Privacy Statement

The Journal of Divine Message Research (JDMR), published by Divine Message Academy, is committed to protecting the privacy and personal data of everyone who interacts with the journal, including authors, reviewers, editors, readers and invited scholars. This statement explains how we collect, use, store and protect personal information, in accordance with applicable data protection law, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

1. Information We Collect

  • Authors: name, email address, affiliation, country, and the correspondence and submission details you provide.
  • Reviewers and editors: name, email address, affiliation, academic qualifications and areas of expertise.
  • Readers: email address if you register for updates or alerts, and technical data such as IP address for security and basic website statistics.
  • Research platform users: account details (email address, display name, and a password stored only in hashed form) and the notes you choose to save, which are private to your account.
  • Invited scholars: if you took part in an academic event organized by EUSER and our team members met you there, we hold your name, email address, affiliation and country, together with the title of the work you presented, in order to invite you to take part in this initiative. Your response to our survey (roles of interest and any comment) is stored with these details.

2. How We Use Your Information

  • Authors: to process submissions, communicate editorial decisions and manage publication.
  • Reviewers and editors: to invite and assign reviews, communicate outcomes and acknowledge contributions.
  • Readers: to provide access to published content, send updates you requested and improve the website.
  • Research platform users: to provide your account and your saved notes.
  • Invited scholars: to invite you to collaborate as an author, reviewer, committee member or editor, to record your reply, and to contact you about the initiative if you are interested.

3. Legal Basis for Processing

  • Consent: when you submit a manuscript, register, or reply to our invitation, you consent to the use of your information for the purposes described here.
  • Contractual necessity: processing that is necessary to fulfil our obligations to authors and reviewers.
  • Legitimate interests: contacting scholars whose published or presented work is relevant to the journal, protecting the integrity of the peer review process, and improving our services. You can object to this at any time (see “Your Rights” and “Unsubscribing”).

4. Data Sharing and Disclosure

We do not sell or rent your personal information. Your data may be shared only in these circumstances:

  • With reviewers and editors: manuscripts and related author information are shared confidentially as part of peer review, in line with our double-blind policy.
  • With service providers: such as hosting, email delivery and IT support providers, who are obliged to protect your data.
  • For legal compliance: where required by law, or to protect the rights, property or safety of the journal, its users or the public.

5. Data Retention

  • Author data: kept for the duration of the publication process and a reasonable period afterwards to answer post-publication inquiries.
  • Reviewer and editor data: kept while you serve and for a reasonable period afterwards to acknowledge your contribution.
  • Reader data: kept for as long as you remain subscribed to updates.
  • Invited scholars: kept until you ask us to delete it. If you unsubscribe, we keep only the minimum needed to ensure that we do not contact you again.

6. Data Security

We apply appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect personal information from unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration or destruction, including encrypted (HTTPS) connections, hashed passwords and restricted access to personal data.

7. Your Rights

Under applicable data protection law you have the right to:

  • Access a copy of the personal data we hold about you;
  • Correction of inaccurate or incomplete data;
  • Deletion of your data, subject to legal obligations;
  • Restriction of how we process your data;
  • Objection to processing for particular purposes;
  • Data portability: a copy of your data in a structured, machine-readable format.

To exercise these rights, contact us at [email protected].

8. Unsubscribing

Every invitation email we send contains an Unsubscribe button. Using it stops all further communication from us. You can also write to [email protected] at any time.

9. International Data Transfers

As an international journal, your data may be processed in countries outside the European Economic Area. Where this happens, we ensure that the transfer complies with applicable data protection law and that adequate safeguards are in place.

10. Changes to This Statement

We may update this statement from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. The latest version is always available on this page.

11. Contact Us

If you have questions or concerns about this statement or our data practices, please contact the editorial office at [email protected].