PRIVACY POLICY
Last Updated: June 26, 2025
Core Reports is deeply committed to safeguarding the privacy and personal data of all users of its preprint platform, including authors, preprint editors, reviewers, and general site visitors. This Privacy Policy outlines how Core Reports collects, uses, stores, and protects your personal information. By using the Core Reports preprint server and submission systems, you acknowledge and agree to the terms outlined in this policy. If you do not agree with these terms, please do not use the Core Reports preprint platform.
1. Information We Collect
We collect information to operate our preprint platform, process submissions, ensure accurate attribution, and improve user experience. This information falls into two main categories:
1.1 Personally Identifiable Information (PII) This is information that can be used to identify you directly or indirectly. We collect PII when you submit a manuscript, register for an account, opt-in for alerts, or engage with certain features of our site. This may include:
- Contact Details: Names, email addresses, phone numbers, fax numbers.
- Affiliation Details: Institutional affiliations, department, country.
- Unique Identifiers: ORCID IDs, submission system account IDs.
- Communication Content: Any information you provide in correspondence with us (e.g., support requests).
The collection of these details is essential for accurate author and editor identification, manuscript processing, user account registration, and communication regarding your submissions and services. Users may decline to supply personally identifiable information, but doing so may prevent access to or use of some or all features and functionality of the preprint platform, including manuscript submission and editing.
1.2 Non-Personally Identifiable Information (Non-PII) This is information that cannot be used to personally identify you and is not linked to your PII. We collect this automatically when you interact with our sites. This may include:
- Technical Data: Your Internet Protocol (IP) address, browser type and language, operating system.
- Usage Data: Date and time of your visits, pages viewed, time spent on pages, referral sources, and other clickstream data.
- Aggregated Data: Collective, anonymized statistical data about user behavior on the site, which does not identify any individual.
2. How We Use Your Information
We use the collected information for the following specific purposes:
- Manuscript Management: To process manuscript submissions, facilitate editorial assessment (where applicable), manage production, and post preprint content.
- User Account Management: To register and manage user accounts within our submission and platform systems, allowing you to access and update your profile.
- Communication: To communicate with authors, editors, and users regarding their submissions, account status, policy updates, and other operational aspects of the preprint platform (e.g., new content alerts if subscribed).
- Platform Improvement: To analyze website usage patterns, understand user behavior, troubleshoot technical issues, and continuously improve the functionality, design, and content of our preprint platform and services.
- Research & Analytics: To generate aggregated, anonymized statistical data for internal research, reporting, and strategic planning.
- Compliance & Security: To comply with legal obligations, enforce our terms of service, protect against fraud or misuse, and ensure the security of our systems and user data.
3. How We Share Your Information
Core Reports is committed to transparency regarding data sharing. We do not sell your personal information to third parties, including advertisers. We share your data only when necessary for the operation of the preprint platform and as described below:
- Public Display of Preprints: For all posted preprint content, author metadata (names, ORCID IDs, affiliations, abstract, keywords, etc.) are publicly displayed as part of the article content.
- Indexing and Archiving Services: Author metadata is routinely shared with third-party databases and indexing services (e.g., Crossref, PubMed Central, Google Scholar, other relevant academic indices) as part of standard scientific publishing practice to ensure broad discoverability and persistent linking of posted content. Search engines also index content directly from our public preprint server websites.
- Technical Support Partners: Limited personal data may be shared with our trusted technical support partners and service providers (e.g., hosting services Datacom Inc., software developers) who assist in the operation, maintenance, and security of our submission systems and websites. These partners are contractually obligated to protect your data and use it only for the specific services provided to Core Reports.
- Internal Business Reviews: Information may occasionally be disclosed to authorized Core Reports consultants as required for internal business reviews, subject to strict confidentiality agreements.
- Legal Requirements: We may disclose your information if required by law, court order, or governmental regulation, or if we believe such action is necessary to protect our rights, property, or safety, or that of our users or the public.
- Consent: We may share your information with third parties when we have your express written permission to do so.
4. Cookies and Tracking Technologies
Our sites use "cookies," which are small text files placed on your device's web browser by a website you visit. We use cookies to enhance your experience and analyze site usage:
- Session Cookies: These expire once you close your web browser and are used to provide a seamless Browse experience during a single visit.
- Persistent Cookies: These remain on your computer until you delete them or they expire, allowing us to remember your preferences for future visits and provide a more personalized experience.
- Login Cookies: For registered users, these cookies allow you to remain logged in for a specified period, reducing the need to re-enter credentials frequently.
- Third-Party Cookies: These may be set by third-party services integrated into our site (e.g., analytics providers like Google Analytics) to deliver anonymized analytics data about site traffic and usage patterns.
You can instruct your browser to notify you when you receive a cookie or to decline cookies. Please note that if you do not accept our cookies, you may not be able to access certain features or functionality on our sites. Instructions for managing cookies are typically found in your Internet browser's help file.
5. Data Security
Core Reports implements and maintains all reasonable physical, technical, and administrative measures to protect the personal data we collect from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. While we strive to protect your personal information, no method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. Therefore, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.
6. Data Retention
We retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. For author and editor account profiles with identifiable personal details within the manuscript submission system, these are preserved after the processing of each article to maintain a record of submissions and contributions, and to facilitate future interactions. Data associated with published preprints, including author metadata, will be retained indefinitely as part of the scholarly record.
7. Your Rights
Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have certain rights regarding your personal data held by Core Reports. These rights may include:
- Access: The right to request access to the personal data we hold about you. Users can typically review and update their basic personal information by signing into their registered account in the manuscript submission system and navigating to their profile page.
- Rectification: The right to request correction of inaccurate or incomplete personal data.
- Erasure (Right to be Forgotten): The right to request the deletion of your personal data under certain circumstances. Users can request that data they have provided be removed from our systems by clicking the “contact us” link in the footer of our website. Please note that data associated with published preprints (e.g., author names on an article) are part of the permanent scholarly record and generally cannot be removed.
- Restriction of Processing: The right to request the restriction of processing your personal data under certain conditions.
- Objection to Processing: The right to object to the processing of your personal data under certain conditions.
- Data Portability: The right to receive your personal data in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format.
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the information provided in the "Contact Us" section below. We will respond to your request in accordance with applicable data protection laws.
8. Changes to This Privacy Policy
Core Reports reserves the right to update or modify this Privacy Policy at any time to reflect changes in our practices, legal requirements, or new technologies. When we make material changes, we will revise the "Last Updated" date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this page periodically to stay informed about how we are protecting your information. Your continued use of the Core Reports preprint platform after any changes to this Privacy Policy constitutes your acceptance of the revised terms.
9. Contact Us
If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us:
Core Reports | secretariat [at] neuroscience [dot] mn