Patient Privacy & Consent

Before submitting a case, the author must obtain and retain documented, informed written consent from the patient (or their legal representative) for the publication of the case and all accompanying images, including online open-access publication.

By submitting, the author confirms that such consent has been obtained. JPBRS may request a copy of the consent or the institution’s consent form, and may decline or withdraw a case if it cannot be satisfied that valid consent exists.

Authors must remove information that could identify a patient, including:

• names, initials, dates of birth, record or hospital numbers;
• faces and other recognisable features, unless essential and explicitly consented;
• tattoos, jewellery, backgrounds or text in images that could identify the patient;
• rare combinations of details that could single out an individual.

Where a face or identifying feature is clinically essential, it may only be shown with the patient’s specific written consent.

To reduce risk, our platform:

• strips embedded metadata (including EXIF and any geolocation) from images on upload;
• supports cropping and editing so identifying areas can be removed before publication;
• applies editorial review before a case is published.

Responsibility for ensuring images are properly anonymised rests with the author; our measures support, but do not replace, that responsibility.

Clinical case content is published on the basis of the patient’s explicit consent. A patient may withdraw consent. If you are a patient (or representative) and believe a case concerns you, contact us at [email protected] and we will investigate and, where appropriate, remove or further anonymise the material. See our Privacy Policy for your full rights.

If you believe a published case contains identifying information or was published without valid consent, please email [email protected] immediately. We take such reports seriously and will act promptly.