Submissions

Privacy Statement

Preamble

As public academic bodies, university libraries are subject to the Act respecting Access to documents held by public bodies and the Protection of personal information (CQLR c. A2-1, hereinafter the “Act”). The Act applies to documents held by Université Laval in the performance of its duties, whether it stores them itself or through the Platform. All personal information, whether nominative or qualitative, is protected by the Act.

The use and disclosure of personal information at Université Laval takes into account the privacy rights of individuals with respect to the personal information they agree to provide and the need by organizations to collect, use, and disclose such information for purposes that a reasonable person would consider appropriate in the given circumstances. The right to privacy is protected in Québec by the Civil Code of Québec (SQ, 1991, c. 64) and the Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms (RSQ, c. C-12).

In carrying out its Mission, the Platform collects personal information such as last name, first name, physical or email address, telephone number, university or professional affiliation, country, and languages of work, as well as qualitative data, such as notes prepared by Authorized or Designated Personnel.

Responsibility for the protection of personal information on the Platform lies with all users. Users agree to read and comply with the Université Laval Information Security Policy (in French) (hereinafter the “Policy”) and Regulation on the Security of Information Assets (in French) (hereinafter the “Regulation”)

Article 1 : Definitions

Information Assets: Refers to personal information or data:

1. entrusted to and used by the University
2. entrusted to the University, but held by a partner, supplier, or other party (such as the Scholarly Publishing Platform)

This includes information as well as tangible or intangible media (e.g., paper, hardware, software, network) used to process, transmit, or store it for its intended use.

Platform Administrator: The Université Laval Library is designated as the Platform Administrator.

Author: Anyone submitting an article to a peer-reviewed journal using the platform.

Consent: A clear and positive action by the person concerned, given in a free and informed manner.

Personal Data: Any personal and qualitative information that the Platform is authorized to collect from users in order to meet its objectives. Personal information includes last name, first name, email address and affiliation, as well as any other information deemed relevant to the Platform’s mission. Pursuant to sections 54 and 56 of the Act respecting Access to documents held by public bodies and the Protection of personal information, the name of an individual is not considered sensitive personal information unless it is mentioned in conjunction with other information about them. Their use requires explicit consent.

For the purposes of these General Terms of Use, the terms “personal information” and “personal data” are used interchangeably.

Qualitative Data: Observations that express the views of Platform users and managers as part of their mandate.

Reviewer: Person selected by the Platform journals to evaluate an article submitted by an author.

Mission (Purpose): Ensures full management of the digital publishing process, including peer review.

Public Bodies: Includes but is not limited to educational bodies, as mentioned in section 3 of the Act respecting access to documents held by public bodies and the protection of personal information, RSQ. chapter A-2.1.

Educational Bodies: Includes but is not limited to university institutions, including Université Laval, as mentioned in section 1 paragraph 1 of the Act respecting educational institutions at the university level.

Scholarly Publishing Platform: An editorial management technology solution, hosted by the Library, that enables full management of the digital publishing process, including peer review. It aims to automate digital production processes for Université Laval journals.

Editor: Person responsible for overseeing the entire editorial process of a Journal.

Journal: An entity affiliated with Université Laval that ensures the periodic production and dissemination of scientific articles and that uses a peer review process and the Platform.

Server: IT equipment that enables the Platform to operate and on which information assets are stored.

User: Any person involved in the digital publishing process, including directors, editors, authors, and evaluators. Such persons are designated as Platform users.

Article 2 : Access to personal data

Access to personal data on the Platform is restricted solely to authorized personnel, namely, the management and editorial team of the journal and the Platform Administrator.

Article 3 : Personal data management

Any nominative and qualitative information that the Platform is authorized to collect from users to meet its objectives is stored in a Université Laval database shared by the participating journals. Journals are required to use personal information in the strict context of their Mission.

Personal data includes last name, first name, email address, affiliation, and any other information deemed relevant to the Platform’s mission.

Article 4 : Transfer of personal data

The Platform Administrator reserves the right to transmit this information to partners whose objectives are compatible with the Platform’s Mission and for whom the data was originally collected.

Processing for archival, statistical, scientific, or historical research purposes should be considered as a compatible and lawful processing operation.

Article 5 : Suspension of access to personal data

Platform users have the right to have the data controller suspend access to their personal data as soon as possible in the following situations: 

1. Personal data is no longer required for the purposes for which it was collected.
2. The Journal no longer wishes to use the service offered by the Platform.
3. The person concerned withdraws consent following unlawful processing of his or her personal data when:
   • the data is used for purposes other than those for which it was collected;
   • processing of the collected data is counter to the Information Security Policy of Université Laval;
   • processing of the collected data is contrary to applicable laws and regulations.

Suspending access to personal data renders it unavailable to users. Only those responsible for the Platform maintain access to the data for the purpose of administering the Platform.

Article 6 : Retention of personal data

The Library retains personal data on Université Laval servers for as long as it is necessary for the purpose for which it was originally collected.

Article 7 : Disclaimer of Content

The Library disclaims all liability for content that is reproduced or published on its Platform without the consent of the copyright owner.

Article 8 : Copyright clearance

The Journals declare to have verified with the authors that all content posted on the Platform is original and unpublished material that respects copyright or, failing this, that appropriate use rights have been secured from the third parties from whom content has been borrowed.

Article 9 : Jurisdiction

This Privacy Policy is governed by the laws of the Province of Québec and the federal laws of Canada.

In the event of a dispute or litigation relating to the interpretation or application of these Terms, the laws of Québec and the courts of Québec, district of Québec, have jurisdiction.