Privacy Statement

1. Introduction

Bright Spring Digital Library ("the Platform") is committed to protecting your personal data and privacy. This Privacy Statement explains how we collect, use, store, and protect your personal information when you use our website and related services, including the manuscript submission system, peer review system, and user registration and management.

The Platform operates on Open Journal Systems (OJS) open-source software. This Privacy Statement is designed in accordance with the Personal Information Protection Law of the People's Republic of China (PIPL), the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and other applicable data protection laws.

2. Data Controller

The data controller for this Platform is the Bright Spring Digital Library operator. For any questions regarding the processing of personal data, please contact us at:

Email: privacy@ijojs.com
Address: Please refer to the "Contact" page of each journal

3. Personal Data We Collect

Depending on how you interact with the Platform, we may collect the following categories of personal data:

3.1 Registration Information

Name (family name, given name)
Email address
Institutional affiliation
Country/Region
Username and password (passwords are stored in encrypted form)

3.2 Submission-Related Information

Author names, affiliations, and contact details
Manuscript content and metadata (title, abstract, keywords, etc.)
Correspondence records (communications between editors and authors)
ORCID identifiers (if provided)

3.3 Review-Related Information

Reviewer names, affiliations, and research fields
Review comments and ratings
Review timeline records

3.4 Automatically Collected Technical Information

IP addresses
Browser type and version
Access times and page view records
Cookies and similar technology data

4. Purposes of Data Processing

We process your personal data for the following purposes:

Manuscript Management: Receiving, processing, and managing the submission, review, and publication workflow
Peer Review: Organizing and managing the peer review process, including reviewer assignment and communication
User Account Management: Creating and maintaining your user account and providing personalized services
Academic Communication: Sending notifications related to submissions, editorial decisions, and publication updates
Platform Operations: Maintaining and improving the platform's technical functionality and user experience
Statistical Analysis: Generating anonymized usage statistics to improve service quality
Legal Compliance: Complying with applicable legal and regulatory requirements

5. Legal Basis

We process your personal data on the following legal bases:

Consent: Your explicit consent when registering an account or submitting a manuscript
Contractual Necessity: Data processing necessary for the performance of publishing service agreements
Legitimate Interests: Data processing necessary for operating scholarly journals and maintaining the integrity of the scholarly record
Legal Obligation: Data processing necessary for compliance with applicable laws and regulations

6. Data Sharing and Disclosure

We do not sell your personal data. Your data may be shared in the following limited circumstances:

Editorial Team: Editors and section editors may access manuscript and author information relevant to their responsibilities
Reviewers: Reviewers may view the content and author information of manuscripts assigned to them (except in double-blind review)
Post-Publication Disclosure: Author names, affiliations, and contact details of published articles will be publicly available as part of the publication
Indexing Services: Metadata of published articles may be submitted to academic indexing databases (e.g., Crossref, DOAJ)
Legal Requirements: When required by law or upon lawful request by law enforcement authorities

7. Data Storage and Security

We implement reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your personal data, including:

Passwords stored using bcrypt encryption, which is irreversible
Strict database access controls
Regular data backups
Server access log monitoring

Your personal data will be retained for as long as necessary to fulfill the processing purposes. For published scholarly articles, author information will be permanently retained as part of the scholarly record to maintain the integrity and traceability of academic publications.

8. Your Rights

Under applicable data protection laws, you have the following rights:

Right of Access: You have the right to obtain a copy of your personal data held by us
Right to Rectification: You have the right to request correction of inaccurate or incomplete personal data
Right to Erasure: Under qualifying conditions, you have the right to request deletion of your personal data
Right to Restriction: You have the right to request restriction of processing of your personal data
Right to Data Portability: You have the right to receive your personal data in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format
Right to Object: You have the right to object to processing based on legitimate interests
Right to Withdraw Consent: You have the right to withdraw consent at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at privacy@ijojs.com. We will respond within 30 days of receiving your request.

Special Note: Due to the nature of scholarly publishing, author information in published articles generally cannot be deleted, as this is necessary to maintain the integrity of the scholarly record. In such cases, we will work with you to find a reasonable solution.

9. Cookies

The Platform uses necessary cookies to maintain your login session and basic website functionality. We do not use third-party tracking cookies or advertising cookies. Specifically:

Session Cookies: Maintain your login status; automatically cleared when the browser is closed
Preference Cookies: Remember your language preferences and display settings

10. Protection of Minors

The Platform's services are intended for academic researchers and are not directed at individuals under the age of 16. We do not knowingly collect personal data from minors.

11. Updates to This Privacy Statement

We may update this Privacy Statement from time to time. Updated versions will be posted on this page with the revised "Last Updated" date. For significant changes, we may notify you via email or platform announcements.

Last Updated: May 31, 2026