Human and Animal Ethics Policy

Civil Engineering Science and Technology (CEST) is committed to ensuring that all published research involving human participants or animals is conducted responsibly, ethically, and in accordance with internationally accepted ethical principles and applicable institutional or national regulations. Authors are responsible for ensuring that all necessary ethical approvals have been obtained before conducting the research and that the rights, dignity, welfare, privacy, and safety of research participants and animals have been appropriately protected.

Research Involving Human Participants

Research involving human participants includes, but is not limited to:

  • Surveys and questionnaires;
  • Interviews;
  • Focus group discussions;
  • Expert judgment or Delphi studies;
  • Observational studies involving identifiable individuals;
  • User experience or usability studies;
  • Community engagement or participatory research;
  • Collection of personal or sensitive information.

Where applicable, authors must confirm that the study received approval from an appropriate ethics committee or institutional review board (IRB) prior to data collection.

The manuscript should identify:

  • The name of the approving institution or ethics committee;
  • The approval or reference number, where available.

Informed Consent

Where research involves identifiable individuals or the collection of personal information, authors must confirm that informed consent was obtained from all participants before participation. When photographs, videos, or other identifying materials are included, authors must ensure that appropriate permission has been obtained prior to publication.

Privacy and Confidentiality

Authors are responsible for protecting the privacy and confidentiality of research participants. Personally identifiable information should not be published unless explicit consent has been obtained or disclosure is required by law. Where appropriate, datasets should be anonymized before publication. 

Research Involving Animals

Although animal-based research is uncommon within the scope of CEST, manuscripts involving animals must comply with internationally accepted standards for animal welfare and ethical research.

Authors should confirm that:

  • Appropriate ethical approval was obtained before the research commenced.
  • Animal use complied with institutional and national regulations.
  • Every reasonable effort was made to minimize animal suffering and reduce unnecessary use of animals.

Exemption from Ethical Approval

Certain studies may not require formal ethical approval under applicable institutional or national regulations. Examples may include:

  • Reviews and literature studies;
  • Numerical simulations;
  • Computational modelling;
  • Finite Element Analysis (FEA);
  • Building Information Modeling (BIM);
  • Laboratory testing that does not involve humans or animals;
  • Studies using publicly available or fully anonymized datasets.

Where ethical approval is not required, authors are encouraged to include a brief statement explaining the reason.

Editorial Assessment

The editorial office may request additional information regarding ethical approval, informed consent, or participant protection whenever clarification is considered necessary. Where concerns arise, the manuscript may undergo additional ethical review before an editorial decision is made. Failure to provide adequate ethical documentation may result in rejection or other editorial action in accordance with the journal's Publication Ethics and Research Misconduct Policy.

Responsibility of Authors

Authors remain fully responsible for ensuring that their research complies with all applicable ethical, institutional, legal, and regulatory requirements. Submission of a manuscript to CEST constitutes confirmation that the reported research was conducted ethically and that all required approvals and permissions have been obtained before the study was undertaken.

Policy Compliance

By submitting a manuscript to CEST, authors acknowledge and agree to comply with this Human and Animal Ethics Policy. The journal reserves the right to request supporting documentation relating to ethical approval or informed consent at any stage of the editorial or publication process.