Privacy Statement

 

Confidentiality, Data Protection and Responsible Use of Personal Information

The Insights–Journal of Life and Social Sciences (IJLSS) is committed to protecting the privacy and confidentiality of authors, reviewers, editors, readers and other users of the journal’s website and manuscript-management system.

The journal collects and processes only the information reasonably required for editorial, peer-review, publication and administrative purposes. Its privacy practices are guided by applicable data-protection principles, the confidentiality recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) and the publication-ethics principles of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Reference to these standards indicates that the journal follows their relevant principles and does not imply formal membership, certification or legal accreditation unless expressly stated.

Information Collected

IJLSS may collect the following information from registered users, authors, reviewers and contributors:

  • Full name;
  • Email address;
  • Institutional affiliation;
  • Academic or professional designation;
  • Country and contact information;
  • ORCID identifier, where voluntarily provided;
  • Manuscript title, abstract, keywords and submission details;
  • Author, reviewer and editorial correspondence;
  • Peer-review reports and editorial decisions;
  • Website account and login information;
  • Technical information required for the operation and security of the website.

The journal does not intentionally request sensitive personal information unless it is necessary for a legitimate editorial, ethical, legal or administrative purpose.

Purpose of Collecting Information

Personal information may be used for the following purposes:

  • Managing manuscript submissions;
  • Communicating with authors, reviewers and editors;
  • Conducting peer review and editorial assessment;
  • Confirming authorship, contributorship and institutional affiliation;
  • Selecting and inviting suitable peer reviewers;
  • Processing revisions and editorial decisions;
  • Publishing article metadata;
  • Registering Digital Object Identifiers and related publication information;
  • Submitting metadata to indexing, abstracting and archiving services;
  • Investigating ethical concerns, complaints, appeals or alleged misconduct;
  • Maintaining the security, integrity and functionality of the journal website;
  • Preserving the scholarly and administrative record of published articles.

Personal information will not be used for unrelated commercial purposes.

Publication of Author Information

For accepted and published articles, the following information may become publicly available:

  • Author names;
  • Academic qualifications, where supplied;
  • Department and institutional affiliation;
  • Corresponding author’s email address;
  • ORCID identifier;
  • Conflict-of-interest statements;
  • Funding information;
  • Author-contribution statements;
  • Acknowledgements and other publication metadata.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that the information provided for publication is accurate and that all listed contributors have agreed to the publication of their relevant details.

Confidentiality of Manuscripts

Manuscripts submitted to IJLSS are treated as confidential documents. Editors, reviewers and other individuals involved in the editorial process must not disclose, discuss or use unpublished manuscript content for personal, professional or commercial advantage.

Access to submitted manuscripts is limited to individuals who require the information for editorial assessment, peer review, technical processing, ethical review or publication.

Reviewer Confidentiality

IJLSS follows a double-blind peer-review process. The identities of authors and reviewers are concealed from one another during the review process, as far as reasonably possible.

Reviewer identities and peer-review records are treated as confidential and will not ordinarily be disclosed. Disclosure may occur only when:

  • The reviewer has expressly agreed to an open-review arrangement;
  • Disclosure is required by law, regulation or court order;
  • Investigation of publication misconduct requires limited disclosure to an authorized institution or regulatory body;
  • The journal determines that disclosure is necessary to protect research integrity, subject to appropriate confidentiality safeguards.

Reviewers must not share manuscripts, review reports or confidential editorial correspondence with unauthorized individuals.

Sharing of Personal Information

IJLSS does not sell, rent or trade personal information.

Information may be shared only when necessary with service providers or organizations that support legitimate journal operations, including:

  • The journal-management and hosting provider;
  • DOI-registration agencies;
  • Indexing and abstracting databases;
  • Digital-preservation and archiving services;
  • Plagiarism-detection or research-integrity services;
  • Typesetting, language-editing or production services;
  • Legal, institutional or regulatory authorities where disclosure is required.

