Privacy Statement

  1. Introduction

The Studies of Social Sciences (TSSS) is committed to protecting the privacy, confidentiality, and personal information of authors, reviewers, editors, readers, and other users of its online journal platform.

The journal recognizes that responsible management of personal data is essential to maintaining trust, transparency, academic integrity, and ethical scholarly publishing.

This Privacy Statement explains the types of personal information collected through the journal's website and Open Journal Systems (OJS) platform, the purposes for which such information is processed, the measures used to protect it, and the rights of individuals concerning their personal data.

TSSS is published by Universitas Sam Ratulangi, through the Lembaga Penelitian dan Pengabdian kepada Masyarakat (LPPM), Manado, North Sulawesi, Indonesia.

The journal is committed to handling personal information in accordance with applicable Indonesian legislation, including Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 27 of 2022 concerning Personal Data Protection, relevant institutional policies, and internationally recognized principles of responsible scholarly publishing.

  1. Information Collected

TSSS collects and processes personal information necessary for manuscript submission, peer review, editorial management, publication, communication, and the administration of its scholarly publishing services.

Depending on the user's role and activities, such information may include:

  • Full name.
  • Email address.
  • Institutional affiliation.
  • Country and professional address.
  • Academic qualifications and areas of expertise.
  • ORCID iD and other scholarly identifiers.
  • Account username and authentication information.
  • Contact information voluntarily provided by users.
  • Submitted manuscripts and supplementary files.
  • Peer-review reports and editorial correspondence.
  • Manuscript revisions and editorial decisions.
  • Information relating to authorship, research ethics, funding, and competing interests.
  • Technical information necessary for website functionality, security, and system administration.

The journal seeks to collect only information that is relevant and necessary for legitimate scholarly publishing purposes.

  1. Purposes of Personal Data Processing

Personal information collected through the TSSS website is used exclusively for legitimate journal management and scholarly publishing activities.

These purposes may include:

3.1. Manuscript Submission and Editorial Management

Personal information is used to register authors, process manuscript submissions, verify submission information, manage editorial correspondence, and maintain accurate manuscript records.

3.2. Peer Review

Relevant professional and contact information may be used to identify, invite, assign, and communicate with qualified peer reviewers.

Peer-review information is managed according to the journal's confidentiality and editorial independence requirements.

3.3. Scholarly Publication

Author names, institutional affiliations, relevant scholarly identifiers, and other appropriate bibliographic information may be published as part of the scholarly record.

Such information may also be included in article metadata, DOI registration records, and scholarly indexing services.

3.4. Editorial Communication

Contact information may be used to communicate with authors, reviewers, and editors regarding manuscript submissions, reviewer invitations, editorial decisions, revisions, corrections, publication announcements, and other relevant journal activities.

3.5. Journal Administration and Security

Relevant technical and account information may be processed to maintain platform functionality, authenticate users, manage authorized access, investigate technical problems, and protect the journal's information systems from unauthorized activities.

3.6. Research Integrity and Publication Ethics

Where necessary, information may be processed to investigate credible concerns involving plagiarism, authorship disputes, peer-review manipulation, research misconduct, or other publication ethics matters.

Such processing must be proportionate, confidential, and consistent with applicable legal and ethical requirements.

  1. Confidentiality and Protection of Personal Information

TSSS is committed to maintaining the confidentiality of personal information collected through its journal management system.

Personal information must not be sold or used for unrelated commercial marketing purposes.

The journal will not disclose non-public personal information to unauthorized parties except where disclosure is necessary for legitimate publishing activities, supported by an appropriate legal basis, authorized by the individual concerned, or required by applicable law.

Access to confidential information is restricted to authorized personnel who require such access to perform their editorial, administrative, or technical responsibilities.

TSSS seeks to implement reasonable administrative, technical, and organizational safeguards to protect personal information against:

  • Unauthorized access.
  • Unlawful disclosure.
  • Misuse or improper processing.
  • Accidental loss or destruction.
  • Unauthorized modification.
  • Other reasonably foreseeable information security risks.
  1. Confidentiality of Manuscripts and Peer Review

All manuscripts submitted to TSSS are treated as confidential scholarly materials until publication, subject to applicable editorial and ethical procedures.

Editors, reviewers, and authorized editorial personnel must not disclose unpublished manuscripts, research findings, supplementary files, or confidential correspondence to unauthorized individuals.

Reviewer identities and reports are protected according to the journal's applicable peer-review model and confidentiality requirements.

Personal information obtained during peer review must not be used for unrelated purposes.

Editors and reviewers must not upload confidential manuscripts or associated research materials to unauthorized generative artificial intelligence platforms or other third-party services.

These requirements are intended to protect authors' intellectual property rights, confidential research information, and the integrity of the peer-review process.

  1. Data Sharing and Disclosure

TSSS may share information with authorized service providers or scholarly publishing organizations when necessary for legitimate journal operations.

Such activities may include:

  • Journal website hosting and technical maintenance.
  • DOI registration and bibliographic metadata management.
  • Scholarly indexing and abstracting.
  • Editorial and manuscript management.
  • Appropriate digital preservation arrangements.
  • Similarity checking and publication integrity assessment, subject to applicable safeguards.

Only information reasonably necessary for the relevant service should be disclosed.

Published author metadata may become publicly accessible through article landing pages, published articles, DOI registration services, indexing databases, and other scholarly information systems.

