Ethical Requirements for Research Involving Human Participants

Geliotekhnika primarily publishes research in solar energy, photovoltaic systems, solar thermal technologies, energy storage, materials science, modelling, and related engineering disciplines.

Some studies may involve human participants, including research on thermal and visual comfort in buildings, energy-use behaviour, usability of solar-energy systems, human–technology interaction, operator safety, professional assessment, engineering education, questionnaires, interviews, observations, or measurements related to human activity.

These requirements supplement the journal’s Research Ethics Policy and establish specific procedures for research involving human participants.

Ethics Approval

Authors must ensure that research involving human participants complies with applicable national law, institutional rules, and ethical requirements.

Where required, approval must be obtained from an authorised ethics committee or institutional body before the research begins. Retrospective approval does not normally replace approval that should have been obtained before the study commenced.

The manuscript must state:

• the full name of the approving institution or ethics committee;

• the approval or reference number, where available;

• the approval date, where relevant;

• whether informed consent was obtained;

• the authority and basis for any waiver of consent.

Recommended statement:

Ethics approval: The study was approved by [name of institution or ethics committee], approval number [number].

Where formal approval was not required, authors may state:

Ethics approval: Formal ethics approval was not required for this study under the applicable institutional and national requirements.

A statement that approval was not required must have a clear basis. Where uncertainty exists, authors should obtain a written determination from the competent authority or ethics committee before starting the research.

Participant Information and Voluntary Participation

Participation must be voluntary. Potential participants must receive understandable information about:

• the purpose of the research and who is conducting it;

• the procedures and duration of participation;

• the data to be collected and the purposes for which they will be used;

• possible risks, inconvenience, and expected benefits;

• who may receive the data and how long the data will be retained;

• the right to decline participation or withdraw without adverse consequences;

• contact details for questions, complaints, or withdrawal of consent.

Consent obtained through pressure, coercion, deception, or excessive inducement is not valid.

Informed Consent

Where required, free and informed consent must be obtained from each participant before the research begins. Consent should normally be documented in writing or through a reliable electronic process.

Oral consent may be used only where permitted by the applicable requirements and the ethics committee and must be appropriately documented.

Recommended statement:

Consent to participate: Voluntary informed consent was obtained from all participants before their participation in the study.

Where the ethics committee has waived the requirement for consent, the manuscript must identify the approving authority and the basis for the waiver.

Participant Safety and Risk Minimisation

The research design must identify and minimise, as far as possible, physical, psychological, occupational, social, economic, and technical risks to participants.

Authors must:

• avoid exposing participants to unjustified electrical, thermal, optical, mechanical, or chemical hazards;

• verify the safety of experimental equipment and the testing environment;

• provide necessary protective equipment, monitoring, and emergency procedures;

• document adverse events and report them to the appropriate authority;

• ensure that risks are not disproportionate to the expected scientific benefit.

A participant’s usual employment duties or workplace relationship do not reduce the applicable safety requirements.

Privacy, Confidentiality, and Personal Data Protection

Authors must protect participants’ privacy, confidentiality, and personal data.

The following principles must be observed:

• collect only data necessary for the research;

• anonymise or pseudonymise the data;

• store identifiers separately from research data;

• restrict access to authorised persons;

• use secure storage, transfer, and deletion procedures;

• do not use data beyond the purposes specified in the consent and approved protocol;

• assess the risk of re-identification.

Identifiable data must not be deposited in an open repository unless explicit consent, a lawful basis, and appropriate safeguards are in place.

Vulnerable Participants

Additional safeguards are required where research involves:

• minors;

• persons with limited decision-making capacity;

• participants facing language or literacy barriers;

• economically or socially dependent persons;

• employees, students, or persons in a subordinate relationship;

• other groups who may experience pressure when deciding whether to participate.

Consent from a parent, guardian, or legally authorised representative must be obtained where required. Where the participant is able to understand the decision, their assent should also be obtained and their refusal must be respected.

Workplace Participants and Dependent Relationships

Research involving employees, operators, students, or persons who are professionally, economically, or educationally dependent on an author must specifically assess the imbalance of power.

Declining participation or withdrawing from the study must not adversely affect employment, grades, professional status, pay, or other rights. Where possible, recruitment and consent should be managed by an independent person who does not directly supervise the participants.

Any incentive or compensation must be disclosed and must not be coercive.

Online Surveys and Remote Research

Research conducted through online questionnaires, remote interviews, mobile applications, sensors, or digital platforms is subject to the same ethical, consent, and data-protection requirements.

Authors must:

• display the consent information before the survey or data collection begins;

• disclose additional technical data collected by the platform;

• limit the collection of IP addresses, location data, device identifiers, and other hidden metadata;

• assess the privacy and security terms of the services used;

• not transmit personal data to artificial-intelligence tools or third-party platforms without authorisation.

Consent for Publication

Where an identifiable photograph, video, audio recording, individual quotation, detailed case description, or other identifiable material is published, explicit consent for publication must be obtained in addition to consent to participate.

Removing a name or obscuring a face does not always ensure full anonymity. Authors must also consider possible identification through context, occupation, location, a unique situation, or a combination of data.

Recommended statement:

Consent for publication: Written consent was obtained from the relevant participant or participants for publication of the identifiable material included in this article.

Research Not Involving Human Participants

Where a study does not involve human participants, personal data, questionnaires, interviews, usability testing, professional observations, or human-related measurements, authors may state:

Research involving human participants: Not applicable.

Use of publicly available and fully anonymised data does not automatically mean that ethics approval is unnecessary. Authors must assess the origin of the data, the conditions of use, and the risk of re-identification.

Editorial Review and Non-Compliance

The journal may request that authors confidentially provide ethics approval, a consent form, a participant information sheet, a data-protection plan, or other supporting documents.

Research that does not comply with applicable ethical requirements may be:

• returned for explanation or correction;

• suspended from editorial consideration;

• rejected or have its acceptance withdrawn;

• referred to an institution or ethics committee;

• investigated under the journal’s Research and Publication Misconduct Allegations Policy.

Where an ethical concern is identified after publication, the journal may, depending on the circumstances, issue a correction, an editorial Expression of Concern, or a retraction notice.

Authors will be given a reasonable opportunity to respond and provide relevant evidence before a final decision is made.

Policy Administration

This policy is effective from the date of its publication on the official website of Geliotekhnika and will be reviewed periodically in response to developments in participant protection, data privacy, and applicable legal requirements.

Questions, documents, or concerns concerning research involving human participants should be submitted to:

Email: ftikans@uzsci.net

This policy is informed by relevant COPE guidance on ethical oversight and generally accepted principles of voluntariness, informed consent, safety, and confidentiality in research involving human participants.