diff --git a/src/preprint-changes.xsl b/src/preprint-changes.xsl
index 31a4e05778..8cf390def3 100644
--- a/src/preprint-changes.xsl
+++ b/src/preprint-changes.xsl
@@ -756,15 +756,22 @@
                     </xsl:choose>
                     <xsl:element name="p">
                         <xsl:choose>
+                            <xsl:when test="./@notes-type='competing-interest-statement'">
+                                <xsl:text>Competing interests: </xsl:text>
+                                <xsl:choose>
+                                    <xsl:when test="count(p) = 1 and ./p[1]='The authors have declared no competing interest.'">
+                                        <xsl:text>No competing interests declared</xsl:text>
+                                    </xsl:when>
+                                    <xsl:otherwise>
+                                        <xsl:apply-templates select="./p/(*|text())"/>
+                                    </xsl:otherwise>
+                                </xsl:choose>
+                            </xsl:when>
                             <xsl:when test="./title">
                                 <xsl:value-of select="./title"/>
                                 <xsl:text>: </xsl:text>
                                 <xsl:apply-templates select="./p/(*|text())"/>
                             </xsl:when>
-                            <xsl:when test="./@notes-type='competing-interest-statement'">
-                                <xsl:text>Competing interests: </xsl:text>
-                                <xsl:apply-templates select="./p/(*|text())"/>
-                            </xsl:when>
                             <xsl:otherwise>
                                 <xsl:apply-templates select="./p/(*|text())"/>
                             </xsl:otherwise>
@@ -1376,6 +1383,20 @@
             <xsl:apply-templates select="*|text()|comment()|processing-instruction()"/>
         </xsl:copy>
     </xsl:template>
+    
+     <!-- Add sec-type="ethics-statement" -->
+    <xsl:template xml:id="sec-ethics" match="sec[(not(@sec-type)) and matches(lower-case(title[1]),'ethics') and not(matches(lower-case(title[1]),'data') and matches(lower-case(title[1]),'ava[il][il]ability|access|sharing')) and not(ancestor::sec[matches(lower-case(title[1]),'ethics')])]">
+        <xsl:copy>
+            <xsl:apply-templates select="@*"/>
+            <xsl:attribute name="sec-type">ethics-statement</xsl:attribute>
+            <xsl:if test="not(@id)">
+                <xsl:attribute name="id">
+                    <xsl:value-of select="generate-id(.)"/>
+                </xsl:attribute>
+            </xsl:if>
+            <xsl:apply-templates select="*|text()|comment()|processing-instruction()"/>
+        </xsl:copy>
+    </xsl:template>
 
     <!-- Strip unnecessary bolding and italicisation from inside citations -->
     <xsl:template xml:id="strip-bold-italic-around-xref" match="xref/bold[italic[not(xref)]]
diff --git a/src/rp-schematron-base.sch b/src/rp-schematron-base.sch
index 8e2abb6b0f..45b23734b7 100644
--- a/src/rp-schematron-base.sch
+++ b/src/rp-schematron-base.sch
@@ -1218,7 +1218,7 @@
           role="error" 
           id="sec-empty">sec element is not populated with any content. Either there's a mistake or the section should be removed.</assert>
         
-        <report test="@sec-type='data-availability' and preceding::sec[@sec-type='data-availability']" 
+        <report test="@sec-type='data-availability' and (preceding::sec[@sec-type='data-availability'] or ancestor::sec[@sec-type='data-availability'])" 
           role="warning" 
           id="sec-data-availability">sec has the sec-type 'data-availability', but there is one or more other secs with this same sec-type. Are they duplicates?</report>
         
@@ -1230,6 +1230,10 @@
           role="warning" 
           id="sec-coi-2">sec has a title suggesting it's a competing interest statement. COI statements should be captured within author-notes, so this content should be moved into fn with the fn-type="coi-statement" within author-notes.</report>
         
+        <report test="@sec-type='ethics-statement' and (preceding::sec[@sec-type='ethics-statement'] or ancestor::sec[@sec-type='ethics-statement'])" 
+          role="error" 
+          id="sec-ethics">sec has the sec-type 'ethics-statement', but there is one or more other secs with this same sec-type. Are they duplicates? There can only be one section with this sec-type (although it can have subsections with further distinctions that have separate 'ethics-...' sec-types - e.g. "ethics-approval-human", "ethics-approval-animal" etc.)</report>
+        
         <report test="def-list and not(*[not(name()=('label','title','sec-meta','def-list'))])" 
           role="error" 
           id="sec-def-list">sec element only contains a child def-list. This is therefore a glossary, not a sec.</report>
diff --git a/src/rp-schematron.sch b/src/rp-schematron.sch
index bdc32431ab..f06ee164b3 100644
--- a/src/rp-schematron.sch
+++ b/src/rp-schematron.sch
@@ -675,12 +675,14 @@
 
