Preservation & Privacy

Research Journal Al-Qamar is committed to the long-term preservation of scholarly content and the responsible protection of personal, editorial, and publication-related information. The journal recognizes that academic publishing requires both reliable access to published research and careful handling of information submitted by authors, reviewers, editors, readers, and institutions.

This policy explains how the journal preserves its published content, maintains publication records, protects personal information, manages confidential editorial material, and supports responsible use of data through its online platform.

Purpose of Preservation and Privacy Policy

The purpose of this policy is to ensure that published scholarly content remains accessible, verifiable, and properly maintained over time, while personal and editorial information is handled with confidentiality and care.

This policy aims to support:

  1. Long-term availability of published articles
  2. Protection of the scholarly record
  3. Reliable access to journal archives
  4. Accurate metadata and citation information
  5. Secure handling of author and reviewer information
  6. Confidential editorial communication
  7. Responsible use of online submission data
  8. Protection of unpublished manuscripts
  9. Transparent privacy practices
  10. Ethical academic record keeping

Preservation Policy

Research Journal Al-Qamar aims to preserve published scholarly content for long-term academic access. Preservation ensures that articles, issues, metadata, references, and publication records remain available for future readers, researchers, libraries, institutions, and indexing platforms.

The journal may preserve:

  1. Published article PDFs
  2. Article metadata
  3. Abstracts and keywords
  4. Volume and issue records
  5. Author names and affiliations
  6. References and citation details
  7. DOI or permanent links, where applicable
  8. Editorial and publication records
  9. Correction and retraction notices
  10. Supplementary files, where applicable

Preservation supports the reliability, continuity, and academic credibility of the journal.

Digital Preservation

The journal publishes and maintains content through its official online platform and Online Journal System. Digital preservation helps ensure that published research remains accessible even after changes in website design, hosting environment, metadata systems, or publishing workflow.

Digital preservation may include:

  1. Regular website maintenance
  2. Backup of published files
  3. Storage of article PDFs
  4. Preservation of issue archives
  5. Maintenance of article landing pages
  6. Metadata backup
  7. DOI or article link maintenance, where applicable
  8. Server-level backup, where available
  9. Institutional record keeping
  10. Migration of content when platforms are upgraded

The journal aims to minimize broken links, missing files, metadata errors, and loss of published content.

Online Archive

Research Journal Al-Qamar maintains an online archive of published issues and articles. The online archive helps readers access previous volumes, current issues, special sections, and published articles.

The archive may contain:

  1. Volume number
  2. Issue number
  3. Year of publication
  4. Table of contents
  5. Article titles
  6. Author names
  7. Abstracts
  8. Keywords
  9. Full-text PDFs
  10. Page numbers
  11. DOI or article links, where applicable
  12. Citation information

The journal aims to keep its archive organized, searchable, and accessible for academic use.

Version of Record

The final published article available on the official journal website is considered the Version of Record. This is the authoritative version that should be cited by authors, readers, libraries, and indexing platforms.

The Version of Record normally includes:

  1. Final article title
  2. Final author details
  3. Abstract and keywords
  4. Final text and references
  5. Volume and issue details
  6. Page numbers
  7. DOI or article link, where applicable
  8. Publication date
  9. Final formatting and pagination
  10. Official journal metadata

If corrections, retractions, or notices are issued after publication, the journal aims to link them clearly to the Version of Record.

Metadata Preservation

Accurate metadata is essential for discovery, citation, indexing, and long-term access. The journal maintains metadata for published articles to help readers, indexing agencies, libraries, and repositories locate and cite content correctly.

Metadata may include:

  1. Article title
  2. Author names
  3. Author affiliations
  4. ORCID IDs, where provided
  5. Abstract
  6. Keywords
  7. References
  8. DOI or permanent link, where applicable
  9. Volume, issue, and year
  10. Page range
  11. Publication date
  12. Article language
  13. Article type or section
  14. Publisher details
  15. ISSN details

The journal may correct metadata where errors are identified.

Preservation of Corrections and Retractions

Preservation also includes maintaining a transparent record of post-publication updates. If an article is corrected, withdrawn, retracted, or marked with an editorial notice, the journal aims to preserve the relevant notice as part of the scholarly record.

