Ethical Considerations, Scientific Integrity, and Protection of Research Participants

The Revista de Enfermería del Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social requires all research submitted for evaluation to comply with the principles of scientific integrity, respect for human dignity, protection of privacy, methodological transparency, social responsibility, and adherence to applicable national and international regulations. The authors bear primary responsibility for the ethical conduct of the study, the accuracy and integrity of the data, the procurement of institutional authorizations, and the appropriate protection of the individuals, communities, or animals involved.

Protection of Human Research Participants

Studies involving human participants, medical records, biological samples, personal data, images, interviews, questionnaires, participant observation, or educational, clinical, community-based, or care-related interventions must comply with the Declaration of Helsinki, the Reglamento de la Ley General de Salud en Materia de Investigación para la Salud, and all applicable local legislation.
The manuscript must state, within the Methods section, the name of the ethics, research, or bioethics committee that reviewed the protocol; the approval or registration number; the date of the committee’s decision; and the institution responsible for the review. The journal may request a copy of the approval decision, exemption letter, or supplementary documentation whenever deemed necessary.
Research conducted outside Mexico must comply with the legislation of the country in which the study was performed, in addition to observing international standards for the protection of research participants.
Research must not compromise the care, safety, dignity, rights, privacy, or well-being of patients, family members, caregivers, healthcare personnel, students, communities, or any other participating individuals.
In studies involving populations in situations of vulnerability—including children, adolescents, older adults, persons with disabilities, hospitalized patients, institutionalized individuals, Indigenous communities, caregivers experiencing burden, or groups subject to hierarchical dependency—their inclusion must be justified, the safeguards implemented must be described, and informed consent, assent, or authorization from a legally authorized representative must be documented, as applicable.

Informed Consent, Privacy, and Confidentiality

Authors must state whether informed consent was obtained in writing, electronically, or through another procedure authorized by the corresponding committee. When informed consent was waived, the waiver must be explicitly justified and approved by the competent committee.
For clinical cases, experience reports, photographs, videos, audio recordings, testimonies, care narratives, or any other potentially identifiable material, specific consent for publication must be obtained, even when names or other direct identifiers have been omitted.
Manuscripts must not contain names, initials, medical record numbers, exact dates, unnecessary geographic information, facial images, institutional codes, or other elements that may directly or indirectly identify participants, unless explicit authorization has been obtained and sufficient editorial justification is provided.
Databases, transcripts, research instruments, clinical records, and other materials derived from the research must be stored and protected in accordance with applicable regulations governing personal data protection, institutional confidentiality, and information security.

Protection of Animals Used in Research

Studies involving animals must comply with applicable national regulations, particularly NOM-062-ZOO-1999, concerning the technical specifications for the production, care, and use of laboratory animals, as well as with all current institutional and legal requirements.
The manuscript must state the name of the institutional committee responsible for the ethical review of animal use, the approval or registration number, the date of the committee’s decision, and the measures adopted to safeguard animal welfare.
Authors must justify the species and number of animals used, the procedures performed, the methods of anesthesia and analgesia, monitoring procedures, humane endpoints, and euthanasia methods, when applicable.
The research must observe the principles of replacement, reduction, and refinement, as well as the ARRIVE recommendations for the transparent reporting of in vivo studies.

Registration of Clinical Trials and Intervention Studies

Clinical trials and health intervention studies—including those involving nursing, health education, self-care, health promotion, rehabilitation, treatment adherence, family care, or community-based interventions—must be registered in a recognized public registry before recruitment of the first participant, whenever required by the study design.
The manuscript must include the name of the registry, the registration or identification number, the registration date, and a link to the corresponding registry record. Failure to register the study must be explicitly justified and may result in an editorial query or request for clarification.

Reporting Guidelines and Methodological Transparency

The journal recommends that manuscripts be prepared in accordance with the international reporting guidelines applicable to the study design. The following checklists, among others, may be requested: CONSORT for clinical trials, STROBE for observational studies, PRISMA for systematic reviews and meta-analyses, CARE for clinical case reports, COREQ or SRQR for qualitative research, SQUIRE for quality improvement studies, TIDieR for the description of interventions, and ARRIVE for animal research. The journal may require the corresponding completed checklist as a supplementary document during the editorial process.