Privacy and Data Protection Policy

Purpose

The Dyal Singh Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences (DSJHSS) collects and processes personal information necessary to operate its scholarly publishing activities and Open Journal Systems website.

The journal seeks to use personal information only for legitimate editorial, peer-review, publication, administrative, security and communication purposes.

Information That May Be Collected

Depending on a person's role and use of the website, information may include:

·        name and academic or professional affiliation;

·        email address and other contact details voluntarily supplied;

·        ORCID or other scholarly identifiers;

·        biographical information supplied for publication or editorial purposes;

·        manuscript, review and editorial records;

·        account information and user roles within the journal platform; and

·        technical information recorded by the website or server for security and system operation.

How Information Is Used

Personal information may be used to:

·        manage submissions and peer review;

·        communicate editorial decisions and revision requests;

·        invite and manage peer reviewers;

·        produce and publish article metadata;

·        administer user accounts and website functions;

·        maintain editorial and publication records;

·        investigate ethical or integrity concerns; and

·        meet lawful institutional or regulatory obligations.

DSJHSS does not sell or rent user personal information for commercial marketing.

Information Made Public

Information intended to form part of the scholarly record may be published openly, including author names, affiliations, article metadata, acknowledgements, funding information, competing-interest declarations and other information designated for publication.

Reviewer identities remain confidential under the journal's double-blind review model unless the journal and reviewer have expressly agreed to a different lawful disclosure in a specific context.

Sharing and Service Providers

Information may be accessible to authorised editors, reviewers, technical administrators or service providers only to the extent necessary for legitimate journal functions. The journal may also disclose information where required by law, necessary to protect legal rights, or reasonably required for an institutional or publication-ethics investigation.

Security and Retention

DSJHSS will take reasonable administrative and technical measures to protect editorial and personal information against unauthorised access, loss or misuse.

Scholarly publishing records may need to be retained for an extended period to preserve the integrity of peer review, authorship, publication history and responses to future ethical concerns.

User Requests

Questions concerning personal information held by the journal may be sent to editor@dsjhss.gdscl.com.pk. Requests will be considered in light of applicable legal, institutional and scholarly-record obligations.

Policy Updates

This policy may be revised as the journal's systems or legal and institutional requirements change. The current version should be available on the journal website.