Privacy Statment
Minang Bioscience Journal (MBJ) is committed to protecting the privacy and personal information of authors, reviewers, editors, readers, and visitors. This Privacy Statement explains how personal information collected through the journal website, Open Journal Systems (OJS), manuscript submission system, and editorial communication is collected, used, stored, and protected.
1. Information We Collect
MBJ may collect personal information necessary to operate the journal and manage the editorial and publication process, including:
- Full name;
- Email address;
- Institutional affiliation;
- Country and professional information;
- ORCID iD, when provided;
- Username and account information;
- Author and co-author information;
- Manuscript and submission information;
- Reviewer information and review reports;
- Editorial correspondence and decisions; and
- Other information voluntarily provided by users through the journal system.
Technical information, such as IP address, browser type, access time, and website activity, may also be collected automatically for security, system administration, and website improvement purposes.
2. Use of Personal Information
Personal information collected by MBJ is used only for legitimate journal-related purposes, including:
- Managing manuscript submissions;
- Conducting editorial assessment and peer review;
- Communicating with authors, reviewers, and editors;
- Managing revisions, acceptance, and publication;
- Maintaining accurate publication and bibliographic records;
- Supporting indexing and abstracting services;
- Preventing plagiarism, fraud, and other forms of publication misconduct;
- Maintaining the security and functionality of the journal website; and
- Improving journal services and the user experience.
MBJ will not use personal information for unrelated commercial purposes.
3. Confidentiality of Personal Information
MBJ respects the confidentiality of personal information provided by users. Personal information will not be sold, rented, or disclosed to third parties for commercial purposes.
Access to personal information is limited to authorized members of the Editorial Team and system administrators who require the information to perform their journal-related responsibilities.
4. Privacy of Authors and Reviewers
MBJ applies a double-blind peer review process. The identities of authors and reviewers are kept confidential throughout the review process.
Reviewer information, including contact details and review reports, will not be disclosed to authors or other unauthorized parties unless disclosure is required by applicable law or expressly permitted under the journal's review policy.
5. Published Author Information
Certain information provided by authors may become publicly available as part of the published article and scholarly record. This may include:
- Author names;
- Institutional affiliations;
- Country;
- ORCID iD, when provided;
- Corresponding author's email address, where published; and
- Other bibliographic information necessary for academic identification and citation.
Authors should avoid including unnecessary personal or sensitive information in submitted manuscripts.
6. Data Sharing with Scholarly Services
To support scholarly communication, indexing, citation, and discoverability, relevant article metadata may be shared with appropriate scholarly services, indexing databases, DOI registration agencies, repositories, and academic discovery platforms.
Only information necessary for these purposes will be shared where applicable.
7. Data Security
MBJ takes reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect personal information against unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, misuse, loss, or destruction.
However, users should understand that no electronic transmission or storage system can be guaranteed to be completely secure.
8. Data Retention
Personal information and editorial records may be retained for as long as necessary to manage submissions, peer review, publication, archiving, indexing, and preservation of the scholarly record.
Certain editorial records may need to be retained permanently or for an extended period to maintain the integrity and history of the journal's publications.
9. Cookies and Website Usage
The MBJ website and OJS platform may use cookies or similar technical technologies to support essential website functions, user sessions, security, and system performance.
Technical information about website usage may be collected to help maintain and improve the journal's website and services.
10. Third-Party Services
MBJ may use trusted third-party services where necessary to support journal operations, such as hosting, DOI registration, plagiarism screening, indexing, email communication, digital preservation, and other scholarly publishing services.
Such services may process limited information required to provide their functions and are expected to maintain appropriate confidentiality and security.
11. User Rights
Authors, reviewers, editors, and registered users may contact the Editorial Team regarding their personal information held by the journal.
Where applicable, users may request:
- Access to their personal information;
- Correction of inaccurate information;
- Updating of account information; or
- Deletion of personal information that is no longer necessary, subject to legal, editorial, archival, and scholarly record requirements.
Requests may be subject to reasonable verification to protect account security and personal information.
12. Changes to This Privacy Statement
MBJ may update this Privacy Statement from time to time to reflect changes in journal operations, technology, applicable regulations, or scholarly publishing practices.
Any significant changes will be published on the official journal website.
13. Contact
Questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Statement or the handling of personal information may be directed to the Editorial Team of Minang Bioscience Journal (MBJ) through the contact information provided on the journal's official website.
