Privacy Statement

IGI Publishing LLC (“IGI Publishing,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) respects the privacy of authors, reviewers, editors, researchers, readers, website visitors, and other individuals who interact with our websites, journals, publishing platforms, and related services.

This Privacy Statement explains what personal information we may collect, how we use and protect that information, when we may share it, and the choices available to individuals regarding their personal information.

By using our websites or submitting information to IGI Publishing, you acknowledge the practices described in this Privacy Statement.

1. Information We Collect

We may collect personal information directly from individuals, automatically through our websites and publishing platforms, and, where appropriate, from third-party sources.

Depending on how you interact with us, information we may collect includes:

Information Provided by Authors and Researchers

When submitting a manuscript, contacting us, or using our publishing services, we may collect:

  • Full name;
  • Email address;
  • Institutional affiliation;
  • Department, position, or academic title;
  • Country or region;
  • Postal or business address;
  • Telephone number;
  • ORCID iD or other researcher identifiers;
  • Manuscript information;
  • Author and co-author information;
  • Correspondence relating to a manuscript;
  • Funding and grant information;
  • Conflict-of-interest information;
  • Research ethics information;
  • Data and materials associated with a submitted manuscript; and
  • Other information voluntarily provided during the publication process.

Information from Editors and Peer Reviewers

For editors and reviewers, we may collect:

  • Name and contact information;
  • Institutional affiliation;
  • Academic qualifications and areas of expertise;
  • ORCID iD or other professional identifiers;
  • Editorial and peer-review history;
  • Reviewer reports and editorial correspondence; and
  • Information necessary to manage editorial and peer-review activities.

We treat manuscripts, reviewer reports, editorial correspondence, and related information as confidential except where disclosure is necessary for publication, research-integrity investigations, legal compliance, or other legitimate purposes.

Payment and Billing Information

When an author or organization pays an Article Processing Charge (APC) or other publishing-related fee, we may collect information necessary to process and document the transaction, including:

  • Billing name;
  • Billing address;
  • Invoice information;
  • Transaction reference;
  • Payment status;
  • Payment method information; and
  • Other information required for accounting, tax, fraud prevention, or payment processing.

Payment card information may be processed directly by third-party payment processors. IGI Publishing does not intentionally retain complete payment card numbers when payment processing is handled by an external payment provider.

Website and Technical Information

When visitors use our websites, we may automatically collect certain technical information, including:

  • IP address;
  • Browser type and version;
  • Operating system;
  • Device information;
  • Date and time of access;
  • Pages viewed;
  • Referring and exit pages;
  • Website interaction information;
  • Approximate geographic information derived from IP address; and
  • Error, diagnostic, and security information.

This information may be used to maintain website security, analyze website performance, detect abuse, and improve our services.

2. How We Use Personal Information

We may use personal information for legitimate business, publishing, contractual, and legal purposes, including to:

  • Receive and process manuscript submissions;
  • Manage editorial and peer-review activities;
  • Communicate with authors, editors, reviewers, and readers;
  • Coordinate manuscript evaluation and publication;
  • Prepare and publish scholarly articles;
  • Maintain author, editor, and reviewer records;
  • Manage DOI registration and article metadata;
  • Process APCs, invoices, refunds, and other payments;
  • Respond to questions and customer-service requests;
  • Provide publishing and editorial services;
  • Maintain and improve our websites and publishing platforms;
  • Detect, investigate, and prevent fraud, abuse, or security incidents;
  • Maintain the integrity of the scholarly publishing process;
  • Investigate allegations of research or publication misconduct;
  • Comply with applicable laws, regulations, court orders, and governmental requests;
  • Establish, exercise, or defend legal claims; and
  • Protect the rights, property, and safety of IGI Publishing, our users, and others.

Where appropriate, personal information may also be used to send information about our journals, publishing services, or other communications. Individuals may opt out of non-essential marketing communications.

3. Scholarly Publishing and Published Information

Publication of scholarly articles necessarily involves making certain author information publicly available.

When an article is accepted and published, information such as the author's name, institutional affiliation, ORCID iD, and other information included in the published article may become publicly accessible as part of the scholarly record.

Published articles may also be indexed, archived, distributed, or referenced by third-party scholarly databases, indexing services, repositories, search engines, DOI registration agencies, and other scholarly infrastructure providers.

Authors should therefore avoid including unnecessary personal or confidential information in manuscripts intended for publication.

4. Peer Review Confidentiality

IGI Publishing recognizes the importance of confidentiality and integrity in peer review.

Manuscripts submitted for review, reviewer identities where applicable, reviewer reports, editorial correspondence, and related materials are treated as confidential during the editorial process.

Personal information associated with peer review will only be accessed by individuals who have a legitimate role in the editorial or publishing process or where disclosure is necessary for legal, ethical, research-integrity, or operational purposes.

