Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

FGSP is committed to processing personal data in accordance with applicable privacy legislation, including the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (India), and — where applicable — the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) for users in the European Economic Area.

This policy applies to all personal data collected through fringeglobal.com and any subdomain, manuscript submission portal, or email communication operated by FGSP.

2. Data We Collect

2.1 Account Information

When you register for an FGSP account, we collect:

• Full name (first name, last name)
• Institutional email address
• Institutional affiliation (university / organisation)
• Country of residence
• ORCID iD (optional)
• Password (stored as a cryptographic hash — never in plain text)

2.2 Submission Data

When you submit a manuscript, we collect:

• Manuscript title, abstract, keywords, and full text
• Author lists and corresponding author contact details
• Uploaded files (manuscript document, supplementary materials)
• Cover letter and editorial correspondence
• Peer review reports (associated with reviewer accounts)

2.3 Usage Data

We automatically collect certain technical data when you use our services:

• IP address and approximate geographic location
• Browser type, operating system, and device information
• Pages visited, time spent, and navigation paths
• Referring URLs

2.4 Communication Data

We retain records of email correspondence between authors, reviewers, and editors conducted through our platform, to maintain an accurate editorial record.

3. How We Use Your Data

• Account management — creating, authenticating, and administering your user account.
• Manuscript processing — routing submissions to editors and reviewers, tracking status, and communicating decisions.
• Publication — publishing accepted articles with author attribution information.
• Peer review integrity — detecting conflicts of interest and preventing manipulation of the review process.
• Service improvement — analysing usage patterns to improve our platforms and workflows.
• Legal compliance — meeting obligations under applicable laws, including retaining records for audit.
• Communications — sending transactional emails (confirmations, decision letters, revision reminders).

We do not use your personal data for behavioural advertising or sell your data to third parties.

4. Data Sharing

4.1 Within the Editorial Process

Author identifying information is not disclosed to reviewers during double-blind peer review. Reviewer identities are not disclosed to authors unless the reviewer opts into open review. Editors-in-chief and handling editors can access full submission details as necessary to manage the editorial process.

4.2 Published Articles

Upon publication, author names, affiliations, corresponding author email, and ORCID iDs (if provided) are made publicly available as part of the article metadata. This information may be indexed by search engines, DOI registries, and academic databases.

4.3 Service Providers

We may share data with trusted third-party service providers (cloud hosting, email delivery, analytics). These providers are contractually bound to process data only on our instructions and maintain appropriate security.

4.4 Legal Requirements

We may disclose personal data where required by law, court order, or government authority, or where necessary to protect the rights, property, or safety of FGSP, our users, or the public.

5. Data Retention

• Active accounts — retained for as long as your account is active.
• Inactive accounts — accounts with no activity for 5 years may be deleted after notice to your registered email.
• Rejected/withdrawn submissions — retained for 3 years for audit and integrity purposes, then securely deleted.
• Published article metadata — retained indefinitely as part of the scholarly record.
• Usage logs — anonymised usage data retained for up to 2 years.

6. Your Rights

Subject to applicable law, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Access — request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Correction — request correction of inaccurate data. You may update most profile data directly in your account settings.
• Erasure — request deletion of your data, subject to our legitimate need to retain editorial records and published metadata.
• Restriction — request that we restrict processing in certain circumstances.
• Portability — request a structured, machine-readable copy of data you have provided.
• Objection — object to processing based on legitimate interests.
• Withdraw consent — where processing is consent-based, you may withdraw at any time.

To exercise any of these rights, email privacy@fringeglobal.com. We will respond within 30 days.

7. Cookies

• Essential cookies — required for authentication and session management. Cannot be disabled without impairing core functionality.
• Preference cookies — remember display settings and other preferences.
• Analytics cookies — collect anonymised usage data to help improve our services. You may opt out via your browser settings.

We do not use advertising or tracking cookies. Blocking essential cookies will prevent login and submission functions from working.

8. Security

We implement industry-standard security measures including:

• TLS/HTTPS encryption for all data in transit.
• Bcrypt hashing for all stored passwords.
• JWT-based authentication with short-lived access tokens.
• Role-based access controls limiting data access to authorised personnel only.
• Regular security reviews and vulnerability assessments.

In the event of a data breach affecting your rights, we will notify affected users and relevant authorities within 72 hours of becoming aware, as required by applicable law.

9. Third-Party Services

• ORCID — if you provide your ORCID iD, it is included in your author profile and published article metadata. ORCID's privacy policy governs their handling of your data.
• CrossRef / DOI — accepted articles are registered with CrossRef for DOI assignment. Article metadata becomes publicly available through CrossRef.
• Email delivery — transactional emails are sent via a third-party SMTP provider. Email addresses are shared only as necessary to deliver messages.
• Vercel / Bluehost — our frontend and backend are hosted on these platforms. Data may be processed in their data centres per their respective privacy policies.

10. Children's Privacy

Our services are not directed at individuals under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe we have inadvertently collected data from a minor, contact us at privacy@fringeglobal.com and we will delete it promptly.

11. Policy Changes

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Material changes will be communicated by posting a notice on our website at least 14 days before they take effect. For significant changes affecting how we handle data you have already provided, we will notify you directly by email.

12. Contact & Data Protection

For privacy-related queries, data subject requests, or concerns, please contact:

If you are in the European Economic Area and are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to lodge a complaint with your national data protection supervisory authority.