Privacy Statement

Privacy Policy

Effective Date: 1st January, 2025

The Journal of Experimental and Clinical Anatomy (JECA) values the trust of its authors, reviewers, editors, readers, and website users. We are committed to protecting personal data and respecting privacy in accordance with applicable data protection, publishing, and ethical standards.

This Privacy Policy explains how JECA collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data provided through the journal website, manuscript submission system, editorial correspondence, peer review process, and related publishing activities.

1. Who We Are

The Journal of Experimental and Clinical Anatomy (JECA) is the official publication of the Society of Experimental and Clinical Anatomists of Nigeria (SECAN).

The data controller for personal data processed in connection with JECA is the Society of Experimental and Clinical Anatomists of Nigeria (SECAN), acting through the Journal of Experimental and Clinical Anatomy (JECA).

JECA may also engage authorized publishing, hosting, manuscript management, indexing, archiving, and technical service providers to process personal data on its behalf and in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

2. Scope of This Policy

This Privacy Policy applies to personal data collected from or about:

  • authors and co-authors;
  • reviewers;
  • editors and editorial board members;
  • readers and website users;
  • subscribers to journal communications; and
  • any other individuals who interact with JECA or its publishing systems.

3. Personal Data We Collect

Depending on your relationship with JECA, we may collect and process the following personal data:

  • full name;
  • institutional affiliation;
  • job title or academic position;
  • postal address;
  • email address;
  • telephone number;
  • ORCID iD and other researcher identifiers, where provided;
  • biographical details;
  • login credentials and account-related information;
  • manuscript submission data and publication metadata;
  • correspondence with the journal;
  • peer review and editorial activity records;
  • technical and usage data, including IP address, browser type, device information, and access logs, where applicable.

4. How We Use Personal Data

JECA uses personal data for legitimate academic publishing, editorial, administrative, legal, and technical purposes, including to:

  • process and manage manuscript submissions;
  • administer peer review and editorial decision-making;
  • communicate with authors, reviewers, editors, and readers;
  • verify authorship and ensure appropriate attribution;
  • publish author names, affiliations, ORCID iDs, biographies, acknowledgements, funding information, and conflict of interest disclosures where relevant;
  • produce, disseminate, index, archive, preserve, and promote published content;
  • maintain the integrity, security, and functionality of the journal website and submission systems;
  • comply with publishing ethics, legal obligations, and regulatory requirements;
  • respond to inquiries, requests, complaints, or disputes;
  • send administrative, service-related, and, where permitted, journal-related communications.

5. Legal Basis for Processing

Where required by applicable law, JECA processes personal data on one or more of the following legal bases:

  • performance of a contract or steps taken prior to entering into a contract;
  • compliance with legal or regulatory obligations;
  • legitimate interests in operating, managing, securing, preserving, and disseminating scholarly publications;
  • consent, where consent is required by law.

For example, when authors submit a manuscript, JECA processes personal data in order to administer submission, peer review, editorial evaluation, publication, and archiving.

6. Publication of Author Information

If a manuscript is accepted for publication, certain personal data may be published as part of the permanent scholarly record. These may include:

  • author names;
  • institutional affiliations;
  • corresponding author contact details;
  • ORCID iDs, where provided;
  • author biographies, where applicable;
  • acknowledgements;
  • funding statements; and
  • conflict of interest disclosures.

This information is processed and published in the interests of academic attribution, transparency, discoverability, and scholarly integrity.

7. Peer Review Confidentiality

JECA treats manuscripts under review, peer review reports, editorial correspondence, and reviewer identities in accordance with the journal’s peer review model and confidentiality standards.

Personal data collected in connection with peer review are used solely for legitimate editorial and publication purposes. Reviewers are expected to maintain the confidentiality of all manuscripts, data, and communications received during the review process and must not use such materials for personal or professional advantage.

JECA may retain records of reviewer activity for editorial administration, quality assurance, research integrity, and publication ethics purposes.

8. Sharing of Personal Data

JECA may share personal data, where necessary and appropriate, with:

  • editors, editorial staff, and reviewers;
  • SECAN and authorized journal representatives;
  • manuscript submission system providers;
  • hosting, typesetting, production, and archiving service providers;
  • indexing, abstracting, and dissemination services;
  • repositories and scholarly databases;
  • legal, regulatory, or governmental authorities where required by law; and
  • other service providers engaged for legitimate journal and publishing operations.

Personal data are shared only to the extent necessary for editorial, publishing, administrative, legal, technical, or archival purposes.

