Information We Collect

We only collect information that users voluntarily submit to us; we do not covertly collect sensitive personal information without your explicit submission. All collected information falls into two categories:

Voluntarily Submitted Personal Identifiable Information : Full name, institutional affiliation, job title, email address, contact phone number of authors, reviewers and editorial members; Manuscript relevant materials: manuscript title, abstract, research data description, cover letter, revision records, peer review comments, payment vouchers and manuscript ID; Inquiry information: consultation emails, message records sent through the website contact form, appeal documents for APC discount/waiver and identity supporting materials for preferential policies.

Automatically Collected Anonymous Website Usage Data : We deploy strictly necessary session cookies to maintain website basic operation. The data collected is fully anonymized without binding to your personal identity, including page browsing track, access time, device type and browser version. We will not use tracking cookies for long-term user behavior monitoring.

Purpose of Information Processing

All personal data we collect shall only be used for legitimate academic publishing work, and will never be used for irrelevant commercial marketing without your explicit written opt-in consent:

Complete the full manuscript workflow: receive submissions, organize double-blind peer review, send editorial decisions, handle revision, acceptance, APC payment, production and online publication;

Manage editorial communication: reply to author inquiries, handle withdrawal applications, refund procedures, APC discount/waiver review and academic misconduct investigation;

Establish permanent academic archives: store manuscript metadata, published article information for academic indexing, database archiving and long-term academic preservation;

Maintain website security: troubleshoot technical failures, prevent unauthorized access, malicious crawlers and fraudulent submissions.

All reviewer identities and full peer review records are strictly confidential and will never be disclosed to authors or external third parties under any normal circumstances.

Sharing and Disclosure of Personal Information

Non-disclosure Commitment

We will never sell, rent, trade or transfer your personal identifiable information to third-party advertising, marketing or commercial data agencies for profit.

Allowed Scenarios of Limited Information Sharing

We may share necessary partial information with trusted third-party service providers under confidentiality agreements, only when required to complete publishing business:

Web hosting service providers: used for website storage and normal access maintenance;

Plagiarism detection systems: only transmit manuscript text without exposing author private contact information;

Global academic indexing databases: only disclose public metadata of formally published articles (author name, paper title, abstract, volume, issue, DOI), no private contact information will be uploaded;

Payment service providers: only transmit payment amount and order records for APC settlement and refund processing.

Mandatory Legal Disclosure

We may disclose your personal information if required by U.S. federal or state laws, court orders or official regulatory investigation requests.

Cross-Border Data Transfers

Our servers and data storage facilities are located in the United States. Personal data submitted by users outside the US (including EEA/UK residents) will be transferred and stored within the US. We implement standard data protection safeguards to protect cross-border personal information in compliance with GDPR and relevant US data frameworks. By submitting your personal information, you consent to this cross-border data transfer.

Data Retention Period

Unpublished manuscripts (Rejected, Withdrawn before acceptance): All related personal data and manuscript files will be retained for 5 years for dispute handling and academic misconduct traceability;

Formally published articles: Public article metadata will be permanently preserved as part of open academic records; authors’ private contact information will be stored for 10 years after publication;

Inquiry records and application documents: Reserved for 3 years after the completion of relevant business processing.

User Rights

In accordance with U.S. state privacy laws and GDPR (for users located in the European Economic Area), you enjoy the following rights related to your personal data:

Right to access: Request us to provide copies of your stored personal information;

Right to correction: Submit requests to revise incorrect or outdated personal data;

Right to deletion: Request deletion of non-essential personal data (excluding information that must be retained for legal and academic archive obligations);

Right to restrict processing: Request temporary suspension of data usage for publishing business;

Right to withdraw consent: Stop us from using your information for non-mandatory business links.

All data-related requests shall be submitted via the official editorial email editor@aijstr.com, and we will reply within 15–30 working days after receiving complete identity verification materials.

Data Security Protection Measures

We adopt standardized technical and administrative protection mechanisms to prevent unauthorized access, loss, leakage or tampering of stored personal information, including encrypted website transmission, regular server security inspection and internal staff confidentiality management.

However, no internet data transmission can guarantee absolute security. If you discover any information leakage risks, please contact us immediately.

If we detect a confirmed personal data security breach that poses risks to users, we will notify affected users and relevant regulatory authorities within the legally required timeframe via the contact email on file.

Cookie Policy

This website only opens necessary session cookies to maintain normal page jumping and manuscript submission functions. No persistent tracking cookies will be automatically stored on your device. You can adjust cookie permission settings in your browser at any time.

Revision of This Policy

We reserve the right to revise this Privacy Policy at any time according to legal requirements and journal operation adjustments. Updated content will be published on this page with a new “Last Updated” date. Your continuous use of the website after revision publication represents your recognition of the updated clauses.

Contact Information

For all questions, appeals or data right applications related to this Privacy Policy, please send emails to: editor@aijstr.com

California Resident Privacy Rights

If you are a resident of California, you hold specific rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CPRA), including the right to request disclosure of how we collect and use your personal data, and the right to request deletion of your personal information subject to legal exceptions. We will not discriminate against you for exercising your CPRA rights. All requests shall be sent to editor@aijstr.com with identity verification materials attached.