Privacy Statement

Scope and who we are

This Privacy Statement explains how APALM’s journal website (OJS) collects, uses, and protects personal data for user accounts (authors, reviewers, editors) and editorial workflows. For privacy information about payments, print-issue purchases, and other services on the publisher website, please see the Pacific Group of e-Journals (PaGe) Privacy Statement.

What we collect on this journal site (OJS)

When you register or use an account, we process: name, email, affiliation, country, profile settings, ORCID (if provided), and role assignments (author/reviewer/editor). During submission and peer review, we process manuscript files and metadata, correspondence, reviewer reports, editorial decisions, and production files. We also capture basic technical data (e.g., IP address, browser user-agent) for security, session management, and usage statistics.

Cookies and analytics

This site uses cookies required for secure logins and workflow. A cookie titled OJSSID is set to maintain your session; it stores a session ID only and enables authenticated functions (submission, reviewing, editing). Cookies are not required to read open content.

Why we use your data (lawful basis)

  • Contract/Performance: to run the editorial workflow you request (submission, peer review, publication).

  • Legitimate interests: site security, fraud/abuse prevention, aggregated usage statistics, and scholarly record-keeping.

  • Consent: optional announcements or analytics where requested/opt-in.

What we share and with whom (processors/partners)

We may share limited data with service providers strictly to operate the journal and scholarly record—for example: secure hosting/email; DOI registration and indexing/archiving services; researcher identifier services (e.g., ORCID, if you connect it); and plagiarism screening during editorial checks. Payments for APCs occur on the publisher website, not on this journal site; those activities are governed by the PaGe Privacy Statement.

Retention and the scholarly record

Account and submission/peer-review records are kept as part of standard editorial records. Published articles and public metadata form the permanent scholarly record and are not deleted upon request. We preserve published content via our publisher’s archiving arrangements and the journal platform’s preservation features. (See our Repository & Self-Archiving and Publication Ethics pages for related policies.) 

Your rights

You may access, correct, or update your account information; you may also request account deactivation. Rights to deletion/erasure do not extend to published articles or public metadata. For privacy questions or requests, contact the journal office (below) or the publisher’s Privacy/Grievance contact in the PaGe Privacy Statement.

Security

We apply reasonable administrative, technical, and organizational safeguards, including HTTPS/TLS, role-based access controls, and least-privilege practices. Some usage/technical data may be stored for security and statistics consistent with OJS guidance.

Links and third-party sites

This site may link to external services (e.g., DOI resolvers, repositories, ORCID, analytics, payment gateway on the publisher’s domain). Their privacy practices are governed by their own policies; please review them as applicable.

Contact

Publisher Privacy/Grievance Officer: contactus@pacificejournals.com (see publisher policy for mailing address).