Privacy Policy

1. Information collected and its sources

• Account information: name, email address, credentials in protected form, affiliation, profile information and assigned roles. Optional profile fields may include an ORCID identifier, research interests and professional details.
• Submission information: author and co-author details, contact information, affiliations, manuscript files, declarations, funding information, correspondence and revision records supplied by submitting authors or authorised staff.
• Editorial information: invitations, responses, reviewer expertise, assignments, reports, decisions and production activity needed to handle a manuscript.
• Technical information: session identifiers, security and access records, IP address, browser information and relevant diagnostic data generated when the service is used.
• Public scholarly information: researcher names, affiliations, identifiers, publications and related metadata obtained from public sources or imported scholarly records for discovery and reviewer selection.

Information can come directly from you, from a submitting co-author, an editorial office, an identity service you choose to use, or a documented scholarly source. A public researcher record is not proof that the person owns an account, has agreed to review or has previously worked with a particular journal.

2. Purposes of processing

Information is used for the publishing or account activity it supports. The following purposes distinguish confidential editorial work from public dissemination and routine service administration.

• Account and session data support identification, sign-in, access control and the service requested by the user.
• Manuscript and editorial records support submission assessment, peer review, author communication, publication and the administration of the journal’s publishing arrangements.
• Security and audit records support the protection of accounts, investigation of misuse, service reliability and the establishment or protection of rights.
• Author and publication metadata support attribution, discovery, citation and the maintenance of the scholarly record.
• Profile preferences help present the selected workspace and interface; optional functions should be considered separately from information required to provide the core service.

3. Legal grounds and required information

Processing is governed by Türkiye’s Personal Data Protection Law No. 6698 (KVKK) and other applicable requirements. The relevant ground depends on the activity; it is not assumed that every operation relies on consent. Grounds can include necessity for a contract, a legal obligation, establishing or protecting a right, or a legitimate interest balanced against the person’s rights. Consent is used where legally required for the particular purpose.

Where information is required for a function, omitting it may prevent that function from being completed. Optional details should not be supplied simply because a free-text field allows them. A new processing purpose may require further information or a separate lawful basis.

4. Research participants and sensitive information

Avoid including unnecessary personal information about research participants, colleagues or other third parties. De-identify research material where appropriate and comply with the applicable ethics approval, consent and journal instructions. Health information and other special-category data require additional protection and a lawful basis appropriate to that category.

Authors remain responsible for checking whether files, figures, supplementary materials or document properties reveal information that should not be submitted or made public. Contact the editorial office through an appropriate channel if confidential evidence is needed; do not put it in public metadata or an unrelated support message.

5. Editorial access and recipients

Access is organised around roles, journal assignments and the task being performed. Relevant authorised editors, desk staff, production staff and platform administrators may need manuscript information. Invited or assigned reviewers receive the material needed for their review under the journal’s applicable permissions and blinding model.

Single-blind, double-blind and open-review arrangements differ. Do not infer confidentiality solely from a workspace label: follow the journal’s instructions for anonymising files and metadata. Public article information is different from confidential editorial reports, internal comments and unpublished attachments.

6. Information made public with publication

Published articles may display author names, affiliations, identifiers, corresponding-author contact information, funding acknowledgements and other information included in the authorised publication record. Check the proofs and the journal’s publication requirements before publication. Public metadata may be supplied through the relevant indexing, repository and identifier-registration arrangements to support discovery and citation.

Once information is lawfully published, independent readers, archives and indexing services may retain copies under their own responsibilities. A change on this platform does not automatically update every external copy. Publication also does not authorise disclosure of unrelated private editorial correspondence.

7. Service providers and external integrations

Hosting, email delivery, technical support and other service providers may process information needed to operate the platform. Messages can contain manuscript references and the information needed for an invitation, decision or account action. Do not forward restricted links to people who are not authorised to use them.

If you choose ORCID sign-in or linking, the platform and ORCID exchange the information needed for that requested connection. External sites, meeting services and independently operated tools have their own privacy notices. Clicking a link does not make their processing subject solely to this policy.