         <assert test="*[not(name()=('label','title','sec-meta'))]" role="error" id="sec-empty">[sec-empty] sec element is not populated with any content. Either there's a mistake or the section should be removed.</assert>
         
-        <report test="@sec-type='data-availability' and preceding::sec[@sec-type='data-availability']" role="warning" id="sec-data-availability">[sec-data-availability] sec has the sec-type 'data-availability', but there is one or more other secs with this same sec-type. Are they duplicates?</report>
+        <report test="@sec-type='data-availability' and (preceding::sec[@sec-type='data-availability'] or ancestor::sec[@sec-type='data-availability'])" role="warning" id="sec-data-availability">[sec-data-availability] sec has the sec-type 'data-availability', but there is one or more other secs with this same sec-type. Are they duplicates?</report>
         
         <report test="title[1][matches(lower-case(.),'(compete?t?ing|conflicts?[\s-]of)[\s-]interest|disclosure|declaration|disclaimer')] and ancestor::article//article-meta/author-notes/fn[@fn-type='coi-statement']" role="warning" id="sec-coi">[sec-coi] sec has a title suggesting it's a competing interest statement, but there is also a competing interest statement in author-notes. Are they duplicates? COI statements should be captured within author-notes, so this section should likely be deleted.</report>
         
         <report test="title[1][matches(lower-case(.),'(compete?t?ing|conflicts?[\s-]of)[\s-]interest|disclosure|declaration|disclaimer')] and not(ancestor::article//article-meta/author-notes/fn[@fn-type='coi-statement'])" role="warning" id="sec-coi-2">[sec-coi-2] sec has a title suggesting it's a competing interest statement. COI statements should be captured within author-notes, so this content should be moved into fn with the fn-type="coi-statement" within author-notes.</report>
         
+        <report test="@sec-type='ethics-statement' and (preceding::sec[@sec-type='ethics-statement'] or ancestor::sec[@sec-type='ethics-statement'])" role="error" id="sec-ethics">[sec-ethics] sec has the sec-type 'ethics-statement', but there is one or more other secs with this same sec-type. Are they duplicates? There can only be one section with this sec-type (although it can have subsections with further distinctions that have separate 'ethics-...' sec-types - e.g. "ethics-approval-human", "ethics-approval-animal" etc.)</report>
+        
         <report test="def-list and not(*[not(name()=('label','title','sec-meta','def-list'))])" role="error" id="sec-def-list">[sec-def-list] sec element only contains a child def-list. This is therefore a glossary, not a sec.</report>
         
