Privacy and cookies

1. Who we are

IOP Publishing Limited (“IOPP” or “we” or “us” or “our”) publishes a range of journals, ebooks, magazines, conference proceedings and websites for the scientific community (the “content”).

To support the publication of the content and to deliver services, we may gather and process your personal information. We will do this in accordance with this Privacy Notice (“notice”) and in compliance with the relevant data protection regulations and laws. This notice provides you with information regarding your rights and our obligations and explains how, why and when we may process your personal information. References in this notice to “website” or “websites” are to the specific IOPP website that links to this notice.

IOPP’s registered office is at No.2 The Distillery, Glassfields, Avon Street, Bristol BS2 0GR and we are a registered company in England and Wales under company number 00467514. We are registered on the Information Commissioner’s Office Register, registration number Z6045891, and act as the controller. In certain, limited, circumstances we also act as the processor.

This is our global privacy notice. If you are located outside China, sections 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 of this notice are relevant to you. If you are located within China, please also refer to section 5 “Individuals based in China”, which contains important information regarding how this notice applies to you.

This notice was last updated on 6 April 2023.

2. Your privacy

We are committed to ensuring the security and protection of the personal information we process. We will make every reasonable effort to protect your privacy by adopting a high level of website security and adhering to company policies on how we store and use your personal information.

This notice relates to our use of the personal information we collect from you, or that you provide to us, via the services we make available to you, by phone, email, in letters and other correspondence, and in person. It has been created to help you understand our views and practices regarding your personal information.

We recommend that you read this notice prior to using our websites, products, and/or services. If we change this notice, we will post the changes on this page and may place notices on other pages of the website so that you will be aware of the personal information we collect and how we will use it. If you use this website, or our products and services, or access our content on this website, after any such change has been made, you will be deemed to have read and accepted all the changes.

2.1 Personal information we may collect from you

The personal information we collect about you, or that you provide to us, will be dependent on your relationship with us, the products and/or services we provide to you, the ways in which you choose to interact with us and your level of engagement with us.

2.2 Personal information you give us

You may give us personal information when you fill in forms on our websites or when you correspond with us by phone, email, in writing or otherwise. The types of personal information we may collect about you may include:

your name and contact information, including your email address;
your institutional affiliation and level of education and experience;
your employer or the organisation that you represent;
your social media identifiers, such as username or handle;
demographic information such as your research interests;
your gender and/or gender identity, including chosen pronoun;
your country of origin;
payment information; and
opinions or other information you provide when you complete surveys, enter competitions or respond to questions.

2.3 Personal information we collect about you

When you visit our websites, we may collect the following information automatically:

technical information, including the Internet Protocol (IP) address used to connect your computer to the internet, your login information, your geographic location, browser type and version, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform;
information and preferences obtained from the use of cookies and similar technologies, for example your username, language, region and the number of visits you have made to our websites (for more information on cookies, please see our policy on cookies at the end of this notice); and
information about your visit, including the source of your visit, the full click path, mouse movement through our websites (including date and time); products and/or services you viewed, searches made on our websites, page response times, download errors and length of visits to certain pages.

2.4 Personal information we collect at receipt and opening of emails

When you open an email sent by us, or on our behalf, we may collect the following personal information automatically:

technical information, including; your geographic location, browser type and version, device type, operating system and platform; and
information about your email consumption, including the full click path from within and on to our websites (including date and time), whether the email was delivered, shared, unsubscribed from, opened, deleted or forwarded.

2.5 Personal information from third parties

From time to time, and as permitted by applicable law(s), we may collect personal information about you from other third party sources, including publicly available data sources and your employer, organisation or university/institution. This personal information may be used to update and enhance any existing personal information about you that we currently hold.