Such notices may include:

  1. Correction notice
  2. Retraction notice
  3. Expression of concern
  4. Editorial clarification
  5. Updated metadata record
  6. Replacement file information, where applicable
  7. Date of correction or notice
  8. Link to the original article

This practice protects transparency and helps readers understand the publication history of an article.

Backup and Record Maintenance

The journal may maintain backup copies of essential publication files and records to reduce the risk of data loss. Backup and record maintenance may include article PDFs, metadata files, issue records, author correspondence, review documentation, and production files.

Backup practices may cover:

  1. Published article files
  2. Issue archives
  3. Submission records
  4. Review records
  5. Editorial decision records
  6. Copyedited files
  7. Production files
  8. Metadata records
  9. Website files
  10. Administrative publication documents

The purpose of backup is to protect the continuity of the journal’s academic record.

Platform Migration and Preservation

If the journal updates, upgrades, transfers, or migrates its website or OJS platform, it aims to preserve published content, article links, metadata, issue archives, and publication history as accurately as possible.

During migration, the journal may check:

  1. Article titles
  2. Author information
  3. Abstracts and keywords
  4. PDF availability
  5. Issue structure
  6. Article links
  7. DOI resolution, where applicable
  8. References and metadata
  9. Publication dates
  10. Downloadable files

The journal aims to correct migration-related errors where identified.

Print Preservation

Where applicable, printed copies of Research Journal Al-Qamar may be preserved for institutional, archival, library, and record-keeping purposes. Print preservation supports long-term access and provides an additional record of published issues.

Print records may include:

  1. Complete printed issues
  2. Special issues
  3. Tables of contents
  4. Editorial pages
  5. Article pagination
  6. ISSN details
  7. Publisher details
  8. Institutional copies
  9. Library copies
  10. Archive copies

Print preservation is subject to availability, production policy, and institutional record-keeping arrangements.

Privacy Policy

Research Journal Al-Qamar respects the privacy of authors, reviewers, editors, readers, and users of the journal’s online platform. The journal collects and uses only the information necessary for manuscript submission, editorial processing, peer review, publication, communication, indexing, archiving, and academic record keeping.

Personal information is handled carefully and used only for legitimate journal-related purposes.

Information Collected

The journal may collect information from authors, reviewers, editors, readers, and website users. This information may include:

  1. Full name
  2. Email address
  3. Institutional affiliation
  4. Designation
  5. Country
  6. ORCID ID, where provided
  7. Contact details, where required
  8. Academic biography, where provided
  9. Research interests
  10. Manuscript files
  11. Reviewer reports
  12. Editorial communication
  13. Submission metadata
  14. Login or account information in OJS
  15. Website usage information, where applicable

The journal does not intentionally collect unnecessary personal information.

Use of Personal Information

Personal information may be used for legitimate academic and editorial purposes, including:

  1. Author registration
  2. Manuscript submission
  3. Editorial communication
  4. Peer review management
  5. Reviewer invitation
  6. Editorial decision-making
  7. Copyediting and production
  8. Online publication
  9. Metadata creation
  10. Indexing and abstracting
  11. Archiving and preservation
  12. Publication certificates, where applicable
  13. Responding to queries, appeals, or complaints
  14. Institutional verification, where required

The journal does not sell personal information to third parties.

Author Information and Publication

When an article is published, certain author information becomes part of the public scholarly record. This may include:

  1. Author name
  2. Institutional affiliation
  3. Country, where applicable
  4. Email address, where journal policy allows
  5. ORCID ID, where provided
  6. Article title
  7. Abstract
  8. Keywords
  9. Citation details
  10. Publication metadata

This information is published to support citation, academic verification, indexing, discoverability, and scholarly communication.

Confidential Information

Some information submitted to the journal is confidential and is not intended for public display. This may include:

  1. Unpublished manuscript files
  2. Reviewer reports
  3. Editorial notes
  4. Internal editorial decisions
  5. Author declarations
  6. Ethical complaints
  7. Appeal documents
  8. Private correspondence
  9. Personal contact details not intended for publication
  10. Sensitive supporting documents

The journal aims to protect such information and disclose it only where necessary for editorial, ethical, legal, or institutional reasons.

