Personal Data and Privacy

This policy governs personal-data processing in connection with the journal and its website. The personal-data operator is the person or entity organising publication of the journal and determining the purposes and means of processing. Its full name and identifying details are provided on the standard About the Journal page; its address and contact details are provided on the Contacts page. Questions about processing, requests to exercise data rights and withdrawal of consent should be sent to the journal's email address.

Data are processed in accordance with Federal Law No. 152-FZ of 27 July 2006 On Personal Data (https://pravo.gov.ru/proxy/ips/?docbody=&nd=102108261). This policy covers authors and co-authors, reviewers, editorial-board members, other participants in the editorial process, people sending enquiries and website visitors insofar as the information processed directly or indirectly identifies an individual.

For manuscript submission and assessment, peer review, editorial correspondence and preparation for publication, the journal processes names, contact email addresses, affiliation, position, academic qualifications and titles, research interests, researcher identifiers, contribution, funding and conflict-of-interest information, and information contained in manuscripts, reviews and related correspondence. Enquiries are handled using information supplied by the sender and necessary to address the issue. Please do not send passport details, home addresses or other information unnecessary for the editorial process. Where a document required by law is needed, the editors separately explain the data requested and the legal basis.

Publication and dissemination of scholarly information use author-approved information about authorship, affiliations, professional contact details and identifiers, contributions, funding and conflicts of interest. Reviewer identities, unpublished manuscripts and editorial correspondence are not included in publicly available metadata. Reviewer identities remain confidential under the journal's peer-review model.

Depending on the purpose, the legal basis is the individual's consent, the need to enter into or perform an agreement at that individual's initiative, compliance with a statutory obligation, or another applicable basis under Article 6 of Law No. 152-FZ. The editors establish a legal basis for each processing purpose. Sending a manuscript, visiting the website or reading this policy does not constitute consent to unrestricted processing or disclosure.

Where processing relies on consent, consent is obtained separately from the manuscript, licensing terms and other documents being accepted, in a form that allows receipt to be demonstrated. Consent to process personal data authorised for dissemination is obtained separately from other consents under Article 10.1 of Law No. 152-FZ. It identifies the particular data, purposes, information resources, duration and any conditions or prohibitions specified by the individual. Each co-author provides consent personally or through a duly authorised representative. Dissemination-consent requirements are also set out in Roskomnadzor Order No. 18 of 24 February 2021 (https://24.rkn.gov.ru/docs/24/sm19186/Prikaz_Roskomnadzora_ot_24_02_2021_N_18__Ob_utverzhdenii_treb.htm).

Before publication, the editors agree the information to be made public with the authors and obtain the required permissions. Publication metadata may be supplied to the XMLLIB electronic library (https://xmllib.ru), the Russian Centre for Scientific Information (https://rcsi.science), bibliographic databases, identifier-registration services and preservation services within the stated purposes and applicable legal bases. Author and reviewer data are supplied to the Russian Centre for Scientific Information for assessment with the required consents and confidentiality safeguards. To supply author data under the White List rules, the editors obtain permission for their accumulation, amendment, supplementation, updating, copying, use, organisation, archiving, inclusion in databases and further transfer and dissemination. The specific purposes, data, resources, recipients and permitted operations are identified in the consent and remain within the applicable legal basis. Open metadata terms do not override personal-data law and do not cover private editorial correspondence.

Access to non-public data is limited to editorial-process participants who need it for their duties. Use of a technical service provider, processing on the operator's instructions and transfer to another operator require an appropriate legal basis and applicable confidentiality and security obligations. Data are not used for unconsented advertising messages or supplied to third parties for that purpose.

Technical request information, including IP addresses, request times, requested page addresses, browser information and technical identifiers, is processed to the extent necessary to provide website access, maintain security and resolve faults. Where this information identifies a user, this policy and Law No. 152-FZ apply. Optional analytics and tracking tools are used only after information about the services, purposes, data and retention periods has been disclosed and consent obtained where required by law. Merely continuing to browse does not replace required consent.

Processing may include collection, recording, organisation, accumulation, storage, correction, retrieval, use, provision, permitted dissemination, anonymisation, blocking, deletion and destruction, using automated or non-automated means. Collection of Russian citizens' data is subject to the applicable requirements of Article 18(5) of Law No. 152-FZ. Any necessary cross-border transfer takes place only after compliance with Article 12 and notification of the individual where required by law. Public availability of scholarly metadata does not authorise unrestricted subsequent processing of personal data.

Data are retained no longer than required by the processing purpose, agreement and applicable mandatory retention periods. Reviews are retained by the editorial office for at least five years where there is a lawful basis. Information forming part of the published scholarly record is preserved for identification, verification and archiving where a continuing legal basis exists. Once the purpose or legal basis ends, data are deleted, destroyed or anonymised within statutory periods unless another lawful basis requires further retention. Withdrawal of consent is assessed alongside any grounds permitting processing without consent; it does not automatically retract a scholarly article.

The operator applies legal, organisational and technical safeguards, including access controls, confidentiality obligations, protection of the systems used, backup and incident response. Inaccurate data are corrected and unlawful processing is stopped as required by law. Security incidents are reported to competent authorities and other parties where and within the time limits required by law.

Individuals may obtain information about processing, request correction, blocking or destruction where provided by law, withdraw consent, request cessation of dissemination and complain to Roskomnadzor or a court. Requests should be sent to the journal's email address. To protect data, the editors may request information necessary to verify the requester's identity and authority. Requests are answered and acted upon within the time limits in Law No. 152-FZ. The current policy is published on this page. Material changes to purposes or processing conditions are disclosed and fresh consent obtained where necessary.