Privacy Statement
PIETAS: Jurnal Studi Agama dan Lintas Budaya (Journal of Religious and Cross-Cultural Studies) is committed to protecting the privacy, confidentiality, and security of personal information belonging to authors, reviewers, editors, readers, research participants, and other users of the journal website.
Personal information collected through the journal's Open Journal Systems (OJS) platform is used solely for legitimate scholarly publishing purposes, including manuscript management, peer review, publication, communication, indexing, archiving, digital preservation, and journal administration.
Personal Information Collected
PIETAS may collect personal information voluntarily provided by users, including:
- Name and academic or professional title;
- Institutional affiliation and address;
- Email address and contact information;
- ORCID iD and researcher identifiers;
- Academic expertise, biography, and professional information;
- Manuscript submission and publication records;
- Peer-review activities and editorial correspondence; and
- Other information required to support scholarly publishing processes.
The journal website may also automatically collect technical information, including IP addresses, browser information, login activity, access logs, and website usage data for security, system administration, and service improvement purposes.
Use of Personal Information
Personal information collected by PIETAS may be used to:
- Manage manuscript submissions and editorial workflows;
- Facilitate communication between authors, editors, reviewers, and editorial staff;
- Conduct peer-review and editorial evaluation processes;
- Publish scholarly articles and maintain publication records;
- Register article metadata and Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs);
- Support indexing, abstracting, archiving, and digital preservation services;
- Maintain website security and functionality; and
- Communicate information related to journal activities and publications.
PIETAS does not use personal information for unrelated commercial purposes without appropriate consent.
Publication and Disclosure of Information
Information associated with published articles, including author names, institutional affiliations, ORCID iDs, article titles, abstracts, keywords, and bibliographic metadata, may be publicly available as part of the permanent scholarly record.
Article metadata may be shared with DOI registration agencies, indexing and abstracting services, repositories, libraries, digital preservation systems, and other scholarly infrastructure to support discoverability, citation, accessibility, and long-term preservation.
Information related to reviewers and confidential peer-review materials remains protected according to PIETAS's double-blind peer-review policy, except where disclosure is required by legal obligations, publication ethics procedures, or with explicit permission from relevant parties.
Confidentiality of Manuscripts and Research Materials
Submitted manuscripts and all related editorial materials are treated as confidential documents.
Editors, reviewers, and editorial staff must not disclose, copy, distribute, or use unpublished manuscripts, research data, interview materials, field notes, participant statements, or other confidential information for unauthorized purposes.
Privacy of Research Participants and Communities
Because PIETAS publishes research related to religion, culture, and society, authors may conduct studies involving religious communities, indigenous groups, cultural communities, minority groups, religious leaders, and other identifiable participants.
Authors are responsible for protecting the privacy, dignity, confidentiality, and safety of research participants and communities.
Particular attention should be given to manuscripts containing:
- Identifiable personal information;
- Religious identity or belief-related information;
- Interview quotations or personal narratives;
- Photographs, audio, or video recordings;
- Sensitive cultural or community information;
- Information concerning vulnerable or minority communities; and
- Confidential, sacred, or community-restricted knowledge.
Such information should only be published when ethically justified and when appropriate informed consent or permission has been obtained.
Sensitive Religious and Cultural Information
Research involving religious identity, spiritual practices, cultural affiliation, community traditions, or sensitive social contexts requires appropriate ethical consideration.
Authors should avoid unnecessary disclosure of identifiable information that may expose individuals or communities to discrimination, stigmatization, social conflict, legal risk, or other forms of harm.
Where research involves sacred, confidential, culturally restricted, or community-specific knowledge, authors must respect applicable ethical and cultural protocols during data collection, analysis, and publication.
Data Security and Retention
PIETAS implements reasonable administrative and technical measures to protect personal information from unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, misuse, or loss.
Personal information and editorial records may be retained as long as necessary to maintain the integrity, transparency, and traceability of the scholarly record, support publication activities, resolve disputes, and comply with ethical or administrative requirements.
Cookies and Website Usage
The PIETAS website may use cookies or similar technologies to support user authentication, session management, website functionality, security, and statistical analysis.
Users may manage cookie preferences through their web browsers. However, disabling cookies may affect certain website functionalities.
Third-Party Services
PIETAS may use third-party scholarly publishing services, including DOI registration, similarity checking, indexing, archiving, analytics, and communication services.
Personal information or manuscript-related information is shared with such services only when necessary to support legitimate editorial, publishing, dissemination, and preservation activities.
Users' Rights
Users may request correction or updating of inaccurate personal information associated with their journal accounts by contacting the Editorial Office.
Certain information forming part of the permanent scholarly record, including published articles, publication metadata, editorial decisions, and peer-review records, may be retained when necessary to preserve academic integrity and transparency.
Changes to This Privacy Statement
PIETAS may update this Privacy Statement when necessary to reflect changes in journal policies, publishing practices, technology, or applicable requirements. Any revised version will be published on the journal website.
By registering, submitting manuscripts, participating in peer review, or using the PIETAS website, users acknowledge the collection and processing of information as described in this Privacy Statement.