2.6 How we use your personal information

Depending on your relationship with us, we may process your personal information in one or more of the following ways:

to provide our products and services to you and/or to facilitate the provision of products, services and content to your employer, organisation or university/ institution;
to respond to your requests and enquiries;
to invite you to participate in research studies, to submit work for inclusion in our content and to attend live events or webinars;
to invite you to peer review and/or to manage the peer review process and, for these purposes, your personal information may also be used by certain of our publishing partners where they carry out the peer review process for their journals which we publish on their behalf. These partners shall use your personal information in accordance with their own privacy policies which should be available on their websites;
to publish your name, institution, country, ORCID ID, and, in some cases, your email address alongside your work;
in the course of arranging a press release;
administering and managing our relationships with individuals who sit on our Editorial Advisory Boards;
to process payments from you (including article publication charges, subscriptions or payments for any products or services that you choose to purchase from us);
to process payments to you (including refunds or reimbursements, or payments to you for products and services provided to us);
to request your participation in surveys, focus groups, or other initiatives which help us to gather personal information used to develop and enhance our products and services, and/or the products and services of third parties where we consider that they would be relevant to you. For example, to measure the effectiveness of our peer review process, we may analyse and measure user behaviour and performance, trends, demographics and interests;
from time to time, to share the results of surveys, focus groups or other similar initiatives with our publishing partners and relevant industry organisations and groups but, in this case, we will endeavour not to include personal information which will allow you to be identified;
to keep you updated about our products and services, latest content, industry news, events and webinars, and to personalise your website and communications experience.
to measure the effectiveness of our advertising and marketing campaigns;
to provide access to restricted parts of our websites;
to perform analytics and produce statistics about the usage levels of our websites to allow us to better understand the demographics of our users, what we are doing well and where we could improve the online services we offer, as well as other internal purposes, such as website and system administration or internal audits and reviews.  We may share aggregated statistics with third parties that we work with, but these statistics will not include personal information which will allow you to be identified; and
to comply with applicable law(s) (for example, to comply with a court order) or to carry out professional ethics/conduct investigations.

2.7 We will process your personal information for the purposes identified above on the following bases:

our legitimate interest, which includes processing your personal information for the purposes of providing and enhancing the provision of our products, services and information and/or to invite you to submit work for our content;
where processing is necessary to perform our contract with you or to take steps before entering into a contract with you;
as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes and enforce our contractual agreements; and
where you have consented to our use of your personal information for a specified purpose. Where this is the case, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time.

2.8 Our use of your personal information for marketing activities

Marketing by post: occasionally, we will send you information by post where we have decided that it is beneficial to you as a customer and in our interests. Such information will be non-intrusive and is processed on the grounds of legitimate interest.

Marketing by email: where you have opted in to us sending you email updates, including for our online content, industry news and updates, events and webinars, competitions and surveys, you are free to withdraw this consent at any time. If you have provided information about your interest areas, or have purchased or used our products and/or services, we may use this information to tailor the content of our emails to you. Depending on our relationship with you, we may send you marketing emails on the grounds of legitimate interest. We will not send you marketing emails if you have opted out of receiving them. Any marketing emails we send you will include an unsubscribe link.

If you would like to stop receiving marketing emails from us, you can let us know at any time by:

clicking the “unsubscribe” link in any marketing emails you receive from us;
emailing us at customerservices@ioppublishing.org at any time (please ensure you tell us if you would like to opt out from all email marketing communications or just a particular update, or if you would like to stop receiving all communications of any kind); and/or
phoning us on 0117 929 7481 (Mon–Fri 9am–5pm BST/GMT).

Our emails may contain a “web beacon pixel” to tell us whether they have been opened and to verify any clicks through to links or advertisements within the email.

We may use this information for our purposes, including determining how to improve our communications to users, which of our emails are more interesting to users and to query whether users who do not open our emails wish to continue receiving them.

The pixel will be deleted when you delete the email. If you do not wish the pixel to be downloaded to your device, you can read the email in plain text view or with images disabled.

2.9 Surveys and contests

From time to time, this website may request information from users via surveys or contests. Participation is completely voluntary and the user therefore has a choice whether or not to disclose any information requested.