Reviewers should not disclose, distribute, copy, or use unpublished manuscript information for purposes unrelated to the review process.

5. Cookies and Similar Technologies

Our websites may use cookies and similar technologies to provide essential website functionality, remember preferences, analyze website usage, maintain security, and improve website performance.

Cookies may collect information such as browser type, pages visited, session information, and technical identifiers.

Visitors may control or disable cookies through their browser settings. However, disabling certain cookies may affect the functionality of some parts of our websites.

Where required by applicable law, we will provide appropriate cookie choices or consent mechanisms.

6. Sharing Personal Information

IGI Publishing does not sell personal information for monetary consideration.

We may share personal information with third parties when reasonably necessary to operate our publishing business or provide requested services.

These third parties may include:

  • Editors and editorial board members;
  • Peer reviewers;
  • Manuscript submission and editorial-management platforms;
  • Website hosting and technology providers;
  • Payment processors and financial institutions;
  • DOI and metadata registration organizations;
  • Scholarly indexing and abstracting services;
  • Typesetting, copyediting, and production service providers;
  • Email and communications service providers;
  • IT, security, and technical support providers;
  • Professional advisers, including accountants, auditors, and legal advisers; and
  • Government authorities or other parties where required or permitted by law.

Third-party service providers are expected to process information only for appropriate business purposes and to maintain reasonable safeguards for personal information.

7. International Data Transfers

IGI Publishing serves authors, researchers, reviewers, and readers internationally.

As a result, personal information may be processed or stored in the United States and other countries where our service providers, publishing partners, or technology providers operate.

Data protection laws may differ between countries. Where applicable, we take reasonable measures to protect personal information when it is transferred internationally and to comply with applicable data protection requirements.

8. Data Security

We use reasonable administrative, technical, and organizational measures designed to protect personal information against unauthorized access, loss, misuse, alteration, or disclosure.

These measures may include:

  • Access controls;
  • Authentication mechanisms;
  • Secure hosting environments;
  • HTTPS/TLS encryption for website communications;
  • Password and account-security controls;
  • Restricted access to manuscript and editorial information; and
  • Monitoring and procedures designed to identify security incidents.

No internet transmission or electronic storage system can be guaranteed to be completely secure. Accordingly, we cannot guarantee absolute security of information transmitted to or through our websites.

9. Data Retention

We retain personal information for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfill the purposes described in this Privacy Statement, including to:

  • Provide publishing and related services;
  • Maintain the scholarly record;
  • Manage financial and accounting records;
  • Resolve disputes;
  • Investigate publication or research-integrity matters;
  • Comply with legal and regulatory obligations; and
  • Enforce our agreements and protect our legal interests.

Published scholarly records may be retained indefinitely because maintaining a reliable and permanent scholarly record is an important part of academic publishing.

10. Third-Party Websites and Services

Our websites may contain links to third-party websites, databases, repositories, indexing services, payment providers, or other external services.

IGI Publishing is not responsible for the privacy practices, content, or security of third-party websites.

Users should review the privacy policies of third-party services before providing personal information to them.

11. Children's Privacy

Our publishing services are intended for researchers, academics, professionals, and other users of scholarly information.

Our services are not directed toward children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children where prohibited by applicable law.

If we become aware that personal information has been collected from a child in circumstances where such collection is not permitted, we will take reasonable steps to address the situation.

12. Your Privacy Rights

Depending on applicable law and your location, you may have rights regarding your personal information, which may include the right to:

  • Request access to personal information we hold about you;
  • Request correction of inaccurate information;
  • Request deletion of certain personal information;
  • Request restriction of certain processing;
  • Object to certain processing activities;
  • Request portability of certain information;
  • Withdraw consent where processing is based on consent; and
  • Opt out of certain marketing communications.

These rights are subject to applicable legal exceptions and limitations.

To exercise a privacy right, please contact us using the information provided below. We may need to verify your identity before processing certain requests.

13. California Privacy Rights

If you are a California resident, applicable California privacy laws may provide additional rights concerning personal information.

Depending on the circumstances and applicable law, these rights may include rights to know, access, correct, delete, or limit certain uses of personal information, as well as rights relating to certain disclosures or sales of personal information.

IGI Publishing does not sell personal information for monetary consideration.

California residents may contact us using the contact information below to make a privacy request.

14. Changes to This Privacy Statement

We may update this Privacy Statement periodically to reflect changes in our services, publishing practices, technology, legal requirements, or business operations.

When we make material changes, we may update the effective date shown at the beginning of this Statement and, where appropriate, provide additional notice.

We encourage visitors and users to review this page periodically.

15. Contact Us

If you have questions regarding this Privacy Statement, the handling of personal information, or a privacy-related request, please contact:

IGI Publishing LLC
Sheridan, Wyoming, United States
Email: office@igipub.com

Please include sufficient information to allow us to understand and respond to your request.