Q: The ethical approval for my study is not ready. What should I do?

Detailed Question -

I have a question on ethical approval. My paper is ready for submission, but I am a bit lost as my ethical approval is not ready. How should I prepare it?

1 Answer to this question
Answer:

I’m not sure if you are referring to the ethical approval form of the journal or the ethical approval statement from an authorized ethics body. The ethical approval statement from the concerned ethics committee should be ready with you because you have already conducted the study. The ethical approval is supposed to be obtained before the study begins. For all indexed journals that I’ve come across, it is mandatory for every submission to include an ethical approval statement. I am not sure if any journal would be ready to accept a submission that does not include the ethics approval.

If you are referring to the ethical approval form, each journal has a specific form for submitting the ethical approval. You have to download the form and fill out the details. Some journals do not provide a form. In such a case, you can write to the editor and ask him how he wants you to submit the ethical approval statement.