism

• Corrections and Retractions

• Complaints and Appeals

• Privacy and Confidentiality

Where more than one policy applies to an ethical concern, the journal may consider the matter under all relevant policies.

35. Commitment to Responsible Ethical Oversight

The Journal of Responsible AI & Ethics (JRAIE) recognizes that ethical research requires more than procedural compliance. Responsible research also requires consideration of the potential consequences of research methods, technologies, datasets, interpretations, and publication practices for individuals and society.

The journal therefore seeks to evaluate ethical issues in context, with attention to participant rights, privacy, fairness, transparency, proportionality, human dignity, responsible use of artificial intelligence, and preservation of the integrity of the scholarly record.

JRAIE expects authors, reviewers, editors, and the publisher to contribute to a publication environment in which ethical concerns can be identified, evaluated, and addressed through fair, evidence-based, and transparent editorial procedures.