Information requested may include contact information (such as name and delivery address), demographic information, and opinions about our products and services. Contact information will be used to notify any winners and award prizes. Survey information will be used for the purposes of monitoring or improving our products and services, including the functionality of this website.

2.10 How long we will retain your personal information

We may retain certain records for other legitimate reasons (including after your relationship with us has ended), for example to maintain records of published content, to resolve any potential disputes and to comply with reporting and retention obligations. For personal data that we hold, we only hold it for as long as is necessary for the purposes for which the personal data was processed. We regularly review the personal data that we hold and delete or anonymise data that is no longer needed.

2.11 Who we share your personal information with

We will never sell, trade or rent your personal information to others. However, we may share your personal information with selected third parties. We require that our third party service providers only use your personal information as necessary to provide the requested services. It is likely that the identity and categories of the third party service providers with whom we share your personal information will change during the life of your relationship with us. Depending on that relationship, and your use of our products, services, and websites, it is anticipated that your personal information will be disclosed to the following categories of third party service providers who perform functions on our behalf. As examples:

for the provision of indexing services;
for the production of MARC records;
author information processed for the creation, management and preservation of archived content;
to allow academics to track, verify and showcase their peer review and editorial contributions across the world’s academic content;
to streamline the manuscript submission process, improve the management of author and reviewer databases and improve the accuracy of name-based repository searches;
hosting providers for the secure storage and transmission of your personal information;
technology providers and database software providers for the management and tracking of your personal information;
technology providers for the analysis of content engagement and usage trends;
identity management providers for authentication purposes;
email sending services who send communications on our behalf regarding our products and services;
payment solution providers for the secure processing of payments you provide to us;
technology providers who assist in the development and management of our web properties;
recruiters, and any third parties used by them to collate applications (such as a multi-job posting platform), to administer an application submitted by you via any of our jobs websites for a job advertised by us on behalf of that recruiter;
recruiters to allow them to contact you about job vacancies if you have allowed them to see your profile in your account settings on our job websites;
fulfilment and postal vendors for the fulfilment of our products and services;
survey and research providers who perform studies on our behalf;
third parties who we have conducted surveys and research on behalf of;
our Editorial Board members who perform various functions on our behalf;
other companies within the IOPP Group around the world, who may perform outreach on our behalf regarding our products and services; and
legal and compliance consultants, such as external counsel, external auditors, or tax consultants.

3 Links and third parties

This website may contain links to third party websites and services. Please be aware that IOPP is not responsible for the privacy practices of any third parties. We encourage our users to read the privacy statements of these third party websites and services. This notice applies solely to information collected by this website.

In addition, where you apply via our website for a job advertised by us on behalf of an external recruiter, please be aware that the recruiter may be using a third party to collate applications, such as a multi-job posting platform. In those circumstances, we will send your application to those third parties on the recruiter’s behalf. The recruiter is solely responsible for those third parties, and we are not responsible for them or the actions of the recruiter. If you have any concerns or queries about how the recruiter (or their third parties) may store or use your application, please contact the recruiter directly.

3.1 Where we store your personal information

By providing us with your personal information, you acknowledge that it may be transferred to, stored at and processed at a destination inside or outside the United Kingdom or European Economic Area by us, our affiliates and/or other third parties. Please do not submit any personal information to us if you do not wish for it to be transferred internationally.

4 Your rights

Under certain circumstances, by law you have the following rights in respect of the personal information we hold about you. For more information about these rights, or if you wish to exercise them, please contact us.

4.1 Request access to your personal information (commonly known as a “subject access request”).

In most cases this entitles you to receive a copy of the personal information we hold about you.

We may need you to provide information that will help us confirm your identity. If we hold personal information about you, in most cases we will give you a copy of the information in an understandable format, together with an explanation of why we hold and use it.

Once we have all the information necessary to respond to your request, we will usually provide your personal information to you within one month. This timeframe may be extended by up to two months if your request is particularly complex. In this case, we will notify you and keep you updated.