Reviewer Privacy and Confidentiality

Reviewer identity is protected in the double-blind peer review process. Reviewer names, reports, recommendations, and confidential comments are not normally disclosed to authors or unauthorized persons.

Reviewer information may be used for:

  1. Reviewer invitation
  2. Peer review assignment
  3. Editorial record keeping
  4. Reviewer acknowledgement, where policy allows
  5. Review quality monitoring
  6. Conflict of interest management
  7. Future reviewer selection

Reviewers are also required to protect the confidentiality of manuscripts they review.

Editor and Editorial Board Information

The journal may publish names, affiliations, roles, and academic profiles of editors and editorial board members on its website for transparency and credibility.

This information may include:

  1. Name
  2. Editorial role
  3. Institutional affiliation
  4. Country
  5. Academic field
  6. Email or profile link, where provided
  7. ORCID or academic profile, where applicable

Editorial board information is displayed to support transparency in journal governance.

Website and OJS Accounts

Users who register on the journal’s OJS platform may provide personal and academic information required for submission, review, or editorial participation. Users are responsible for keeping their login credentials secure.

Users should:

  1. Use accurate registration information
  2. Keep passwords confidential
  3. Update email addresses when needed
  4. Avoid sharing accounts
  5. Inform the journal of unauthorized access concerns
  6. Use the system only for legitimate academic purposes

The journal may remove or restrict accounts used for spam, false identity, unethical submission, or misuse of the platform.

Cookies and Technical Data

The journal website or OJS platform may use cookies or technical data to support website functionality, login sessions, security, analytics, navigation, and user experience.

Technical information may include:

  1. Browser type
  2. Device information
  3. IP address
  4. Login session data
  5. Date and time of access
  6. Pages visited
  7. Download activity
  8. System logs
  9. Error logs
  10. Security-related information

Such data may be used for technical maintenance, website improvement, security monitoring, and platform operation.

Data Sharing

The journal may share limited publication-related information with legitimate academic and technical partners where necessary.

Information may be shared with:

  1. Indexing and abstracting agencies
  2. Archiving platforms
  3. DOI registration services, where applicable
  4. Library catalogues
  5. Metadata services
  6. Technical hosting providers
  7. OJS support providers
  8. Institutional authorities, where required
  9. Ethics investigation bodies, where necessary
  10. Legal authorities, where required by law

Only relevant information should be shared, and confidential material should be protected as far as possible.

Data Protection

The journal aims to protect personal and editorial information from unauthorized access, misuse, loss, alteration, or disclosure. While no online system can guarantee absolute security, the journal takes reasonable steps to maintain confidentiality and data integrity.

Data protection may include:

  1. Controlled access to editorial records
  2. Password-protected accounts
  3. Limited access to reviewer reports
  4. Secure storage of manuscript files
  5. Regular platform maintenance
  6. Backup of essential data
  7. Restricted administrative permissions
  8. Careful handling of confidential correspondence
  9. Technical monitoring where available
  10. Responsible data-sharing practices

Users should also protect their own account credentials and avoid sending sensitive information through insecure channels.

Confidentiality of Manuscripts

Submitted manuscripts are treated as confidential documents until publication. Editors, reviewers, and editorial staff must not share unpublished manuscripts or use their content for personal advantage.

Confidentiality applies to:

  1. Manuscript text
  2. Data and evidence
  3. Translations
  4. Research findings
  5. Arguments and interpretations
  6. Supplementary files
  7. Reviewer reports
  8. Editorial comments
  9. Author identities during blind review
  10. Ethical concerns

This confidentiality supports fairness, trust, and integrity in the editorial process.

Privacy in Ethical Investigations

If a complaint, appeal, authorship dispute, plagiarism concern, or ethical investigation arises, the journal may need to review and share relevant information with appropriate parties. Such information is handled carefully and disclosed only as needed.

Relevant parties may include:

  1. Authors
  2. Editors
  3. Reviewers
  4. Editorial Board members
  5. External experts
  6. Academic institutions
  7. Research ethics bodies
  8. Legal or regulatory authorities, where required

The journal aims to balance confidentiality with the need to protect publication ethics and the scholarly record.