         <report test="glossary and not(*[not(name()=('label','title','sec-meta','glossary'))])" role="warning" id="sec-glossary">[sec-glossary] sec element only contains a child glossary. Is it a redundant sec (which should be deleted)? Or perhaps it indicates the structure/hierarchy has been incorrectly captured.</report>
diff --git a/src/rp-schematron.xsl b/src/rp-schematron.xsl
index 0f23a30784..1899c78930 100644
--- a/src/rp-schematron.xsl
+++ b/src/rp-schematron.xsl
@@ -5066,8 +5066,8 @@
          </xsl:otherwise>
       </xsl:choose>
       <!--REPORT warning-->
-      <xsl:if test="@sec-type='data-availability' and preceding::sec[@sec-type='data-availability']">
-         <svrl:successful-report xmlns:svrl="http://purl.oclc.org/dsdl/svrl" test="@sec-type='data-availability' and preceding::sec[@sec-type='data-availability']">
+      <xsl:if test="@sec-type='data-availability' and (preceding::sec[@sec-type='data-availability'] or ancestor::sec[@sec-type='data-availability'])">
+         <svrl:successful-report xmlns:svrl="http://purl.oclc.org/dsdl/svrl" test="@sec-type='data-availability' and (preceding::sec[@sec-type='data-availability'] or ancestor::sec[@sec-type='data-availability'])">
             <xsl:attribute name="id">sec-data-availability</xsl:attribute>
             <xsl:attribute name="role">warning</xsl:attribute>
             <xsl:attribute name="location">
@@ -5099,6 +5099,17 @@
          </svrl:successful-report>
       </xsl:if>
       <!--REPORT error-->
+      <xsl:if test="@sec-type='ethics-statement' and (preceding::sec[@sec-type='ethics-statement'] or ancestor::sec[@sec-type='ethics-statement'])">
+         <svrl:successful-report xmlns:svrl="http://purl.oclc.org/dsdl/svrl" test="@sec-type='ethics-statement' and (preceding::sec[@sec-type='ethics-statement'] or ancestor::sec[@sec-type='ethics-statement'])">
+            <xsl:attribute name="id">sec-ethics</xsl:attribute>
+            <xsl:attribute name="role">error</xsl:attribute>
+            <xsl:attribute name="location">
+               <xsl:apply-templates select="." mode="schematron-select-full-path"/>
+            </xsl:attribute>
+            <svrl:text>[sec-ethics] sec has the sec-type 'ethics-statement', but there is one or more other secs with this same sec-type. Are they duplicates? There can only be one section with this sec-type (although it can have subsections with further distinctions that have separate 'ethics-...' sec-types - e.g. "ethics-approval-human", "ethics-approval-animal" etc.)</svrl:text>
+         </svrl:successful-report>
+      </xsl:if>
+      <!--REPORT error-->
       <xsl:if test="def-list and not(*[not(name()=('label','title','sec-meta','def-list'))])">
          <svrl:successful-report xmlns:svrl="http://purl.oclc.org/dsdl/svrl" test="def-list and not(*[not(name()=('label','title','sec-meta','def-list'))])">
             <xsl:attribute name="id">sec-def-list</xsl:attribute>
diff --git a/test/tests/preprint-changes/all/output.xml b/test/tests/preprint-changes/all/output.xml
index 019b315a72..88e0fc7a91 100644
--- a/test/tests/preprint-changes/all/output.xml
+++ b/test/tests/preprint-changes/all/output.xml
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@
 <fn id="n2" fn-type="present-address"><label>‡</label><p><bold>Present address</bold>: Department of Biochemistry, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstr. 190, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland</p></fn>
 <fn id="n3" fn-type="present-address"><label>§</label><p>Present address: Massachusetts <italic>Institute</italic> of <bold>Technology</bold>, Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, 43 Vassar St, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States</p></fn>
 <fn id="n4" fn-type="present-address"><label>¶</label><p>Present address: Vertex Pharmaceuticals, 50 Northern Avenue, Boston, Mass. 02210, United States</p></fn>
-<fn fn-type="coi-statement"><p>Competing Interest Statement: The authors have declared no competing interest.</p></fn>
+<fn fn-type="coi-statement"><p>Competing interests: No competing interests declared</p></fn>
 </author-notes>
 <permissions>
 <ali:free_to_read/>
diff --git a/test/tests/preprint-changes/article-meta-changes/output.xml b/test/tests/preprint-changes/article-meta-changes/output.xml
index 9979404c6a..e286bfd0cf 100644
--- a/test/tests/preprint-changes/article-meta-changes/output.xml
+++ b/test/tests/preprint-changes/article-meta-changes/output.xml
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@
 </contrib>
 </contrib-group>
 <author-notes>
-<fn fn-type="coi-statement"><p>Competing Interest Statement: The authors have declared no competing interest.</p></fn>
+<fn fn-type="coi-statement"><p>Competing interests: No competing interests declared</p></fn>
 </author-notes>
 <pub-date pub-type="epub"><year>2024</year></pub-date>
 <volume>13</volume>
diff --git a/test/tests/preprint-changes/author-notes-notes-handling/output.xml b/test/tests/preprint-changes/author-notes-notes-handling/output.xml
index 3597675ed8..c9550305d1 100644
--- a/test/tests/preprint-changes/author-notes-notes-handling/output.xml
+++ b/test/tests/preprint-changes/author-notes-notes-handling/output.xml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 <front>
 <article-meta><author-notes>
 <fn/>
-<fn fn-type="coi-statement"><p>Competing Interest Statement: The authors have declared no competing interest.</p></fn>
+<fn fn-type="coi-statement"><p>Competing interests: No competing interests declared</p></fn>
 </author-notes>
 <related-object content-type="" source-id="" source-id-type="registry-name" source-type="clinical-trials-registry" document-id="" document-id-type="clinical-trial-number" xlink:href="">DRKS00021419</related-object>
 <custom-meta-group>
diff --git a/test/tests/preprint-changes/rearrange-back/output.xml b/test/tests/preprint-changes/rearrange-back/output.xml
index af7dcefad1..55977a84e7 100644
--- a/test/tests/preprint-changes/rearrange-back/output.xml
+++ b/test/tests/preprint-changes/rearrange-back/output.xml
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 <title>Something else</title>
 <p>...</p>
 </ack>
-<sec id="d545e19" sec-type="additional-information">
+<sec id="d556e19" sec-type="additional-information">
 <title>Additional information</title>
 <sec id="s5">
 <title>Funding</title>
@@ -41,9 +41,9 @@
 <p>All code and software needed to generate the results is available as part of public resources: LD score regression (<ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="https://github.com/bulik/ldsc">https://github.com/bulik/ldsc</ext-link>), FUMA (<ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="https://fuma.ctglab.nl/">https://fuma.ctglab.nl/</ext-link>), MiXeR (<ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="https://github.com/precimed/mixer">https://github.com/precimed/mixer</ext-link>), BM location (simulation, training, and model) <italic>[made public upon acceptance]</italic>.</p>
