Privacy Policy

The data collected from users of this journal falls within the scope of the standard functioning of peer-reviewed journals. It includes information that makes communication possible for the editorial process. The information is used to inform readers about the authorship and editing of content, collecting aggregated data on readership behaviors, as well as tracking geopolitical and social elements of scholarly communication. The collected data is not used for profiling or automated decision-making.

Collection and Processing of Data

The Open Journal Systems software used by this journal collects personal data in several ways. Personal data collected by this journal includes user registration data, contributor metadata, workflow data, and general visitor information.

User Registration Information

When you register as a user of this journal, the following information is collected during the registration process:

• Full Name
• Username
• Password (encrypted)
• Email Address

In addition to the above required fields, the user can also provide the following information during registration or later by editing the user profile:

• Affiliation
• Country
• Reviewing Interests
• Salutation
• Initials
• Gender
• ORCID
• Website
• Mailing Address
• Phone/Fax
• Biography

The journal also records registration and last login dates. The site administrators and journal managers can create new user accounts based on a request from a new user. The above information is available to the users via their user profile and can be edited by the user (with the exception of username and dates). The above data is not publicly available.

Contributor Metadata Information

When a manuscript is submitted to the journal, contributor information is included. Contributors can be authors, translators, volume editors, and so on. This information is stored as submission metadata and is provided as part of any published manuscript record. The user who submits the manuscript usually provides the contributor data. If there are other contributors involved, the submitting user needs to have their permission to provide their personal data. The editors of the journal may edit and/or add additional contributor details after the submission is finished.

The following contributor information is collected:

• Full Name (required)
• Email Address (required)
• Country
• Salutation
• ORCID
• Website
• Affiliation
• Biography

The contributor data is an integral part of the manuscript metadata and will be deleted only in special circumstances.

Workflow Data

The journal keeps track of workflow information. All actions taken by authors, editors, reviewers and other participants in the editorial process will be recorded for the proper functioning and integrity of the publication process. The workflow data is an integral part of the journal’s archive and will be deleted only in special circumstances.

General Visitor Information

When a user visits this journal website, some visitor data is automatically collected. That is generally true of all websites. Information such as cookies to manage sessions, and IP address of the visitor, page visits, date of visits, and information provided by your web browser such as browser name are collected. This journal may also make use of third party analytics services such as Google Analytics. Those analytics are available to us only in aggregate form and individual users cannot be traced.

Users can choose to block cookies in their browser while visiting this journal website. In such a case, the ability to log-in as a user will not function but other parts of the website will work normally.

Data Transfers

Contributor data for published manuscripts may be transferred to other services designed to index and disseminate scientific publications. Contributor data for published manuscripts is also openly available for harvesting through an OAI-PMH service. Examples of such services are DOAJ and Crossref article databases. Indexing services used by a journal may vary. Users’ profile data is never transferred to third parties.

Correction or Deletion of Information

The data in user accounts can be deleted upon request. We may request identification before acting on such requests. Upon receiving a written request for removal of personal information in the user account, we will endeavour to fulfill your request. However, some personal information may persist in backup copies for a certain period of time and may be retained as necessary for legitimate business purposes or to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, preserve journal integrity, and enforce our agreements. Those involved in editing this journal seek to be compliant with industry standards for data privacy while maintaining, with the greatest integrity possible, the public record of scholarly publishing.

Contact Information

You may contact the journal managers/administrators of this journal if you have any unanswered questions about this privacy policy or to request correction or deletion of your personal information held by this journal. The most current contact information is available on the journal contact page.