Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy
Last updated: 08-01-2026

YPA Aesthetic Clinical Case Reports ("the Journal," "we," "us") is committed to protecting the privacy of authors, reviewers, editorial board members, and readers. This policy explains what personal data we collect, why we collect it, and how it is protected — including the confidentiality standards required of us as members of the scholarly publishing community under guidance from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).

1. What Information We Collect
We collect personal data in the following contexts:

Account registration: name, email address, affiliation, ORCID iD (if provided), and password (stored in encrypted form)
Manuscript submission: author names, affiliations, contact details, co-author information, and any personal data contained within submitted manuscripts (including case report subject data, handled separately — see Section 6)
Peer review: reviewer names, affiliations, and review correspondence
Website usage: standard technical data such as IP address, browser type, and pages visited, collected automatically via server logs and any analytics tools in use
Correspondence: any information you provide when contacting the editorial office directly

2. How We Use This Information
Personal data is used solely for legitimate editorial and publishing purposes, including:

Managing the submission, peer review, and editorial decision process
Communicating with authors, reviewers, and editors about manuscript status
Verifying authorship and affiliations
Maintaining the scholarly record (e.g., published author names and affiliations)
Detecting and investigating suspected research or publication misconduct, in line with COPE guidelines
Complying with legal obligations, including responses to valid legal requests
We do not sell, rent, or trade personal data to third parties for marketing purposes.

3. Confidentiality of the Peer Review Process
In accordance with ICMJE and COPE guidance on editorial confidentiality, the Journal treats manuscripts under review as confidential documents:

Manuscripts are shared only with individuals directly involved in the editorial process (editors, assigned reviewers, and relevant editorial staff)
Reviewers are required to treat manuscripts and all associated data as confidential and must not share, discuss, or use unpublished material for personal advantage
Reviewer identities are kept confidential from authors, unless the Journal operates an open peer review model (state your journal's actual policy here) or a reviewer explicitly consents to disclosure
Editors and reviewers with a conflict of interest relating to a submission must recuse themselves from the review process

4. Legal Basis for Processing (GDPR)
Where the UK/EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) applies, we process personal data under the following legal bases:

Legitimate interest: managing the peer review and publication process
Consent: where explicitly given, such as opting into communications
Legal obligation: where retention or disclosure is required by law

5. Data Retention
Account and submission data is retained for as long as necessary to fulfil editorial, legal, and archival obligations
Published articles and associated metadata are retained permanently as part of the scholarly record
Rejected or withdrawn manuscript data is retained only as long as necessary for record-keeping and misconduct investigation purposes, then securely deleted

6. Case Report Subject Data
As a clinical case reports journal, submissions may reference identifiable patient information. In line with ICMJE requirements:

Authors must obtain and retain written, informed patient consent for publication of any identifying information (including images), and must confirm this at submission
The Journal does not independently verify patient consent forms but reserves the right to request evidence of consent at any stage
Patient-identifying details are minimized in published content wherever possible, consistent with ICMJE's recommendations on patient confidentiality

7. Data Sharing with Third Parties
We share limited personal data with third-party services strictly necessary to operate the Journal, which may include:

Plagiarism detection services
DOI registration agencies (e.g., Crossref), which receive author names and affiliations as part of standard metadata
Indexing and abstracting services (e.g., DOAJ)
Hosting and technical infrastructure providers
These third parties are contractually or technically bound to handle data securely and only for the stated purpose.

8. Cookies

We use a small number of essential cookies necessary for the Journal's core functionality. We do not use cookies for advertising or third-party tracking purposes.

• JANEWAYSESSID — Maintains your logged-in session and site preferences. Expires after 14 days, or when you log out.
• csrftoken — A security measure that protects against cross-site request forgery attacks. Expires after 1 year.

These cookies are strictly necessary for the site to function (e.g., staying logged in, submitting forms securely) and do not require consent under most cookie/ePrivacy regulations, since they are not used for tracking or advertising.

If we introduce analytics or other non-essential cookies in the future, this section will be updated accordingly, and a cookie consent notice will be added where required by law.

9. Your Rights
Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have the right to:

Request access to the personal data we hold about you
Request correction of inaccurate data
Request deletion of your data, subject to our legal and archival obligations as a scholarly publisher
Object to or restrict certain processing
Lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority
To exercise these rights, contact us using the details below.

10. Data Security
We take reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect personal data against unauthorized access, loss, or disclosure, including encrypted connections (HTTPS), access controls, and regular security updates to our systems.

11.Google Analytics

We use Google Analytics to understand how visitors use our site (e.g., pages viewed, time spent, general location). Google Analytics sets cookies such as _ga and _ga_XXXXXXX, which may remain on your device for up to 2 years. This data is processed by Google in accordance with the Google Privacy Policy. By using this site, you consent to this processing in the manner described.

12. Changes to This Policy
We may update this policy from time to time. Material changes will be reflected with an updated "last updated" date at the top of this page.

13. Contact Us
For any questions about this privacy policy or how your data is handled, please contact:

Editorial Office YPA Aesthetic Clinical Case Reports Email: contact@aestheticcasereports.com

 
This policy reflects confidentiality principles from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) Recommendations.