Information may also be disclosed where required by law or a competent authority, or where necessary and lawful to establish or protect rights. A manuscript is not automatically sent in full to every indexing or integration service.

8. International processing

Research collaboration and external technology services can involve recipients or infrastructure outside Türkiye. Any transfer must be assessed under the applicable data-protection rules, including the relevant conditions and safeguards for cross-border transfers. This notice does not represent that every service stores data only in Türkiye or that all external providers use identical arrangements.

For information about recipients and transfers relevant to your data, contact the publishing office with the service or processing activity concerned. Avoid assuming the location of processing from an email address, a website domain or a researcher’s affiliation.

9. Cookies, preferences and browser drafts

The platform uses session cookies and browser storage for functions such as authentication, interface preferences and unfinished form data. Cookie Policy describes the main categories, indicative lifetimes and browser controls. Some preferences are also synchronised with an account.

A draft stored only in the browser is different from a saved server draft. Clearing site data, changing browsers or using a shared device can affect locally held work. Check that a draft has been saved to your account before removing browser data.

10. Retention and deletion

Retention depends on the purpose, the manuscript’s stage, applicable obligations, record-integrity requirements and the need to resolve complaints or establish rights. Account deletion and withdrawal from a review assignment do not automatically erase all associated editorial records. Backup copies and operational logs can also have different deletion cycles from the active application.

Published research is ordinarily maintained as part of the scholarly record, with corrections or retractions where appropriate. Exceptional legal or privacy circumstances may require other measures, including removal. An erasure request is assessed against the applicable conditions rather than refused merely because information once appeared in a publication.

No single retention period applies to every category described here. You may ask about the purpose and retention considerations applicable to a particular record.

11. Security and your part in protecting data

Access controls, protected sessions and operational safeguards are used to reduce unauthorised access and misuse. No online system can guarantee absolute security. Use a unique password, check the intended recipient before sharing a file and report suspected exposure promptly.

On a shared device, sign out and take care with downloaded manuscripts and locally stored form information. Do not send passwords or active reset links to support. Where identity verification is needed for a request, provide only the information appropriate to that process.

12. Reviewer discovery and recommendations

Researcher profiles and publication metadata may support searches and ranked reviewer recommendations. A ranking helps an editor identify potential candidates; it does not demonstrate affiliation with the journal, verified email ownership, willingness to review or a completed review history.

Editorial users are responsible for checking relevance, identity and conflicts before inviting a candidate. If a researcher record is inaccurate or relates to you in a misleading way, identify the record and source when asking for correction.

13. Your rights under KVKK

Subject to the scope and conditions of the applicable law, you may:

• Learn whether your personal data is processed, request information about that processing and learn its purposes and whether it is used accordingly.
• Learn the third parties to whom data is transferred in Türkiye or abroad.
• Request correction of incomplete or inaccurate data.
• Request erasure or destruction when the legal conditions are met, and request notification of relevant correction or erasure actions to recipients.
• Object to a result against you arising solely from analysis of your data by automated systems.
• Claim compensation where damage arises from unlawful processing.

Other rights may apply under other laws where their territorial and material conditions are met. Rights such as data portability are not presented here as an unconditional entitlement for every platform user.

14. Requests, questions and complaints

For publishing-related privacy enquiries, contact editorial@ytupublishing.com or ytusuyak@yildiz.edu.tr and identify the account, journal or record concerned. Yıldız Technical University is located at Davutpaşa Campus, 34220 Esenler, Istanbul, Türkiye. The publishing office can help direct a formal request to the relevant university process.

Formal requests must follow the applicable KVKK application procedure and include the required information. Permitted methods include use of an email address previously notified to the data controller and recorded in its system; proportionate identity verification may be needed. Requests are answered as soon as practicable and no later than 30 days. Ask the publishing office for the appropriate university delivery route if uncertain. Available complaint and legal remedies remain subject to their statutory conditions and time limits.

15. Changes to this notice

The date above identifies the current text. Summary of Changes records the scope of policy updates. Check the relevant notice when using a new function or providing information for a new purpose. A change to this page is not, by itself, consent to unrelated processing.