Only the information necessary for the relevant purpose will be shared. Third parties are expected to use the information solely for the authorized journal-related function.

Data Security

The journal takes reasonable administrative and technical measures to protect personal information against unauthorized access, loss, misuse, alteration or disclosure.

These measures may include:

  • Password-protected user accounts;
  • Restricted administrative access;
  • Secure website and server management;
  • Encrypted data transmission where supported;
  • Regular software and security updates;
  • Malware monitoring and technical maintenance;
  • Routine data backups;
  • Access controls for editorial and administrative users.

Although reasonable safeguards are applied, no online system can guarantee absolute security. Users should protect their passwords and notify the journal promptly if they suspect unauthorized access to their accounts.

Data Retention

Personal information and editorial records may be retained for as long as reasonably necessary to:

  • Complete the peer-review and publication process;
  • Maintain an accurate scholarly record;
  • Respond to complaints, appeals or ethical investigations;
  • Meet indexing, archiving, contractual or legal requirements;
  • Document editorial decisions and reviewer activity;
  • Protect the integrity of published research.

Published article metadata may be retained permanently as part of the scholarly record.

Information associated with rejected or withdrawn manuscripts may also be retained for a reasonable period for administrative, ethical and record-keeping purposes.

Rights of Users

Subject to applicable legal, ethical and publishing requirements, users may request:

  • Access to the personal information held about them;
  • Correction of inaccurate or incomplete information;
  • Updating of professional or institutional details;
  • Deactivation of a website account;
  • Removal of non-essential personal information;
  • Clarification regarding how their information is being used.

Requests for deletion may be limited where retention is necessary to preserve the integrity of the scholarly record, comply with legal obligations, document peer review or investigate publication-ethics concerns.

Published author names, citations, article metadata and editorial records will not normally be removed solely upon request, because they form part of the permanent scholarly record. Legitimate corrections may instead be addressed through an official correction, corrigendum or other appropriate editorial notice.

Cookies and Website Analytics

The journal website may use essential cookies required for:

  • User registration and login;
  • Session management;
  • Manuscript submission and tracking;
  • Website security;
  • Remembering necessary user preferences;
  • Maintaining the functionality of the journal-management system.

IJLSS does not use cookies for targeted advertising.

Where technical analytics are used for website maintenance, security or service improvement, the journal will limit their use to legitimate operational purposes and will not knowingly use them to create advertising profiles.

Email Communication

The journal may contact registered users regarding:

  • Manuscript submissions;
  • Peer-review invitations;
  • Editorial decisions;
  • Revision requests;
  • Publication matters;
  • Technical or administrative issues;
  • Journal policies and essential service announcements.

Users will not be added to unrelated commercial mailing lists without their permission.

Children’s Privacy

The journal’s website and publishing services are intended primarily for researchers, academics, professionals and adult users. IJLSS does not knowingly collect personal information from children for commercial purposes.

Where research involving children is submitted for publication, authors must demonstrate compliance with applicable ethical-review, consent and assent requirements.

Data Breach or Security Incident

Where the journal becomes aware of a significant security incident involving personal information, it will take reasonable steps to:

  • Investigate and contain the incident;
  • Secure affected systems;
  • Assess the nature and extent of the risk;
  • Inform affected individuals where appropriate;
  • Notify relevant service providers or authorities where required;
  • Implement corrective and preventive measures.

Amendments to the Privacy Statement

IJLSS may revise this Privacy Statement to reflect changes in journal procedures, technology, legal requirements or accepted publishing standards.

The updated version will be published on the journal website with the date of revision. Continued use of the journal’s services following an update will be subject to the revised statement.

Contact for Privacy-Related Requests

Questions, correction requests or concerns regarding privacy and personal information may be submitted to:

Insights–Journal of Life and Social Sciences
Health and Research Insights
Lahore, Pakistan


Last reviewed: [01-08-2026]