Retention of Records

The journal may retain editorial and publication records for academic, legal, ethical, archival, and institutional purposes. Retention helps the journal respond to queries, verify publication history, investigate complaints, process appeals, and maintain continuity.

Records may include:

  1. Submission files
  2. Author declarations
  3. Review reports
  4. Editorial decisions
  5. Revision history
  6. Copyediting files
  7. Production files
  8. Published PDFs
  9. Metadata records
  10. Correction and retraction notices
  11. Communication records
  12. Ethical complaint records

Records may be retained for as long as necessary for legitimate journal purposes.

Removal or Correction of Personal Information

Authors, reviewers, or users may request correction of inaccurate personal information held by the journal. The journal may correct errors in names, affiliations, email addresses, metadata, or profile details where appropriate.

However, information that forms part of the published scholarly record may not always be removed, especially when it is necessary for citation, indexing, verification, correction, retraction, or publication history.

Requests may be considered for:

  1. Spelling correction in names
  2. Updated affiliation information
  3. Correction of email address
  4. ORCID update
  5. Metadata correction
  6. Removal of unnecessary personal details
  7. Correction of user profile information
  8. Clarification of author contribution details

The journal will consider such requests according to editorial, ethical, legal, and archival responsibilities.

Privacy of Research Participants

Authors are responsible for protecting the privacy of research participants. Research involving interviews, surveys, personal data, fieldwork, case studies, images, recordings, or sensitive information must follow ethical standards.

Authors should ensure:

  1. Informed consent
  2. Anonymization where required
  3. Confidential handling of participant data
  4. Avoidance of unnecessary identifying details
  5. Ethical approval where applicable
  6. Permission for images or recordings
  7. Protection of vulnerable participants
  8. Responsible reporting of sensitive issues

The journal may request evidence of consent or ethical approval where necessary.

Sensitive Religious, Legal and Social Information

Because Research Journal Al-Qamar publishes in Islamic Studies and related fields, some manuscripts may involve sensitive religious, legal, sectarian, institutional, or social information. Authors must handle such material with care, evidence, accuracy, and respect.

Authors should avoid publishing unnecessary personal or sensitive information that may cause harm, defamation, misrepresentation, or ethical concern.

Use of AI Tools and Privacy

Authors, reviewers, and editors should not upload confidential manuscripts, unpublished data, reviewer reports, editorial correspondence, private information, or sensitive research material into unauthorized AI tools or public AI systems.

Using AI tools with confidential material may create privacy, copyright, and confidentiality risks. Any AI-assisted use must comply with the journal’s AI policy and confidentiality requirements.

Third-Party Links

The journal website may contain links to external websites, indexing platforms, DOI services, archives, institutional pages, or academic resources. The journal is not responsible for the privacy practices, content, accuracy, or security of external websites.

Users should review the privacy policies of external websites before providing personal information.

Misuse of Personal or Journal Information

The journal does not permit misuse of personal data, editorial information, journal name, ISSN, article files, author information, reviewer identity, or publication records.

Misuse may include:

  1. Fake acceptance letters
  2. Fake publication certificates
  3. False editorial emails
  4. Unauthorized use of author data
  5. Misuse of reviewer identity
  6. Fake journal communication
  7. Altered article files
  8. Misleading indexing claims
  9. Unauthorized fee collection
  10. Misrepresentation of journal records

Any suspected misuse should be reported to the journal.

Contact for Preservation and Privacy Queries

For queries related to preservation, archive access, metadata correction, privacy concerns, personal information, article records, or publication verification, authors and readers may contact:

Editor-in-Chief
Research Journal Al-Qamar
Email: editor@alqamarjournal.com

For publisher-level institutional verification or documentation, authors and institutions may also contact Al-Qamar Islamic Research Institute through the official institute contact channels displayed on the institute website.

Final Statement

Research Journal Al-Qamar is committed to preserving published scholarship and protecting personal, editorial, and publication-related information. The journal aims to maintain reliable access to its academic record while respecting confidentiality, privacy, ethical responsibilities, and the rights of authors, reviewers, editors, readers, and research participants.