GDPR Policy

Last updated: 02/February/2022

Global Journals® is committed to protecting personal data and respecting the rights of individuals in accordance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the UK GDPR. This GDPR Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, share, and protect personal data when we act as a “data controller,” and describes the rights available to individuals in the European Economic Area (EEA), the United Kingdom (UK), and other regions that follow similar rules.
This Policy supplements our main Privacy Policy and should be read together with our DSAR Policy, Cookie Policy, and CCPA & CPRA Policy (where applicable).
By using the Global Journals® websites, platforms, and related services (the “Services”) from within the EEA/UK, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this GDPR Privacy Policy.

Who we are and how to contact us

Global Journals® acts as a data controller for personal data processed in connection with our publishing, editorial, peer review, and business activities.
If you have questions, or if you wish to report a concern or potential violation, you may contact us at:

Global Journals®

  • Email: helpdesk@ globaljournals.org
  • PostalAddress: 945th Concord Streets Framingham Massachusetts

You can also contact Global Journals® through the official Contact Us page available on our website

Scope of this Policy

This Policy applies when Global Journals® processes personal data of:
  • Authors, co authors, and corresponding authors
  • Reviewers, editors, editorial and advisory board members
  • Librarians, institutional and corporate contacts
  • Subscribers, readers, and website users
  • Conference participants, prospective authors, and marketing contacts
It applies where the GDPR or UK GDPR governs our processing (for example when you are located in the EEA/UK or when we offer services to you there).
This Policy does not apply to anonymised data that no longer identifies an individual.

What personal data we collect

We collect and process different categories of personal data depending on your relationship with us and how you use our Services. Typical categories include:

 Identification and contact details

  • Name, title, and salutation
  • Email address, postal address, country, and telephone number
  • Job title, department, institutional affiliation

 Professional and academic information

  • Areas of expertise and research interests
  • Academic degrees, roles, and affiliations provided by you or available from public sources
  • Editorial, reviewer, or board positions and history
  • ORCID or similar scholarly identifiers, where you choose to provide them

Account and interaction data

  • Account credentials (such as username; passwords are usually stored in hashed form by our systems)
  • Manuscript submissions, peer review assignments, editorial decisions, and correspondence
  • Communications with us via email, contact forms, or other channels
  • Preferences related to journals, alerts, newsletters, or marketing communications

Usage and technical data

  • Log data related to use of our websites and systems
  • IP address, browser type and version, device type, operating system
  • Pages visited, time and date of visits, and referring URLs
  • Cookie identifiers and similar information, as described in our Cookie Policy
Transaction and payment data
  • Limited billing and payment information, such as invoice details, payment status, and transaction records
  • Payment card details are usually processed by third party payment processors; we do not typically store full card numbers on our own systems.
Content and submissions
  • Manuscripts, abstracts, figures, tables, data files, and supporting materials you upload
  • Peer review reports, editorial comments, and related internal communications
  • Publicly visible information in published articles such as author names, affiliations, and acknowledgments
Special or sensitive data
We do not generally seek to collect “special categories” of data (such as health data, racial or ethnic origin, religious beliefs) about you as an individual user outside the research context. Where such data appear in research materials or manuscripts, you are responsible for ensuring that you have the necessary legal basis, consents, and ethical approvals to include and submit them.
We do not use special category data for general marketing or profiling of authors or readers.

How we collect personal data

We collect personal data through various channels, including:
  • Directly from you when you create an account, submit a manuscript, act as a reviewer or editor, register for alerts or newsletters, complete forms, or contact us
  • From your institution or organization (for example when you are nominated as a contact, editor, or reviewer)
  • Automatically through cookies and similar technologies when you use our websites and online platforms (see our Cookie Policy)
  • From service providers and partners that support our operations, such as editorial systems, analytics providers, indexing services, and payment processors
  • From publicly available sources such as institutional websites, professional profiles, databases, and conference programs where this is consistent with applicable law

Purposes and legal bases for processing

Under the GDPR, we must have a legal basis for each processing purpose. Depending on the context, we rely on one or more of the following legal bases:

Performance of a contract or steps prior to entering a contract

We process personal data where necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you, for example:
  • Managing manuscript submissions and peer review
  • Operating author, reviewer, and editor accounts
  • Providing publishing services and access to content
  • Handling subscriptions, orders, and payments
Legitimate interests

We process personal data based on our legitimate interests, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. These legitimate interests include:

  • Operating, securing, and improving our websites, platforms, and publishing workflows
  • Managing editorial boards and reviewer databases
  • Ensuring the integrity of the double blind or other peer review processes
  • Communicating with you about your submissions, reviews, or roles
  • Measuring and improving the reach and impact of our journals
  • Protecting our rights, property, and users, including fraud prevention and network security
  • Conducting business planning, reporting, and analytics in pseudonymous or aggregated form
Where we rely on legitimate interests, we consider and balance potential impacts on your privacy and will not use your data for activities where your interests override our own.
Legal obligations