4.2 Request correction of the personal information that we hold about you.

If we are made aware that the personal information we hold about you is inaccurate, or your personal information changes (such as your email address), IOPP will correct, update or remove that personal information as appropriate, where we are notified by you. This can usually be done by you within any personalisation options of this website (where applicable), or by contacting us.

4.3 Request erasure of your personal information.

This enables you to ask us to delete or remove your personal information where there is no good reason for us continuing to process it. Please note that whilst we will honour your request wherever possible, we may need to retain some personal information about you, for example, where we are required to retain records to comply with our legal obligations.

4.4 Object to processing of your personal information

Where we are relying on legitimate interest (or that of a third party) and there is something about your particular situation which makes you want to object to processing on this ground. You also have the right to object to use of your personal information for marketing purposes, as described in the “Our use of your personal information for marketing activities” section of this notice.

4.5 Request the restriction of processing of your personal information.

This enables you to ask us to suspend the processing of personal information about you, for example if you want us to establish its accuracy or the reason for processing it.

4.6 Request the transfer of your personal information to another party.

Whenever IOPP processes your personal information, by automated means based on your consent, or based on an agreement, you have the right to get a copy of your personal data transferred to you or to another party. This only extends to the personal data you have submitted to us.

4.7 What to do if you are not happy

In the first instance, please talk to us directly so we can try to resolve any problem or query. You also have the right to contact the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if you have any questions about Data Protection. You can also contact them using their helpline 0303 123 113

4.8 How to contact us

If you wish to talk through anything in our privacy policy, find out more about your rights or wish to exercise them, please contact our Customer Services Team who will be happy to help.

By post: Customer Services, IOP Publishing Ltd, No.2 The Distillery, Glassfields, Avon Street, Bristol BS2 0GR
By telephone: +44 (0)117 929 7481
By e-mail: customerservices@ioppublishing.org

4.9 Representative in the EEA and Turkey

We value your privacy and your rights as a data subject and have therefore appointed Prighter Group with its local partners as our privacy representative and your point of contact if you are a resident within the EEA or Turkey. Prighter gives you an easy way to exercise your privacy-related rights (e.g. requests to access or erase personal data). You may contact us via our Prighter representative, and make use of your data subject rights.

5 Individuals based in China

This section is relevant to individuals located in China. If you are not located in China, this section is not relevant to you and will not impact you.

5.1 Interpretation of this section

To make this notice as easy to understand as possible, we have not repeated sections that apply in the same way to all individuals, whether located inside or outside China. Therefore, all sections of this notice apply to you, other than those sections modified or replaced by this section 5.

Reference to law (or laws) within this section is a reference to the Chinese Personal Information Protection Law and associated Chinese privacy regulations.

5.2 Bases for processing your personal information:

Section 2.7 does not apply to individuals located within China. Instead, for individuals in China, we will process your personal information in accordance with the following lawful bases:

where you have consented to our use of your personal information for a specified purpose. Where this is the case, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time;
where processing is necessary to perform our contract with you (or to perform a contract in which you are an interested party) or to take steps before entering into a contract with you;
as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes and enforce our contractual agreements; and
when we are handling personal information that you have disclosed, or that has otherwise been lawfully disclosed, within a reasonable scope in accordance with relevant law. This may include processing your personal information for the purposes of inviting you to submit work for our content and/or providing and enhancing the provision of our products.

5.3 Marketing by post

The paragraph beginning ‘Marketing by post’ in section 2.8 does not apply to individuals located within China. For individuals in China, we will only send you information by post where we have decided that it is beneficial to you and you have provided us with your consent.

5.4 Your rights

Section 4 does not apply to individuals located within China. This section 5.4 replaces it entirely.

5.4(1) Request to restrict and refuse the processing of your personal information.