 </sec>
 </sec>
-<sec id="suppd545e19" sec-type="supplementary-material">
+<sec id="suppd556e19" sec-type="supplementary-material">
 <title>Additional files</title>
-<supplementary-material id="d545e10">
+<supplementary-material id="d556e10">
 <label>Supplementary materials</label>
 <media xlink:href="supplements/278950_file02.docx"/>
 </supplementary-material>
diff --git a/test/tests/preprint-changes/sec-ethics/input.xml b/test/tests/preprint-changes/sec-ethics/input.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..37c920eaea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/tests/preprint-changes/sec-ethics/input.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+<!--Testing template with id: sec-ethics-->
+<sec id="s4">
+<title>ETHICS STATEMENT</title>
+<sec>
+<title>Human</title>
+</sec>
+<sec>
+<title>Monkey</title>
+</sec>
+<sec>
+<title>Machine</title>
+</sec>
+</sec>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/tests/preprint-changes/sec-ethics/output.xml b/test/tests/preprint-changes/sec-ethics/output.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..52c6c20d0a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/tests/preprint-changes/sec-ethics/output.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+<!--Testing template with id: sec-ethics-->
+<sec id="s4" sec-type="ethics-statement">
+<title>ETHICS STATEMENT</title>
+<sec>
+<title>Human</title>
+</sec>
+<sec>
+<title>Monkey</title>
+</sec>
+<sec>
+<title>Machine</title>
+</sec>
+</sec>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/tests/rp/sec-checks/sec-data-availability/fail.xml b/test/tests/rp/sec-checks/sec-data-availability/fail.xml
index 9df37441c9..11412a59d3 100644
--- a/test/tests/rp/sec-checks/sec-data-availability/fail.xml
+++ b/test/tests/rp/sec-checks/sec-data-availability/fail.xml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 <?oxygen SCHSchema="sec-data-availability.sch"?>
 <!--Context: sec
-Test: report    @sec-type='data-availability' and preceding::sec[@sec-type='data-availability']
+Test: report    @sec-type='data-availability' and (preceding::sec[@sec-type='data-availability'] or ancestor::sec[@sec-type='data-availability'])
 Message: sec has the sec-type 'data-availability', but there is one or more other secs with this same sec-type. Are they duplicates? -->
 <root xmlns:ali="http://www.niso.org/schemas/ali/1.0/" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">
     <article>
diff --git a/test/tests/rp/sec-checks/sec-data-availability/pass.xml b/test/tests/rp/sec-checks/sec-data-availability/pass.xml
index 347fc88dd1..94aaa9f7c0 100644
--- a/test/tests/rp/sec-checks/sec-data-availability/pass.xml
+++ b/test/tests/rp/sec-checks/sec-data-availability/pass.xml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 <?oxygen SCHSchema="sec-data-availability.sch"?>
 <!--Context: sec
-Test: report    @sec-type='data-availability' and preceding::sec[@sec-type='data-availability']
+Test: report    @sec-type='data-availability' and (preceding::sec[@sec-type='data-availability'] or ancestor::sec[@sec-type='data-availability'])
 Message: sec has the sec-type 'data-availability', but there is one or more other secs with this same sec-type. Are they duplicates? -->
 <root xmlns:ali="http://www.niso.org/schemas/ali/1.0/" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">
     <article>
diff --git a/test/tests/rp/sec-checks/sec-data-availability/sec-data-availability.sch b/test/tests/rp/sec-checks/sec-data-availability/sec-data-availability.sch
index 4264582c2f..94644eb645 100644
--- a/test/tests/rp/sec-checks/sec-data-availability/sec-data-availability.sch
+++ b/test/tests/rp/sec-checks/sec-data-availability/sec-data-availability.sch
@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@
   </xsl:function>
   <pattern id="sec-checks-pattern">
     <rule context="sec" id="sec-checks">
-      <report test="@sec-type='data-availability' and preceding::sec[@sec-type='data-availability']" role="warning" id="sec-data-availability">[sec-data-availability] sec has the sec-type 'data-availability', but there is one or more other secs with this same sec-type. Are they duplicates?</report>
+      <report test="@sec-type='data-availability' and (preceding::sec[@sec-type='data-availability'] or ancestor::sec[@sec-type='data-availability'])" role="warning" id="sec-data-availability">[sec-data-availability] sec has the sec-type 'data-availability', but there is one or more other secs with this same sec-type. Are they duplicates?</report>
     </rule>
   </pattern>
   <pattern id="root-pattern">
diff --git a/test/tests/rp/sec-checks/sec-ethics/fail.xml b/test/tests/rp/sec-checks/sec-ethics/fail.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..854f639dbf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/tests/rp/sec-checks/sec-ethics/fail.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+<?oxygen SCHSchema="sec-ethics.sch"?>
+<!--Context: sec
+Test: report    @sec-type='ethics-statement' and (preceding::sec[@sec-type='ethics-statement'] or ancestor::sec[@sec-type='ethics-statement'])
+Message: sec has the sec-type 'ethics-statement', but there is one or more other secs with this same sec-type. Are they duplicates? There can only be one section with this sec-type (although it can have subsections with further distinctions that have separate 'ethics-...' sec-types - e.g. "ethics-approval-human", "ethics-approval-animal" etc.) -->
+<root xmlns:ali="http://www.niso.org/schemas/ali/1.0/" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">
+    <article>
+        <sec id="s6" sec-type="ethics-statement">
+            <title>Ethics</title>
+            <sec sec-type="ethics-statement">
+                <p>Human subjects: Fresh tissue samples were obtained upon informed consent from patients undergoing surgery at the Gynecology Division of the European Institute of Oncology (Milan). Sample collection was performed under the protocol number R789-IEO approved by the Ethics Committee of the European Institute of Oncology.</p>
+            </sec>
+            <sec sec-type="ethics-statement">
+                <p>Animal experimentation: All animal studies were performed following a  protocol approved by the fully authorized animal facility of European Institute of Oncology and by the Italian Ministry of Health (as required by the Italian Law) (IACUCs number 1256/2015) and in accordance to EU directive 2010/63. Mouse tissues were obtained from Karolinska Institutet (Stockholm, Sweden) and IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute (Milan, Italy), in accordance with Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees.</p>
