Research Involving Human Participants
Research involving human participants, surveys, interviews, identifiable personal information or other ethically sensitive data must comply with applicable institutional and national ethical standards.
Authors should obtain ethics approval where required and state the approving organisation and approval information in the manuscript. Informed consent must be obtained when applicable.
Geographical and Spatial Data Ethics
Authors working with sensitive geographic information should consider whether precise locations could expose vulnerable individuals, communities, archaeological resources, endangered species or protected environments to harm. Sensitive coordinates may be generalised or withheld when ethical or conservation considerations justify such protection, provided the limitation is transparently explained.