Privacy Statement

Editorial Policies

Privacy Statement

Overview

The Review of Studies on Criminology, Sociology, and Law (RSCSL) is committed to protecting the privacy, confidentiality, and security of the personal information entrusted to the journal by authors, reviewers, editors, readers, and other users of its publishing platform. The journal collects and processes personal data solely for legitimate editorial, peer review, publication, indexing, archiving, and journal administration purposes.

RSCSL recognizes that protecting personal information is essential to maintaining trust in scholarly publishing. The journal manages personal data responsibly and in accordance with applicable data protection laws, ethical publishing standards, and internationally recognized best practices for academic journals.

 

Collection of Personal Information

RSCSL may collect personal information necessary for the operation of the journal, including but not limited to:

  • Full name;
  • Institutional affiliation;
  • Email address;
  • ORCID iD (where provided);
  • Country or region;
  • Professional title;
  • Contact information relevant to journal activities;
  • User account information within the journal management system.

Additional information may be collected when voluntarily provided by users during manuscript submission, peer review, or editorial correspondence.

 

Purpose of Data Collection

Personal information is collected and processed exclusively for legitimate publishing activities, including:

  • Processing manuscript submissions;
  • Administering editorial evaluation;
  • Managing the peer review process;
  • Communicating editorial decisions;
  • Coordinating revisions and publication;
  • Publishing accepted articles;
  • Registering Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs);
  • Facilitating indexing and archiving;
  • Maintaining publication records;
  • Providing journal-related announcements;
  • Improving journal administration and publishing services.
Personal information is not collected for unrelated commercial purposes.
 

Confidentiality

RSCSL treats all personal information as confidential.

Access to personal data is restricted to authorized individuals who require such information to perform legitimate editorial or administrative responsibilities, including:

  • Editors;
  • Editorial Office staff;
  • Journal administrators;
  • Publishing service providers performing authorized journal functions.

The journal will not disclose personal information to third parties except:

  • Where required by law;
  • Where necessary for publication-related services (such as DOI registration, indexing, archiving, or manuscript management platforms);
  • When necessary to investigate suspected publication misconduct or ethical concerns;
  • With the explicit consent of the individual concerned.

Any disclosure is limited to the minimum information necessary for the intended purpose.

 

Use of Personal Information

Personal information collected by RSCSL will not be:

  • Sold;
  • Licensed;
  • Rented;
  • Shared with advertisers;
  • Used for commercial marketing;
  • Disclosed for unrelated purposes without consent.
The journal uses personal information solely to facilitate ethical scholarly publishing and editorial communication.
 

Data Security

RSCSL employs reasonable administrative, organizational, and technical safeguards to protect personal information against:

  • Unauthorized access;
  • Unauthorized disclosure;
  • Loss;
  • Misuse;
  • Alteration;
  • Destruction.

Security measures may include secure access controls, password-protected editorial systems, and routine administrative safeguards designed to protect confidential information.

While reasonable efforts are made to maintain secure information systems, no electronic storage or transmission system can be guaranteed to provide absolute security.

 

Data Retention

Personal information is retained only for as long as necessary to fulfill legitimate editorial, publication, legal, indexing, preservation, and archival purposes.

Certain information forms part of the permanent scholarly record, including:

  • Published author names;
  • Institutional affiliations;
  • ORCID iDs where provided;
  • Author contribution statements;
  • Funding disclosures;
  • Conflict of interest declarations.

Such information remains publicly available as part of the published scholarly record.

 

Cookies and Website Analytics

The journal website may use essential cookies and standard website analytics technologies to:

  • Maintain website functionality;
  • Improve user experience;
  • Monitor website performance;
  • Enhance system security;
  • Generate anonymous usage statistics.

Where analytics tools are used, they are intended to support journal operations rather than commercial advertising.

Users may manage cookie preferences through their web browser settings where applicable.

 

User Rights

Subject to applicable laws and legitimate publishing obligations, individuals may request to:

  • Access their personal information;
  • Correct inaccurate or incomplete information;
  • Update contact information;
  • Request clarification regarding the processing of personal data;
  • Request deletion of personal information where such deletion is compatible with legal obligations and preservation of the scholarly record.

Requests should be submitted to the Editorial Office using the journal's official contact information.

The journal will respond within a reasonable timeframe consistent with applicable legal and operational requirements.

 

Protection of Reviewer Confidentiality

RSCSL employs a double-blind peer review system. Accordingly:

  • Reviewer identities are kept confidential from authors;
  • Author identities are concealed from reviewers whenever practicable;
  • Reviewer reports are treated as confidential editorial documents;
  • Reviewer information is disclosed only where required by law or with the reviewer's explicit consent.

Editors are responsible for safeguarding reviewer confidentiality throughout the editorial process.

 

Protection of Manuscript Confidentiality

All submitted manuscripts are treated as confidential documents.

Editors, reviewers, and Editorial Office staff must not:

  • Disclose unpublished manuscripts;
  • Share confidential research data;
  • Use unpublished information for personal research or commercial advantage;
  • Distribute manuscript content outside the editorial process without authorization.

Confidentiality obligations continue after completion of peer review.

International Data Processing

Where journal services involve trusted third-party providers for manuscript management, DOI registration, indexing, digital preservation, or online hosting, limited personal information may be processed by those providers solely for legitimate publishing purposes.

RSCSL seeks to work with service providers that maintain appropriate standards of data security and confidentiality.

Policy Updates

The journal may periodically update this Privacy Statement to reflect changes in legal requirements, publishing standards, technological developments, or journal operations.

The most current version of the Privacy Statement will always be available on the journal's website.

Commitment to Privacy

The Review of Studies on Criminology, Sociology, and Law (RSCSL) is committed to protecting the privacy, confidentiality, and responsible use of personal information throughout every stage of the editorial and publication process. By implementing appropriate safeguards and limiting the collection and use of personal data to legitimate scholarly publishing activities, RSCSL promotes trust, transparency, ethical publishing, and responsible stewardship of information. These principles support the journal's commitment to maintaining a secure publishing environment for authors, reviewers, editors, readers, and the broader international research community.

 

Alignment with International Standards

This Privacy Statement has been developed in accordance with internationally recognized principles of publication ethics, editorial confidentiality, data protection, and responsible scholarly publishing and is aligned with:

  • Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) – Core Practices and guidance on confidentiality, publication ethics, editorial responsibility, and data protection:
    https://publicationethics.org/
  • International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) – Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work, including recommendations on confidentiality, editorial responsibility, and protection of participant and author information:
    https://www.icmje.org/recommendations/
  • Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) – Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing, including requirements for transparent privacy policies, editorial governance, and responsible management of personal information:
    https://doaj.org/apply/guide/

RSCSL periodically reviews and updates this Privacy Statement to ensure continued alignment with evolving international standards for publication ethics, data protection, editorial confidentiality, research integrity, and responsible open-access scholarly publishing.