Submissions

Privacy Statement

1. Data Controller & Contact Information

The data controller responsible for the processing of personal data collected through this journal platform is:

• Institution: Technical University of Košice (Technická univerzita v Košiciach)
  • Faculty: Faculty of Economics (Ekonomická fakulta)
• Address: Letná 1/9, 042 00 Košice
• Organization ID (IČO): 00397610
• Journal Editorial Office Contact: uyes@tuke.sk
• Data Protection Officer: zodpovedna.osoba@tuke.sk

2. Personal Data We Collect

Depending on your role (author, reviewer, editor, reader), we may collect and process:

• Account & Contact Data: First name, last name, academic title, email address, country of residence, and institutional affiliation (school, university, or research organization).
• Academic Identifiers: ORCID iD, personal/professional web page, and public research profiles (if provided).
• Minor Authors & Legal Guardians: For authors under 18 years of age, the name, contact details, and confirmation of authority of a parent or legal guardian.
• Editorial & Peer-Review Contributions: Manuscript submissions, peer-review comments, editorial recommendations, revision histories, and correspondence.
• Technical & Usage Logs: IP address, browser metadata, and access timestamps collected automatically through standard server and platform logs (e.g., Open Journal Systems / web server).

3. Purposes of Processing

We process personal data strictly to operate an academic journal and uphold scientific standards, including:

• Administering the manuscript submission, blind/double-blind peer-review, and editorial decision workflows.
• Communicating with authors, reviewers, and board members regarding ongoing and future editorial duties.
• Publishing accepted articles, including author attribution, affiliation, and corresponding author contact details.
• Indexing and depositing published works in academic databases, DOI registries (e.g., Crossref), and institutional repositories.
• Preserving the long-term integrity of the scholarly record and preventing academic misconduct (e.g., plagiarism checks).
• Fulfilling legal, statutory, and archiving obligations under applicable Slovak and European law.

4. Legal Bases for Processing (GDPR)

In accordance with Article 6 of the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR), we rely on:

• Performance of a Contract (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR): Processing required to carry out the publishing agreement, peer-review process, and publication lifecycle upon manuscript submission or account registration.
• Legitimate Interests (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR): Ensuring academic integrity, operating plagiarism detection, maintaining an uncompromised record of peer review, and preventing platform abuse.
• Legal Obligation & Public Interest in Scientific Archiving (Art. 6(1)(c) and Art. 89 GDPR): Retaining and maintaining published scientific literature as part of permanent public research archives.

Note: Routine publishing activities do not rely on standard online consent under Article 8 GDPR (Information Society Services).

5. Submissions from Authors Under 18 Years of Age

UYES actively encourages scholarship from secondary school students and young researchers. For authors under the age of 18:

• Contractual Representation: A parent or legal guardian must act on the minor’s behalf or provide verifiable approval to conclude the publishing agreement and authorize publication.
• Publication of Author Metadata: By submitting with guardian confirmation, the guardian acknowledges that the minor's name, school/institutional affiliation, and country will appear publicly as part of the published article.
• Submission Guarantee: The submitter warrants that all necessary consents or parental authorities have been obtained under applicable national laws of the author's jurisdiction.

6. Data Sharing & Third-Party Processors

We do not sell, rent, or trade personal data for commercial or marketing purposes. Personal data is shared only with:

• Editorial Team & Reviewers: Reviewers access manuscripts according to the journal’s review policy (blind/double-blind protocols apply during evaluation).
• Technical Infrastructure Providers: Hosting providers, university IT infrastructure services, and journal management software administrators acting as data processors under binding data processing agreements.
• Indexing & Metadata Services: For accepted papers, public bibliographic data (author names, affiliations, abstracts, ORCID) is distributed globally to bibliographic repositories, libraries, search engines, and registration agencies (such as Crossref) to facilitate discoverability and citation.

Where editorial management, peer review, or alliance activities involve partners or reviewers located outside the European Economic Area (EEA), personal data is transferred in compliance with Chapter V of the GDPR (e.g., adequacy decisions, standard contractual clauses, or where strictly necessary for the conclusion or performance of the publishing agreement under Art. 49(1)(b) GDPR). Open-access publications and public author metadata are published globally on the internet.

7. Data Retention & The Permanent Scholarly Record

• Published Content: To uphold the permanence and traceability of academic literature, published manuscripts and associated author metadata (names, affiliations, citations) form a permanent scholarly record and are retained indefinitely.
• Unpublished Submissions: Manuscripts declined or withdrawn during review, along with associated correspondence, are retained for a limited period (typically 3–5 years) to maintain audit trails and resolve potential ethical disputes, after which they are archived or deleted.
• User Accounts: Inactive user profiles without linked publications or reviews may be removed upon request or periodic database maintenance.

8. Your Data Protection Rights

Under Chapter III of the GDPR, you have the following rights (subject to legal and scientific archiving exceptions):

• Right of Access: Request confirmation and a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Right to Rectification: Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Right to Restriction: Request the restriction of or object to specific processing activities based on legitimate interest.
• Right to Object (Art. 21 GDPR): „You have the right to object at any time, on grounds relating to your particular situation, to the processing of your personal data based on legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).
• Right to Erasure ("Right to be Forgotten"): You may request the deletion of account profiles. Important Exception: In accordance with Article 17(3)(d) GDPR and academic publishing ethics (COPE), the right to erasure does not apply to published scientific papers or the public historical record of authorship. Published papers may only be retracted or amended in accordance with formal academic retraction standards.
• Right to Lodge a Complaint: If you believe your data has been handled unlawfully, you have the right to lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority or the Slovak supervisory authority:
  • Úrad na ochranu osobných údajov Slovenskej republiky
    Hraničná 12, 820 07 Bratislava 27, Slovak Republic
    Website: https://dataprotection.gov.sk

To exercise your rights, email the editorial office at uyes@tuke.sk.

9. Updates to This Statement

We reserve the right to amend this Privacy Statement to reflect changes in legal requirements or journal operations. Any modifications will be published directly on this website with a revised effective date.