Publishing Identifiable Patient Photographs in the Digital Age: Focus Group Study of Patients, Doctors, and Medical Students

This qualitative study highlights that publishing patient photographs in open-access scientific journals is an important, serious, and largely unexplored issue, with all stakeholders still uncertain about the best ways to protect patient privacy. Clinicians, publishers, and journal editors should not only implement best practices to ensure fully informed patient consent for publishing identifiable photographs but also develop technical and governance safeguards. Future quantitative studies are needed to identify the most effective ways to enhance stakeholders' knowledge, policies, and procedures, ultimately guiding the development of practical recommendations for the ethical publication of patient photographs in scientific journals.