Privacy Statement

MSAR Journals, operated under the Multidisciplinary Scholarly Advancement and Research (MSAR) Institute, respects the privacy of authors, reviewers, editors, readers, registered users and other visitors to its websites and publishing platforms.

This Privacy Statement explains the categories of personal information that may be collected, how that information may be used and shared, and the measures intended to protect it during registration, manuscript submission, peer review, publication and related publishing activities.

1. Information We Collect

Depending on how you use MSAR Journals, the information collected may include:

• Name, professional title, institutional affiliation, department and country.
• Email address and other contact information.
• Username, account credentials and user profile information.
• ORCID iD and other researcher identifiers, where provided.
• Author information and manuscript-related metadata.
• Manuscripts, supplementary files, figures, tables, datasets, declarations and other submitted materials.
• Information concerning reviewers, editors, editorial decisions, peer-review activities and related communications.
• Correspondence submitted through journal platforms or other official communication channels.
• Information provided when subscribing to journal notifications or other services, where available.
• Technical information such as IP address, browser type, device information, operating system, access times and website usage information, where collected through standard web technologies.

2. How We Use Personal Information

Personal information may be used for legitimate publishing, administrative, technical, security and legal purposes, including to:

• Create and maintain user accounts.
• Process and manage manuscript submissions.
• Communicate with authors, reviewers, editors and other users.
• Facilitate peer review and editorial assessment.
• Verify author and researcher information where appropriate.
• Manage editorial, production and publishing workflows.
• Publish articles and associated bibliographic information.
• Disseminate article metadata to scholarly services, registration agencies, repositories and indexing or abstracting organizations where applicable.
• Maintain the security, integrity and functionality of the journal platform.
• Respond to inquiries, complaints and requests.
• Send service-related notifications and communications.
• Improve publishing services and platform functionality where appropriate.
• Comply with applicable legal, regulatory, ethical and scholarly publishing requirements.

3. Manuscript and Peer-Review Information

Information associated with manuscript submissions may be accessible to authorized editors, reviewers, journal staff and administrators to the extent necessary for editorial assessment, peer review, publication and related administrative functions.

Peer-review information is handled in accordance with the relevant journal's stated review model and editorial policies. Depending on the model used, reviewer identities, author identities and review reports may be confidential or disclosed to specified participants.

Authors should ensure that manuscripts and supplementary materials do not contain unnecessary personally identifiable information or confidential material that should not be disclosed to the journal or its authorized reviewers.

4. Publication of Information

When an article is accepted and published, certain information may become publicly available as part of the scholarly record. This may include author names, institutional affiliations, ORCID iDs where provided or displayed, article title, abstract, keywords, references, acknowledgements, funding information, declarations and other publication metadata.

Where applicable, bibliographic information may be shared with DOI registration agencies, indexing and abstracting services, scholarly databases, repositories and other scholarly communication services. Published information may be copied, indexed, linked or redistributed by third parties in accordance with applicable licenses, service arrangements and law.

5. Cookies and Technical Information

MSAR Journals may use cookies and similar technologies to support website functionality, maintain user sessions, remember preferences, improve security and understand website usage, where these technologies are implemented.

Where required by applicable law, consent will be requested before using non-essential cookies or similar technologies. Users may also be able to manage cookies through their browser settings, although disabling certain cookies may affect website functionality.

6. Sharing of Personal Information

MSAR Journals does not intend to sell users' personal information.

Personal information may be shared, where necessary and appropriate, with authorized service providers, hosting or technical providers, scholarly infrastructure organizations, DOI registration agencies, indexing or abstracting services and other organizations involved in publishing operations. Information may also be disclosed where required by law, necessary to address a legitimate legal claim, or needed to protect the security and integrity of the platform and scholarly record.

Access to personal information should be limited to individuals and organizations that reasonably require it for legitimate publishing, administrative, technical, legal or security purposes. Where appropriate, relevant service providers should be subject to confidentiality and data-protection obligations.

7. Data Security

MSAR Journals aims to apply reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect personal information against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, loss or misuse.

No internet-based system or electronic transmission method can be guaranteed to be completely secure. Users should protect their account credentials, use appropriate security practices and notify the relevant journal administration if they become aware of suspected unauthorized access to their account.

8. Data Retention

Personal information may be retained for as long as reasonably necessary to provide publishing services, manage editorial processes, maintain accurate scholarly records, meet legal or regulatory requirements, resolve disputes and protect the integrity of the scholarly record.

Published articles, editorial notices and associated bibliographic records may need to be retained permanently or for an extended period as part of the academic record. The retention of other personal information should be reviewed in accordance with its purpose, applicable requirements and the publisher's actual data-retention practices.

9. Third-Party Services and External Websites

MSAR Journals may rely on third-party services for functions such as website hosting, email delivery, authentication, security, analytics, DOI registration, indexing and other publishing-related activities, where such services are used.

Links to external websites may appear on MSAR Journals websites or within published articles. External websites operate under their own privacy policies and practices. Users should review those policies before providing personal information to third-party services.

10. User Rights and Requests

Depending on applicable law and jurisdiction, individuals may have rights concerning their personal information, including the right to request access, correction, updating, deletion, restriction of processing, objection or other appropriate handling.

Requests may be submitted to MSAR Journals using the contact details provided below. The publisher may need to verify the identity of the requester and clarify the scope of the request before taking action.

Some information may need to be retained where necessary to comply with legal obligations, maintain publication records, resolve disputes, protect the rights of others or preserve the integrity of the scholarly record. Any request will be assessed in accordance with applicable law; not every request can necessarily be fulfilled in full.

11. Children's Privacy

MSAR Journals is primarily intended for researchers, academics, clinicians, healthcare professionals, students and other scholarly users. The platform does not knowingly seek to collect personal information from children where such collection is prohibited by applicable law. Where information concerning a child is submitted as part of legitimate research, appropriate ethical, consent and legal requirements must be observed.

12. Changes to This Privacy Statement

MSAR Journals may update this Privacy Statement to reflect changes in publishing services, data-handling practices, technology, or applicable legal and regulatory requirements.

The updated statement will be published on the MSAR Journals website with its applicable effective date. Users are encouraged to review this page periodically.