+            </sec>
+        </sec>
+    </article>
+</root>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/tests/rp/sec-checks/sec-ethics/pass.xml b/test/tests/rp/sec-checks/sec-ethics/pass.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..942b53e92b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/tests/rp/sec-checks/sec-ethics/pass.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+<?oxygen SCHSchema="sec-ethics.sch"?>
+<!--Context: sec
+Test: report    @sec-type='ethics-statement' and (preceding::sec[@sec-type='ethics-statement'] or ancestor::sec[@sec-type='ethics-statement'])
+Message: sec has the sec-type 'ethics-statement', but there is one or more other secs with this same sec-type. Are they duplicates? There can only be one section with this sec-type (although it can have subsections with further distinctions that have separate 'ethics-...' sec-types - e.g. "ethics-approval-human", "ethics-approval-animal" etc.) -->
+<root xmlns:ali="http://www.niso.org/schemas/ali/1.0/" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">
+    <article>
+        <sec id="s6" sec-type="ethics-statement">
+            <title>Ethics</title>
+            <sec sec-type="ethics-approval-human">
+                <p>Human subjects: Fresh tissue samples were obtained upon informed consent from patients undergoing surgery at the Gynecology Division of the European Institute of Oncology (Milan). Sample collection was performed under the protocol number R789-IEO approved by the Ethics Committee of the European Institute of Oncology.</p>
+            </sec>
+            <sec sec-type="ethics-approval-animal">
+                <p>Animal experimentation: All animal studies were performed following a  protocol approved by the fully authorized animal facility of European Institute of Oncology and by the Italian Ministry of Health (as required by the Italian Law) (IACUCs number 1256/2015) and in accordance to EU directive 2010/63. Mouse tissues were obtained from Karolinska Institutet (Stockholm, Sweden) and IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute (Milan, Italy), in accordance with Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees.</p>
+            </sec>
+        </sec>
+    </article>
+</root>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/tests/rp/sec-checks/sec-ethics/sec-ethics.sch b/test/tests/rp/sec-checks/sec-ethics/sec-ethics.sch
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e5499ea73d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/tests/rp/sec-checks/sec-ethics/sec-ethics.sch
@@ -0,0 +1,157 @@
+<schema xmlns="http://purl.oclc.org/dsdl/schematron" xmlns:meca="http://manuscriptexchange.org" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:ali="http://www.niso.org/schemas/ali/1.0/" xmlns:file="java.io.File" xmlns:java="http://www.java.com/" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" queryBinding="xslt2">
+  <title>eLife reviewed preprint schematron</title>
+  <ns uri="http://www.niso.org/schemas/ali/1.0/" prefix="ali"/>
+  <ns uri="http://www.w3.org/XML/1998/namespace" prefix="xml"/>
+  <ns uri="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" prefix="xlink"/>
+  <ns uri="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" prefix="xi"/>
+  <ns uri="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" prefix="mml"/>
+  <ns uri="http://saxon.sf.net/" prefix="saxon"/>
+  <ns uri="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" prefix="dc"/>
+  <ns uri="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" prefix="xs"/>
+  <ns uri="https://elifesciences.org/namespace" prefix="e"/>
+  <ns uri="java.io.File" prefix="file"/>
+  <ns uri="http://www.java.com/" prefix="java"/>
+  <ns uri="http://manuscriptexchange.org" prefix="meca"/>
+  <xsl:function name="e:isbn-sum" as="xs:integer">
+    <xsl:param name="s" as="xs:string"/>
+    <xsl:choose>
+      <xsl:when test="string-length($s) = 10">
+        <xsl:variable name="d1" select="number(substring($s,1,1)) * 10"/>
+        <xsl:variable name="d2" select="number(substring($s,2,1)) * 9"/>
+        <xsl:variable name="d3" select="number(substring($s,3,1)) * 8"/>
+        <xsl:variable name="d4" select="number(substring($s,4,1)) * 7"/>
+        <xsl:variable name="d5" select="number(substring($s,5,1)) * 6"/>
+        <xsl:variable name="d6" select="number(substring($s,6,1)) * 5"/>
+        <xsl:variable name="d7" select="number(substring($s,7,1)) * 4"/>
+        <xsl:variable name="d8" select="number(substring($s,8,1)) * 3"/>
+        <xsl:variable name="d9" select="number(substring($s,9,1)) * 2"/>
+        <xsl:variable name="d10" select="number(substring($s,10,1)) * 1"/>
+        <xsl:value-of select="number($d1 + $d2 + $d3 + $d4 + $d5 + $d6 + $d7 + $d8 + $d9 + $d10) mod 11"/>
+      </xsl:when>
+      <xsl:when test="string-length($s) = 13">
+        <xsl:variable name="d1" select="number(substring($s,1,1))"/>
+        <xsl:variable name="d2" select="number(substring($s,2,1)) * 3"/>
+        <xsl:variable name="d3" select="number(substring($s,3,1))"/>
+        <xsl:variable name="d4" select="number(substring($s,4,1)) * 3"/>
+        <xsl:variable name="d5" select="number(substring($s,5,1))"/>
+        <xsl:variable name="d6" select="number(substring($s,6,1)) * 3"/>
+        <xsl:variable name="d7" select="number(substring($s,7,1))"/>
+        <xsl:variable name="d8" select="number(substring($s,8,1)) * 3"/>
+        <xsl:variable name="d9" select="number(substring($s,9,1))"/>
+        <xsl:variable name="d10" select="number(substring($s,10,1)) * 3"/>
+        <xsl:variable name="d11" select="number(substring($s,11,1))"/>
+        <xsl:variable name="d12" select="number(substring($s,12,1)) * 3"/>
+        <xsl:variable name="d13" select="number(substring($s,13,1))"/>
+        <xsl:value-of select="number($d1 + $d2 + $d3 + $d4 + $d5 + $d6 + $d7 + $d8 + $d9 + $d10 + $d11 + $d12 + $d13) mod 10"/>
+      </xsl:when>
+      <xsl:otherwise>
+        <xsl:value-of select="number('1')"/>
+      </xsl:otherwise>
+    </xsl:choose>
+  </xsl:function>
+  <xsl:function name="e:is-valid-issn" as="xs:boolean">
+      <xsl:param name="s" as="xs:string"/>
+      <xsl:choose>
+        <xsl:when test="not(matches($s,'^\d{4}\-\d{3}[\dX]$'))">
+          <xsl:value-of select="false()"/>
+        </xsl:when>
+        <xsl:otherwise>
+            <xsl:variable name="d1" select="number(substring($s,1,1)) * 8"/>
+            <xsl:variable name="d2" select="number(substring($s,2,1)) * 7"/>
+            <xsl:variable name="d3" select="number(substring($s,3,1)) * 6"/>
+            <xsl:variable name="d4" select="number(substring($s,4,1)) * 5"/>