If we are processing your personal information on the basis of your consent, you have the right to withdraw this consent. You are also entitled to restrict or limit how we handle your personal information, unless otherwise stipulated by laws or administrative regulations.

5.4(2) Request to access and receive a copy of your personal information.

This entitles you to receive a copy of the personal information we hold about you, unless such access is prevented by law or administrative regulation.

Once we have all the information necessary to respond to your request, we will provide you with a response to your request in a timely manner.

5.4(3) Request to rectify and supplement your personal information.

If we are notified by you that the personal information we hold about you is inaccurate or incomplete, or where you indicate to us that it requires supplementing, IOPP will correct, update, complete, supplement or remove that personal information as appropriate. This can usually be done by you within any personalisation options of this website (where applicable), or by contacting us.

5.4(4) Request the deletion of your personal information.

This enables you to ask us to delete or remove your personal information where it is no longer needed, for example because the purpose for the processing has been achieved. Please note that whilst we will honour your request wherever possible, we may need to retain some personal information about you, for example, where we are required to retain records to comply with our legal obligations.

5.4(5) Request the transfer of your personal information to another party.

If you request that your personal information be transferred to a personal information handler that meets the conditions of the Cyberspace Administration of China, we shall provide a reasonable means for achieving this.

5.4(6) Rights of the deceased.

Close relatives of a deceased individual can exercise the rights to access, rectify and delete that decedent’s personal information.

5.4(7) What to do if you are not happy

In the first instance, please talk to us directly so we can try to resolve any problem or query. Users based in China also have the right to contact the Cyberspace Administration of China if you have any questions about Data Protection. You can contact them at http://www.cac.gov.cn/.

5.4(8) Representative in China

If you live in China, your point of contact for privacy related matters is IOP Publishing Consultants (Beijing) Co. Limited (“IOP China”). If you wish to contact IOP China, you can do so:

By post: Room 608, Building A, Raycom Info Tech Park, No.2 Kexueyuan South Road, Beijing, China, 100190
By email: legal@ioplegal.org

6 Cookies

What are cookies?

This website may place small text files, called cookies, on your computer to distinguish you from other users. These cookies monitor how you use this website so that IOPP can make improvements. They are also used to give you the best user experience (for example by remembering your login details so that you do not have to enter them each time). Some cookies may also be placed by third parties, for example Facebook and Google, if you use their services via this website, to monitor how you use their services and to target relevant advertising to you when you visit other websites on which they advertise.

In most cases, cookies do not contain personally identifiable information.

Users of ioppublishing.org will be presented with a cookie consent notice when they first land on the site and at appropriate points thereafter. The notice allows users to give granular consent to the use of cookies, by allowing users to opt in or out of a number of different purposes.

6.1 What cookies may be placed?

This website may use the following types of cookies:

Strictly necessary cookies (Type 1): these cookies are essential in order to enable you to move around this website and use its features, such as accessing secure areas of this website. Without these cookies, certain services you have asked for cannot be provided.
Analytical/performance cookies (Type 2): these cookies allow IOPP to recognise and count the number of visits to this website and to see how visitors move around this website when they are using it, so that we can improve how this website works. These cookies do not collect personally identifiable information.
Functionality cookies (Type 3): these cookies remember choices you make to improve your experience on this website; for example, your user name, language or region.
Targeting cookies (Type 4): these cookies are placed by third parties to collect information about your browsing habits when you elect to use their services, in order to make advertising relevant to you and your interests.

IOPP is not responsible for the use of cookies by third parties, and users are encouraged to read the privacy statements of those third party service providers before using their services.

6.2 List of cookies used

6.3 How do I opt out of cookies?

Most web browsers allow some control of most cookies through the browser settings. To find out more about cookies, including how to see what cookies have been set and how to manage and delete them. You should note that deleting certain cookies may prevent you from accessing certain parts of this website and/or may affect your user experience.

Opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics across all websites, and not just this website.

Users of ioppublishing.org can use this link to update their preferences relating to the cookies used on that website.