University of Thi-Qar Journal for Engineering Sciences (UTJES) is committed to safeguarding the privacy and confidentiality of patients and human subjects in all research involving medical, clinical, or health-related data within the scope of engineering research (e.g., biomedical engineering, medical device design, health informatics, or diagnostic imaging systems).

1. Anonymity and Confidentiality Authors must ensure that patients' identities remain fully anonymized throughout the manuscript. Identifying information — including names, initials, hospital or medical record numbers, dates of birth, photographs, or any other detail that could reveal a patient's identity — must not be disclosed unless it is essential for scientific purposes and explicit written consent has been obtained.

2. Use of Identifiable Images or Data If identifiable clinical images, scans, videos, or case details are included in the manuscript, authors must obtain and retain written informed consent from the patient (or legal guardian, where applicable) specifically authorizing the use and publication of such material, including in an open-access online format.

3. De-identification of Data Where datasets are used (e.g., in AI-based diagnostic models, health informatics, or biomedical signal processing research), authors must ensure that all patient data has been properly de-identified and complies with applicable data protection regulations and institutional privacy policies.

4. Statement in the Manuscript Authors must include a statement in the Methods section confirming that:

• Patient confidentiality has been maintained throughout the study.
• Any identifiable information included has been published with the explicit consent of the patient or their legal representative.

5. Editorial Responsibility The Editorial Board reserves the right to request supporting documentation (e.g., consent forms) to verify compliance with this policy and may reject or request revisions to manuscripts that do not adequately protect patient privacy.

6. Non-Compliance Failure to comply with these privacy protection standards will be considered a serious breach of research ethics and may result in rejection, required revision, or retraction of the manuscript, in accordance with COPE guidelines.