Privacy Statement

Privacy Statement for Baraton Interdisciplinary Research Journal (BIRJ)

The Baraton Interdisciplinary Research Journal (BIRJ) is committed to protecting the privacy and confidentiality of its authors, reviewers, editors, readers, website visitors, and other users. This Privacy Statement explains how BIRJ collects, uses, protects, and manages personal information in connection with the journal's publishing activities and website.

BIRJ handles personal information in accordance with applicable data protection laws, institutional requirements, and good practices in scholarly publishing.

Information We Collect

BIRJ may collect the following types of information:

Personal Information: Names, email addresses, institutional affiliations, ORCID iDs, and other contact details provided during manuscript submission, peer review, registration, or other interactions with the journal.
Manuscript and Publication Information: Information contained in submitted manuscripts, author biographies, declarations, research ethics information, funding information, conflict-of-interest declarations, and other materials provided during the publication process.
Technical Information: IP addresses, browser types, operating systems, device information, and usage information that may be collected when users access or interact with the journal website.
Communication Data: Correspondence between users and the journal, including emails, inquiries, editorial communications, reviewer communications, and feedback.

How We Use Your Information

BIRJ may use personal information for the following purposes:

To facilitate manuscript submission, peer review, editorial processing, and publication.
To communicate with authors, reviewers, editors, and other users regarding submissions, editorial decisions, peer-review activities, and journal-related matters.
To maintain accurate records of authorship, editorial activity, and published content.
To manage user accounts and access to journal services.
To provide and improve the functionality, security, and user experience of the journal website and publishing system.
To provide journal announcements, calls for papers, and other relevant communications where users have opted to receive such communications.
To comply with applicable legal, regulatory, institutional, and publishing requirements.

Data Sharing and Disclosure

BIRJ does not sell, rent, or trade users' personal information.

Personal information may be shared or disclosed where necessary for legitimate journal operations or where required or permitted by applicable law. This may include:

Editors, reviewers, and editorial staff: Information may be shared with individuals involved in manuscript evaluation and publication, subject to appropriate confidentiality requirements.
Publishing and technical service providers: Information may be shared with service providers that support the journal's hosting, publishing, website, analytics, security, or related operations.
Scholarly communication and indexing services: Relevant bibliographic and author information may be transmitted to DOI registration, indexing, abstracting, metadata, and other scholarly communication services where necessary to disseminate and preserve published research.
Legal or regulatory authorities: Information may be disclosed where required by applicable law or where necessary to protect the rights, property, security, or safety of the journal, its users, or the public.

BIRJ takes reasonable steps to ensure that information shared with third parties is handled appropriately and used only for legitimate purposes.

Data Security

BIRJ implements appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect personal information from unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, loss, misuse, or destruction.

Access to personal information is restricted to authorized individuals who require the information for legitimate journal operations. BIRJ takes reasonable measures to maintain the confidentiality and integrity of information processed through its publishing and website systems.

Retention of Personal Information

BIRJ retains personal information for as long as reasonably necessary to support journal operations, maintain scholarly and publication records, comply with legal and institutional requirements, and preserve the integrity of the scholarly publishing record.

Certain information associated with published articles, authorship, peer review, editorial decisions, and publication history may be retained for an extended period as part of the journal's scholarly record.

Your Rights

Subject to applicable legal, institutional, and operational requirements, users may have the right to:

Access their personal information.
Request correction or updating of inaccurate or incomplete information.
Request deletion of personal information where there is a valid basis for deletion.
Withdraw consent for specific uses of personal information where processing is based on consent.
Opt out of optional communications such as newsletters or announcements.
Raise concerns regarding the handling of their personal information.

Requests concerning personal information should be directed to:

Email: birj22@ueab.ac.ke

BIRJ may need to verify the identity of a requester before processing a request and may retain certain information where required for legal, institutional, or scholarly-record purposes.

Cookies and Similar Technologies

The BIRJ website may use cookies and similar technologies to support website functionality, maintain user sessions, improve user experience, and understand website usage.

Where analytics or similar technologies are used, information may be collected about website visits and interactions.

Users can manage or restrict cookies through their web browser settings. Disabling certain cookies may affect some website functionality.

Third-Party Websites and Services

The BIRJ website may contain links to third-party websites, services, databases, indexing platforms, or other external resources.

BIRJ is not responsible for the privacy practices, security, or content of third-party websites. Users are encouraged to review the privacy policies of external websites before providing personal information.

Confidentiality in Peer Review

BIRJ maintains confidentiality during the peer-review process. Manuscripts, reviewer identities, reviewer reports, and other confidential editorial information are handled in accordance with the journal's peer-review policies.

Reviewers, editors, and other individuals involved in the editorial process are expected to protect confidential information and must not disclose, copy, distribute, or use unpublished manuscript information for personal, professional, or financial advantage.

Changes to This Privacy Statement

BIRJ may periodically update this Privacy Statement to reflect changes in its publishing practices, website operations, applicable laws, institutional requirements, or data protection practices.

The most recent version will be made available on the journal website. Significant changes may be communicated through appropriate journal channels where necessary.

Contact Us

If you have questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Statement or the handling of personal information by BIRJ, please contact:

Baraton Interdisciplinary Research Journal (BIRJ)
University of Eastern Africa, Baraton
Email: birj22@ueab.ac.ke

BIRJ is committed to maintaining the privacy, confidentiality, and responsible handling of personal information while supporting transparent and ethical scholarly communication.

Last updated: 4 October 2026