+            <xsl:variable name="d5" select="number(substring($s,6,1)) * 4"/>
+            <xsl:variable name="d6" select="number(substring($s,7,1)) * 3"/>
+            <xsl:variable name="d7" select="number(substring($s,8,1)) * 2"/>
+            <xsl:variable name="remainder" select="number($d1 + $d2 + $d3 + $d4 + $d5 + $d6 + $d7) mod 11"/>
+            <xsl:variable name="calc" select="if ($remainder=0) then 0 else (11 - $remainder)"/>
+            <xsl:variable name="check" select="if (substring($s,9,1)='X') then 10 else number(substring($s,9,1))"/>
+            <xsl:value-of select="$calc = $check"/>
+        </xsl:otherwise>
+      </xsl:choose>
+    </xsl:function>
+  <xsl:function name="e:get-name" as="xs:string">
+    <xsl:param name="name"/>
+    <xsl:choose>
+      <xsl:when test="$name/given-names[1] and $name/surname[1] and $name/suffix[1]">
+        <xsl:value-of select="concat($name/given-names[1],' ',$name/surname[1],' ',$name/suffix[1])"/>
+      </xsl:when>
+      <xsl:when test="not($name/given-names[1]) and $name/surname[1] and $name/suffix[1]">
+        <xsl:value-of select="concat($name/surname[1],' ',$name/suffix[1])"/>
+      </xsl:when>
+      <xsl:when test="$name/given-names[1] and $name/surname[1] and not($name/suffix[1])">
+        <xsl:value-of select="concat($name/given-names[1],' ',$name/surname[1])"/>
+      </xsl:when>
+      <xsl:when test="not($name/given-names[1]) and $name/surname[1] and not($name/suffix[1])">
+        <xsl:value-of select="$name/surname[1]"/>
+      </xsl:when>
+      <xsl:otherwise>
+        <xsl:value-of select="'No elements present'"/>
+      </xsl:otherwise>
+    </xsl:choose>
+  </xsl:function>
+  <xsl:function name="e:get-copyright-holder">
+    <xsl:param name="contrib-group"/>
+    <xsl:variable name="author-count" select="count($contrib-group/contrib[@contrib-type='author'])"/>
+    <xsl:choose>
+      <xsl:when test="$author-count lt 1"/>
+      <xsl:when test="$author-count = 1">
+        <xsl:choose>
+          <xsl:when test="$contrib-group/contrib[@contrib-type='author']/collab">
+            <xsl:value-of select="$contrib-group/contrib[@contrib-type='author']/collab[1]/text()[1]"/>
+          </xsl:when>
+          <xsl:otherwise>
+            <xsl:value-of select="$contrib-group/contrib[@contrib-type='author']/name[1]/surname[1]"/>
+          </xsl:otherwise>
+        </xsl:choose>
+      </xsl:when>
+      <xsl:when test="$author-count = 2">
+        <xsl:choose>
+          <xsl:when test="$contrib-group/contrib[@contrib-type='author']/collab">
+            <xsl:choose>
+              <xsl:when test="$contrib-group/contrib[@contrib-type='author'][1]/collab and $contrib-group/contrib[@contrib-type='author'][2]/collab">
+                <xsl:value-of select="concat($contrib-group/contrib[@contrib-type='author']/collab[1]/text()[1],' &amp; ',$contrib-group/contrib[@contrib-type='author']/collab[2]/text()[1])"/>
+              </xsl:when>
+              <xsl:when test="$contrib-group/contrib[@contrib-type='author'][1]/collab">
+                <xsl:value-of select="concat($contrib-group/contrib[@contrib-type='author'][1]/collab[1]/text()[1],' &amp; ',$contrib-group/contrib[@contrib-type='author'][2]/name[1]/surname[1])"/>
+              </xsl:when>
+              <xsl:otherwise>
+                <xsl:value-of select="concat($contrib-group/contrib[@contrib-type='author'][1]/name[1]/surname[1],' &amp; ',$contrib-group/contrib[@contrib-type='author'][2]/collab[1]/text()[1])"/>
+              </xsl:otherwise>
+            </xsl:choose>
+          </xsl:when>
+          <xsl:otherwise>
+            <xsl:value-of select="concat($contrib-group/contrib[@contrib-type='author'][1]/name[1]/surname[1],' &amp; ',$contrib-group/contrib[@contrib-type='author'][2]/name[1]/surname[1])"/>
+          </xsl:otherwise>
+        </xsl:choose>
+      </xsl:when>
+      
+      <xsl:otherwise>
+        <xsl:variable name="is-equal-contrib" select="if ($contrib-group/contrib[@contrib-type='author'][1]/@equal-contrib='yes') then true() else false()"/>
+        
+        <xsl:value-of select="concat(e:get-surname($contrib-group/contrib[@contrib-type='author'][1]),' et al')"/>
+      </xsl:otherwise>
+    </xsl:choose>
+  </xsl:function>
+  <xsl:function name="e:get-surname" as="text()">
+    <xsl:param name="contrib"/>
+    <xsl:choose>
+      <xsl:when test="$contrib/collab">
+        <xsl:value-of select="$contrib/collab[1]/text()[1]"/>
+      </xsl:when>
+      <xsl:otherwise>
+        <xsl:value-of select="$contrib//name[1]/surname[1]"/>
+      </xsl:otherwise>
+    </xsl:choose>
+  </xsl:function>
+  <pattern id="sec-checks-pattern">
+    <rule context="sec" id="sec-checks">
+      <report test="@sec-type='ethics-statement' and (preceding::sec[@sec-type='ethics-statement'] or ancestor::sec[@sec-type='ethics-statement'])" role="error" id="sec-ethics">[sec-ethics] sec has the sec-type 'ethics-statement', but there is one or more other secs with this same sec-type. Are they duplicates? There can only be one section with this sec-type (although it can have subsections with further distinctions that have separate 'ethics-...' sec-types - e.g. "ethics-approval-human", "ethics-approval-animal" etc.)</report>
+    </rule>
+  </pattern>
+  <pattern id="root-pattern">
+    <rule context="root" id="root-rule">
+      <assert test="descendant::sec" role="error" id="sec-checks-xspec-assert">sec must be present.</assert>
+    </rule>
+  </pattern>
+</schema>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/xspec/preprint-changes.xspec b/test/xspec/preprint-changes.xspec
index 55e202a35d..adc001a046 100644
--- a/test/xspec/preprint-changes.xspec
+++ b/test/xspec/preprint-changes.xspec
@@ -128,6 +128,10 @@
       <x:context href="../tests/preprint-changes/sec-data-availability/input.xml"/>
       <x:expect label="Testing the template: sec-data-availability" href="../tests/preprint-changes/sec-data-availability/output.xml"/>
     </x:scenario>
+    <x:scenario label="sec-ethics">
+      <x:context href="../tests/preprint-changes/sec-ethics/input.xml"/>
+      <x:expect label="Testing the template: sec-ethics" href="../tests/preprint-changes/sec-ethics/output.xml"/>
+    </x:scenario>
     <x:scenario label="strip-bold-italic-around-xref">
       <x:context href="../tests/preprint-changes/strip-bold-italic-around-xref/input.xml"/>
       <x:expect label="Testing the template: strip-bold-italic-around-xref" href="../tests/preprint-changes/strip-bold-italic-around-xref/output.xml"/>
diff --git a/test/xspec/rp-schematron.sch b/test/xspec/rp-schematron.sch
index b8f1a6dbfc..d2c8b7cba2 100644
--- a/test/xspec/rp-schematron.sch
+++ b/test/xspec/rp-schematron.sch
@@ -904,12 +904,14 @@
 
