Privacy Statement
ISSN: 0974-536X · GDPR Compliant · No Data Sold or Shared
Creative Saplings is committed to protecting the privacy, confidentiality, and security of the personal information of all individuals who interact with the journal — including authors, reviewers, editorial board members, and readers. This Privacy Statement sets out what personal data we collect, how it is used, and the rights of individuals in relation to their data.
This journal is hosted on the Open Journal Systems (OJS) platform. By using this website or submitting personal information through it, users confirm that they have read and understood this Privacy Statement and consent to the collection and use of their information in accordance with the terms set out below.
Personal data collected by this journal will never be sold, rented, or made available to any third party for commercial or non-commercial use. All personal information is held and used solely for the stated purposes of this journal.
Section 1
What Personal Data We Collect
Creative Saplings collects personal data only where it is necessary for the operation of the journal. The following categories of personal data may be collected through the journal website and submission system:
| Data Type | Examples |
|---|---|
| Identity data | Full name, academic title, ORCID iD |
| Contact data | Email address, institutional affiliation, country of residence |
| Account data | Username, password (encrypted), user role (author, reviewer, reader) |
| Submission data | Manuscript files, cover letters, metadata, correspondence with the editorial office |
| Usage data | Pages visited, article downloads, browser type, IP address (collected anonymously by OJS for usage statistics) |
Section 2
How Personal Data Is Used
Personal data collected by Creative Saplings is used solely for the following stated purposes, and for no other purpose without the explicit consent of the individual concerned:
- —To manage manuscript submissions, peer review assignments, and editorial correspondence.
- —To communicate editorial decisions, publication updates, and journal announcements to registered users.
- —To publish accepted articles with accurate author attribution, affiliation, and contact details as required for scholarly citation and bibliographic records.
- —To compile anonymised usage statistics for internal reporting and journal development purposes.
- —To comply with legal and regulatory obligations where applicable.
Section 3
Data Protection and Security
Creative Saplings adheres to international data protection standards, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and all other applicable privacy and data protection laws. The following safeguards are in place to protect personal data held by the journal:
- —User passwords are stored in encrypted form and are not accessible to journal staff in plain text.
- —Access to personal data held within the OJS system is restricted to authorised members of the editorial team only, on a need-to-know basis.
- —Personal data is not transferred to, stored in, or processed by any country or territory that does not maintain adequate data protection standards.
- —Personal data is retained only for as long as is necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, and is securely deleted or anonymised when no longer required.
Section 4
Third-Party Disclosure
Personal data held by Creative Saplings will not be sold, rented, traded, or otherwise made available to any third party for commercial or non-commercial purposes, except in the following limited and necessary circumstances:
- —Crossref: Author names and article metadata (title, affiliation, abstract) are shared with Crossref for the purpose of DOI registration and bibliographic indexing. This is a standard and necessary part of scholarly publication.
- —Indexing and abstracting services: Author names, affiliations, and article metadata may be transmitted to databases and indexing services in which the journal is listed, for the purpose of discovery and citation.
- —Legal obligation: Personal data may be disclosed to a competent authority where the journal is required to do so by law or by order of a court of competent jurisdiction.
Section 5
Your Rights
In accordance with applicable data protection law, individuals whose personal data is held by Creative Saplings have the following rights:
| Right | Description |
|---|---|
| Right of access | You may request a copy of the personal data held about you by the journal at any time. |
| Right of rectification | You may request the correction of inaccurate or incomplete personal data held about you. |
| Right of erasure | You may request the deletion of your personal data, subject to any legal obligation the journal has to retain certain records. |
| Right to withdraw consent | Where data processing is based on consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time. Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out prior to withdrawal. |
| Right to object | You may object to the processing of your personal data for any purpose other than those set out in this statement. |
To exercise any of the above rights, please contact the editorial office in writing at editor@creativesaplings.in. Requests will be acknowledged within 7 working days and actioned within 30 days.
Section 6
Cookies and Usage Data
The OJS platform on which this journal operates may use session cookies to maintain logged-in status and to collect anonymised usage statistics, including page views and article downloads. These cookies do not collect personally identifiable information and are used solely for the purpose of improving the user experience and monitoring journal usage. Users may disable cookies through their browser settings, though doing so may affect the functionality of the journal website.
Section 7
Changes to This Privacy Statement
Creative Saplings reserves the right to update or revise this Privacy Statement at any time to reflect changes in applicable law, journal practice, or the OJS platform. The current version of this statement will always be available on the journal website. Continued use of the journal website following any update constitutes acceptance of the revised statement. Users are encouraged to review this statement periodically.
User Consent
By registering an account on this website, submitting a manuscript, or otherwise providing personal information to Creative Saplings, you confirm that you have read and understood this Privacy Statement and consent to the collection and use of your personal information in accordance with the terms set out above.
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Creative Saplings · e-ISSN: 0974-536X · editor@creativesaplings.in · https://creativesaplings.in/index.php/1/
