1.1 Information You Provide to Us

• Account information: Name, email address, username, password, affiliation, and ORCID iD
• Author information: Manuscript content, author names, affiliations, contact details, and funding information
• Reviewer information: Areas of expertise, review history, and confidential comments to editors
• Editor information: Editorial board membership details and decision-making records
• Payment information: Billing address and payment details (processed securely by our payment providers)
• Communications: Emails, support requests, and other communications you send to us

1.2 Information We Collect Automatically

• Log data: IP address, browser type, operating system, pages visited, and timestamps
• Cookies and similar technologies: Information collected through cookies and web beacons (see Section 7 below)
• Usage data: Information about how you interact with our Service, including articles viewed, downloaded, and shared

We use your personal information for the following purposes:

• To provide, maintain, and improve our Service
• To process and manage manuscript submissions and peer review
• To communicate with you about your account, submissions, and reviews
• To send you journal announcements, calls for papers, and other relevant information (you can opt out at any time)
• To process payments for article processing charges
• To detect, prevent, and address fraud, security issues, and technical problems
• To comply with legal obligations and protect our legal rights
• To analyze usage patterns and improve the user experience

We do not sell your personal information. We may share your information only in the following circumstances:

• With editors and reviewers: As necessary for the peer review process
• With service providers: Third-party vendors who assist us in operating our Service (e.g., payment processors, email service providers, hosting providers)
• For legal reasons: If required by law, court order, or government request
• To protect our rights: To enforce our terms of service, protect the security of our Service, and prevent fraud
• With your consent: When you explicitly agree to the sharing of your information

We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your personal information from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. These measures include:

• Encryption of data in transit using TLS/SSL
• Secure storage of data on encrypted servers
• Regular security assessments and updates
• Access controls and authentication mechanisms
• Employee training on data protection and privacy

While we take reasonable measures to protect your personal information, no method of transmission over the Internet or electronic storage is 100% secure. Therefore, we cannot guarantee absolute security.

We retain your personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, including:

• Account information: Retained for the duration of your account, plus 7 years after account closure
• Manuscript and review data: Retained permanently as part of the scholarly record
• Payment information: Retained for 7 years after the transaction date for accounting and tax purposes
• Log data: Retained for 12 months, then anonymized or deleted

Depending on your location, you may have the following rights regarding your personal information:

• Right to access: Request a copy of the personal information we hold about you
• Right to rectification: Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information
• Right to erasure: Request deletion of your personal information, where legally permitted
• Right to restriction: Request restriction of processing of your personal information
• Right to data portability: Request transfer of your personal information to another organization
• Right to object: Object to processing of your personal information for direct marketing purposes
• Right to withdraw consent: Withdraw consent at any time where processing is based on consent

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at [email protected]. We will respond to your request within 30 days.

Our Service uses cookies and similar technologies to enhance your user experience. Cookies are small text files that are stored on your device when you visit a website.

We use the following types of cookies:

• Necessary cookies: Required for the basic functioning of our Service
• Preference cookies: Remember your preferences and settings
• Analytics cookies: Help us understand how users interact with our Service
• Marketing cookies: Used to deliver relevant advertisements and marketing communications

You can control cookies through your browser settings. However, disabling cookies may affect the functionality of our Service.

Our Service is not intended for children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you become aware that a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, please contact us immediately, and we will take steps to delete such information.

We may update this Privacy Statement from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Statement on this page with a revised "Last updated" date. We encourage you to review this Privacy Statement periodically for any changes. Changes to this Privacy Statement are effective when they are posted on this page.