         <assert test="*[not(name()=('label','title','sec-meta'))]" role="error" id="sec-empty">sec element is not populated with any content. Either there's a mistake or the section should be removed.</assert>
         
-        <report test="@sec-type='data-availability' and preceding::sec[@sec-type='data-availability']" role="warning" id="sec-data-availability">sec has the sec-type 'data-availability', but there is one or more other secs with this same sec-type. Are they duplicates?</report>
+        <report test="@sec-type='data-availability' and (preceding::sec[@sec-type='data-availability'] or ancestor::sec[@sec-type='data-availability'])" role="warning" id="sec-data-availability">sec has the sec-type 'data-availability', but there is one or more other secs with this same sec-type. Are they duplicates?</report>
         
         <report test="title[1][matches(lower-case(.),'(compete?t?ing|conflicts?[\s-]of)[\s-]interest|disclosure|declaration|disclaimer')] and ancestor::article//article-meta/author-notes/fn[@fn-type='coi-statement']" role="warning" id="sec-coi">sec has a title suggesting it's a competing interest statement, but there is also a competing interest statement in author-notes. Are they duplicates? COI statements should be captured within author-notes, so this section should likely be deleted.</report>
         
         <report test="title[1][matches(lower-case(.),'(compete?t?ing|conflicts?[\s-]of)[\s-]interest|disclosure|declaration|disclaimer')] and not(ancestor::article//article-meta/author-notes/fn[@fn-type='coi-statement'])" role="warning" id="sec-coi-2">sec has a title suggesting it's a competing interest statement. COI statements should be captured within author-notes, so this content should be moved into fn with the fn-type="coi-statement" within author-notes.</report>
         