JECA does not sell personal data to third parties.

9. International Data Transfers

Because journal publishing may involve authors, reviewers, editors, and service providers located in different countries, personal data may be transferred to and processed outside your country of residence.

Where such transfers occur, JECA will take appropriate steps, where required by applicable law, to ensure that personal data are protected in a manner consistent with relevant data protection requirements.

10. Data Storage and Security

Personal data are stored on secure servers operated by JECA and/or its authorized third-party service providers.

JECA takes reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect personal data against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, loss, misuse, or destruction. However, no internet-based system or electronic storage method can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

Where you are provided with, or choose, a password to access any part of the website or submission system, you are responsible for keeping that password confidential and for not sharing it with others.

11. Data Retention

JECA retains personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which the data were collected, including editorial management, publication, indexing, archiving, legal compliance, dispute resolution, and record-keeping.

In determining the retention period, we consider:

  • the nature, sensitivity, and volume of the personal data;
  • the purposes for which the data are processed;
  • the potential risks arising from unauthorized use or disclosure;
  • applicable legal, regulatory, accounting, and reporting obligations; and
  • the need to preserve the integrity of the scholarly record.

Because published scholarly works form part of the permanent academic record, personal data associated with published articles may be retained indefinitely.

JECA may anonymize personal data for research, service improvement, reporting, or statistical purposes. Once anonymized, such information may be retained and used without further notice.

12. Your Rights

Subject to applicable law, you may have the right to:

  • request access to the personal data we hold about you;
  • request correction of inaccurate or incomplete personal data;
  • request erasure of personal data in certain circumstances;
  • request restriction of processing in certain circumstances;
  • object to processing in certain circumstances;
  • request transfer of your personal data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format where legally applicable;
  • withdraw consent where processing is based on consent; and
  • opt out of non-essential promotional or marketing communications.

These rights are not absolute and may be limited where continued processing is necessary for legal compliance, editorial administration, publication ethics, the public interest, the preservation of the scholarly record, or the establishment, exercise, or defence of legal claims.

13. Right to Erasure

You may request erasure of your personal data where:

  • the data are no longer necessary for the purpose for which they were collected;
  • you withdraw consent and no other lawful basis for processing applies;
  • you object to the processing and there are no overriding legitimate grounds to continue;
  • the personal data have been processed unlawfully; or
  • erasure is required to comply with a legal obligation.

However, JECA may retain certain personal data where necessary for legal compliance, editorial record-keeping, publication integrity, or the defence of legal claims.

14. Marketing and Journal Communications

If you no longer wish to receive promotional or non-essential journal communications, you may opt out at any time, and JECA will stop sending such communications in accordance with applicable law.

However, JECA may continue to send essential administrative communications relating to manuscript submission, peer review, editorial decisions, publication, account management, or journal operations.

15. Cookies and Technical Data

The JECA website and associated systems may use cookies, server logs, and similar technologies to support website functionality, user authentication, security, performance monitoring, and usage analysis.

Technical data collected may include IP address, browser type, operating system, device information, referring pages, pages visited, and dates and times of access.

Where required by law, additional information regarding cookies and similar technologies will be provided in a separate Cookie Policy or cookie notice.

16. External Links

The JECA website may contain links to third-party websites, including partner organizations, abstracting and indexing services, repositories, publishers, and other external resources.

If you follow a link to any external website, please note that such websites operate under their own privacy policies. JECA does not control and is not responsible for the content, privacy practices, or security of third-party websites. Users are encouraged to review the privacy policies of those sites before submitting any personal data.

17. Complaints

If you have any concern about the way JECA processes your personal data, you are encouraged to contact the journal in the first instance using the contact details below.

Subject to applicable law, you may also have the right to lodge a complaint with the relevant data protection or supervisory authority in your jurisdiction.

18. Changes to This Privacy Policy

JECA may revise this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in legal requirements, journal operations, publishing practices, or technical systems.

Any revised version will be posted on this page with an updated effective date. Where appropriate, JECA may also notify users of significant changes by email or through the journal website.

Users are encouraged to review this Privacy Policy periodically.

19. Contact Information

Questions, requests, or concerns regarding this Privacy Policy or the handling of personal data should be directed to:

Journal of Experimental and Clinical Anatomy (JECA)
Official publication of the Society of Experimental and Clinical Anatomists of Nigeria (SECAN)
Email: jecajournal@gmail.com
Data Protection Contact Email: jeca@secanigeria.org
Postal Address: Department of Anatomy, School of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Benin, Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria
Website: www.jecajournal.com