We may process personal data to comply with legal and regulatory obligations, such as:

  • Financial and tax reporting
  • Record keeping and audit requirements
  • Cooperation with law enforcement or regulators where required by law
  • Publication ethics, research integrity, and related investigations where legally required
Consent  
We rely on your consent in limited situations, such as:
  • Sending certain types of marketing communications or newsletters where opt in is legally required
  • Setting non essential cookies or using similar technologies where consent is required under applicable e privacy rules
  • Including optional personal information where you choose to provide it
Where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw consent at any time using the mechanisms provided (for example unsubscribe links) or by contacting us. Withdrawal of consent will not affect the lawfulness of processing prior to withdrawal.
Vital interests or public interest
In rare cases, we may process personal data to protect vital interests of individuals or to perform a task in the public interest, where applicable.

How we use personal data

We use personal data for a range of connected purposes, including:
  • Managing manuscript submission, peer review, editorial decisions, and production
  • Operating editorial and reviewer databases and assigning reviewers based on expertise
  • Hosting and disseminating published content, including maintaining long term access as part of the scholarly record
  • Providing account access and customer support
  • Sending service related communications about submissions, reviews, accounts, platform updates, and policy changes
  • Providing alerts, newsletters, or calls for papers consistent with your preferences and applicable marketing rules
  • Conducting quality assurance, analytics, and reporting to improve journals and services
  • Enforcing our Terms, Acceptable Use Policy, and publication ethics guidelines
  • Protecting security, preventing abuse, and responding to incidents
We do not sell personal data in the ordinary sense of the word and do not engage in widespread consumer style behavioral advertising profiling of our research community.

How we share personal data

Service providers and processors
Trusted third parties who provide services to us under contract, such as:
  • Hosting and infrastructure providers
  • Manuscript submission and peer review system providers
  • Payment processors and billing platforms
  • Email delivery and communication tools
  • Analytics and reporting services
  • IT security and support providers
These partners are required to process personal data only on our instructions and to implement appropriate security measures.

 Editorial and publishing partners

We share relevant personal data with
  • Editors, associate editors, and editorial board members to manage peer review and editorial decisions
  • Reviewers (on a controlled and appropriate basis) in connection with manuscript evaluation
  • Partner institutions or co publishers where a journal is run in collaboration with another organization
We take care to respect the confidentiality of peer review and internal editorial discussions, consistent with our ethics and editorial policies.

 Other recipients

We may also share personal data with:
  • Professional advisers, auditors, and legal counsel
  • Governmental, regulatory, or law enforcement authorities where required by law or where reasonably necessary to protect our rights or the rights of others
  • Other organizations involved in a business transaction, such as a merger or acquisition, in accordance with legal requirements
We do not disclose personal data to third parties for their own independent marketing purposes without your consent.

International transfers

Global Journals® operates internationally and uses service providers located in various countries. This may involve transferring personal data outside the EEA/UK to countries that may have different data protection laws.
Where we transfer personal data from the EEA/UK to a country that is not recognized by the European Commission or UK authorities as providing an adequate level of protection, we implement appropriate safeguards, such as:
  • Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) approved by the European Commission and, where applicable, the UK ICO
  • Additional technical and organizational measures to protect data during and after transfer
You may contact us for more details about international transfers and the safeguards in place.

Data retention

We retain personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes described in this Policy, subject to legal, regulatory, and operational requirements. Retention periods vary depending on the category of data and the context. For example:
  • Manuscripts, published articles, and core peer review records are retained for extended periods to preserve the scholarly record, support research integrity, and enable traceability of editorial decisions.
  • Account and contact information is retained for the duration of your relationship with us and for a period afterward, as required by applicable laws and limitation periods.
  • Technical logs and analytics data are typically retained for shorter periods, consistent with security and operational needs.
When data is no longer required, we will delete it or anonymise it so that it no longer identifies you.

Your GDPR rights

If you are in the EEA or UK, you have the following rights in relation to your personal data, subject to conditions and applicable law:
  • Right of access: To obtain confirmation whether we process your personal data and to receive a copy of certain data along with information about our processing.
  • Right to rectification: To request correction of inaccurate or incomplete personal data.
  • Right to erasure: To request deletion of personal data in certain circumstances, for example where it is no longer needed, where you withdraw consent (if consent was the legal basis), or where you successfully object to processing. Note: In scholarly publishing, we may have strong legitimate grounds or legal obligations to retain certain information, especially where it forms part of the permanent record of research and authorship.