+        <report test="@sec-type='ethics-statement' and (preceding::sec[@sec-type='ethics-statement'] or ancestor::sec[@sec-type='ethics-statement'])" role="error" id="sec-ethics">sec has the sec-type 'ethics-statement', but there is one or more other secs with this same sec-type. Are they duplicates? There can only be one section with this sec-type (although it can have subsections with further distinctions that have separate 'ethics-...' sec-types - e.g. "ethics-approval-human", "ethics-approval-animal" etc.)</report>
+        
         <report test="def-list and not(*[not(name()=('label','title','sec-meta','def-list'))])" role="error" id="sec-def-list">sec element only contains a child def-list. This is therefore a glossary, not a sec.</report>
         
         <report test="glossary and not(*[not(name()=('label','title','sec-meta','glossary'))])" role="warning" id="sec-glossary">sec element only contains a child glossary. Is it a redundant sec (which should be deleted)? Or perhaps it indicates the structure/hierarchy has been incorrectly captured.</report>
diff --git a/test/xspec/rp-schematron.xspec b/test/xspec/rp-schematron.xspec
index e8a69d31b2..694fbcfc9d 100644
--- a/test/xspec/rp-schematron.xspec
+++ b/test/xspec/rp-schematron.xspec
@@ -2103,6 +2103,16 @@
         <x:expect-report id="sec-coi-2" role="warning"/>
         <x:expect-not-assert id="sec-checks-xspec-assert" role="error"/>
       </x:scenario>
+      <x:scenario label="sec-ethics-pass">
+        <x:context href="../tests/rp/sec-checks/sec-ethics/pass.xml"/>
+        <x:expect-not-report id="sec-ethics" role="error"/>
+        <x:expect-not-assert id="sec-checks-xspec-assert" role="error"/>
+      </x:scenario>
+      <x:scenario label="sec-ethics-fail">
+        <x:context href="../tests/rp/sec-checks/sec-ethics/fail.xml"/>
+        <x:expect-report id="sec-ethics" role="error"/>
+        <x:expect-not-assert id="sec-checks-xspec-assert" role="error"/>
+      </x:scenario>
       <x:scenario label="sec-def-list-pass">
         <x:context href="../tests/rp/sec-checks/sec-def-list/pass.xml"/>
         <x:expect-not-report id="sec-def-list" role="error"/>