Confidential reviewer information, unpublished manuscripts, private account details, and restricted research data must not be made publicly available without an appropriate legal or ethical basis.

Where third-party service providers process personal information on behalf of the journal or its publisher, appropriate data protection and confidentiality arrangements should be maintained.

  1. Privacy and Research Participants

TSSS recognizes that social science research may involve individuals, communities, schools, government institutions, organizations, and potentially vulnerable populations.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that personal information collected during their research is managed in accordance with relevant ethical standards, informed consent requirements, applicable law, and institutional policies.

Submitted manuscripts must not unnecessarily disclose personally identifiable information concerning research participants.

Sensitive data, including confidential interview transcripts, survey responses, personal case histories, and institutional records, must be appropriately protected.

Authors must obtain the necessary consent and authorization before publishing identifiable personal information where required.

The journal's privacy commitments do not replace the researchers' independent obligations to protect their research participants.

  1. Data Retention and Preservation

Personal information will be retained only for as long as necessary to fulfill legitimate publishing purposes, maintain the integrity of the scholarly record, comply with applicable legal obligations, or satisfy relevant institutional retention requirements.

Different categories of information may be subject to different retention periods.

Published article metadata, including author names and affiliations, may need to be retained as part of the permanent scholarly record.

Unpublished manuscripts, editorial correspondence, peer-review records, and account information should be managed according to the publisher's applicable data retention and security procedures.

When information is no longer required and no valid obligation justifies continued retention, appropriate deletion, anonymization, or other lawful disposal procedures should be applied.

  1. User Rights Concerning Personal Data

Individuals whose personal data are processed by TSSS may exercise rights provided under applicable data protection laws.

Subject to relevant legal conditions, these may include the right to:

  1. Obtain information about the processing of their personal data.
  2. Request access to personal information held about them.
  3. Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete personal data.
  4. Request deletion or restriction of processing where legally applicable.
  5. Withdraw consent where consent is the applicable legal basis, subject to relevant limitations.
  6. Raise concerns regarding inappropriate personal data processing.
  7. Exercise other rights provided by applicable legislation.

Users may update certain account information through the OJS platform where the relevant functions are available.

Requests concerning personal data may be submitted to the editorial office through the journal's official contact channels.

Requests will be assessed in accordance with applicable law, legitimate scholarly publishing requirements, and the integrity of the academic record.

Information contained in formally published articles may be subject to additional requirements concerning scholarly record preservation, corrections, and retractions.

  1. Cookies and Technical Information

The TSSS website operates through an online journal management system that may use cookies and related technologies necessary for account authentication, session management, website functionality, and security.

The hosting infrastructure may also process technical information, such as IP addresses, access timestamps, browser information, and system activity records, where applicable.

Such information should be used for legitimate technical, administrative, security, and operational purposes.

Where optional analytics or third-party tracking technologies are implemented, their use must comply with applicable legal requirements and the publisher's relevant privacy procedures.

The journal should provide additional information concerning cookies or tracking technologies when required by applicable law.

  1. Data Security and Incident Management

TSSS recognizes the importance of maintaining appropriate information security practices.

The journal and its responsible technical administrators should implement reasonable measures to prevent unauthorized access, accidental disclosure, loss, destruction, or misuse of personal information.

Where a personal data security incident occurs, the responsible parties must assess the nature and implications of the incident and take appropriate corrective actions.

Notifications to affected individuals or relevant authorities must be made where required by applicable law.

The journal will cooperate with authorized institutional and technical personnel in resolving information security incidents.

  1. Use of Personal Information for Journal Communication

Names, email addresses, and other personal information entered into the TSSS journal website will be used for the stated purposes of journal management, scholarly publishing, and relevant editorial communication.

Such information will not be used for unrelated commercial solicitation or sold to third parties.

Journal communications must remain relevant to the legitimate activities of TSSS.

Users may contact the editorial office regarding communication preferences or concerns about the use of their contact information.

  1. Changes to the Privacy Statement

TSSS may periodically review and update this Privacy Statement to reflect changes in its publishing practices, technological infrastructure, institutional requirements, or applicable privacy and data protection legislation.

Updated versions will be made publicly available through the journal's official website.

Where appropriate, significant changes affecting personal data processing will be communicated to relevant users.

  1. Contact Information

For questions, concerns, or requests concerning personal data protection and privacy, please contact:

Editorial Office

The Studies of Social Sciences (TSSS)

Lembaga Penelitian dan Pengabdian kepada Masyarakat (LPPM)

Universitas Sam Ratulangi

Manado, North Sulawesi, Indonesia

Official Journal Website:

https://ejournal.unsrat.ac.id/v3/index.php/ssj/index

Contact Information:

https://ejournal.unsrat.ac.id/v3/index.php/ssj/about/contact

  1. Closing Statement

The Studies of Social Sciences (TSSS) is committed to protecting personal information, maintaining editorial confidentiality, and ensuring responsible data processing throughout its scholarly publishing activities.

The journal recognizes the importance of balancing personal data protection with transparency, research integrity, scholarly accessibility, and the preservation of the academic record.

Through this Privacy Statement, TSSS seeks to maintain a trustworthy, secure, ethical, and transparent scholarly publishing environment for authors, reviewers, editors, readers, and other stakeholders.

References and Relevant Resources

  1. Republic of Indonesia — Law Number 27 of 2022 concerning Personal Data Protection
  2. COPE — Core Practices
  3. COPE — Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing