Privacy Policy

Overview

We respect the privacy of our Account holders, the privacy of our Account holder’s users' data, and the privacy of their client data. All user information contained within the forms you may use or build on the https://scholasticahq.com Site are governed by our Terms of Service. Scholastica, Inc. is based in the United States. Scholastica serves as the data controller for information users submit themselves (e.g. name, email, uploading manuscripts or reviews, etc.), and the data processor for information other users upload (e.g. an editor uploading a manuscript on behalf of an author, an editor entering a reviewer's email address to send a reviewer invitation, an editor importing data into Scholastica, etc.).

What information we collect

We collect the email addresses and certain personally identifiable information (e.g. name, institutional affiliation, etc.) of those who communicate with us, e.g., when you create an account, request a free trial or demo, register for a webinar, contact us, subscribe to our email newsletter, download content (e.g. whitepapers), opt in to receive updates about new content resources, or register with us to open an “Account”. We also collect information volunteered by the users (such as any surveys Scholastica might conduct and/or site registrations).

We collect information about how you use the site - for example, which pages users access or visit. We collect information about what kind of device you use to access the site (e.g. mobile vs desktop, browser type, etc.).

When you register on the Site we ask for identifying information including your name, email address, institutional affiliation, department, specialties, personal image, publications, and other websites.

In certain cases, you can optionally enter sensitive personal information, e.g. when submitting a manuscript, the journal may have optional fields asking for demographic information such as gender, race, and sexual orientation.

Those who sign up for a journal account will enter additional information about the journal including journal contact email, editorial board, submission guidelines, and image.

When you submit information, you are transferring such information into the United States and you hereby consent to such transfer.

Scholastica may also collect and analyze from visitors and users certain information regarding the use of the Site and Services available therein. Information collected may include but is not limited to web site traffic volume, frequency of visits, type and time of transactions, type of browser and operating system, clicks of elements on the page, content downloaded, etc.

Use of Information

We may use personal information to provide the Services you’ve requested, including services that display customized forms. We may also use personal information for auditing, research and analysis to operate and improve the Site. We may use third parties to assist us in processing your personal information, and we require that such third parties comply with our Privacy Policy and any other appropriate confidentiality and security measures. We may use certain other information collected from you to help diagnose technical problems, administer the Site, and improve the quality and types of services delivered. We may provide non-identifying and aggregate usage and volume statistical information derived from the actions of our visitors and Account holders to third parties in order to demonstrate the value we deliver to users.

We may use personal information:

• To respond to your inquiries and fulfill your requests, such as to send you newsletters.
• To send administrative information to you, for example, information regarding Scholastica and changes to our terms, conditions, and policies.
• To communicate with you and provide you with related customer service.
• To send you marketing communications, including via email, that we believe may be of interest to you.

You can stop receiving our promotional emails by following the unsubscribe instructions included in the emails we send.

Information in your user account or journal account will be public on various parts of the site, so only enter information you want to be publicly available.

If a user accepts a reviewer invitation or editor invitation, that user's email address may be shared with the editors of that journal.

The information we collect is not shared with or sold to other organizations for commercial purposes, except to provide products or services you’ve requested, when we have your permission, or under the following circumstances:

• if it becomes necessary to share information in order to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud, situations involving potential threats to the physical safety of any person, violations of the Terms of Service, or as otherwise required by law; or
• if Scholastica is acquired by or merged with another company. In this event, Scholastica will notify you before information about you is transferred and becomes subject to a different privacy policy.

Sharing information with third parties

We share information with third party services that help us operate, provide, improve, integrate, customize, support and market our Services.

• Service Providers: We work with third-party service providers to provide website and application development, hosting, maintenance, backup, storage, virtual infrastructure, payment processing, analysis and other services, which may require them to access or use information about you. If a service provider needs to access information about you to perform services on our behalf, they do so under instruction from us, including abiding by policies and procedures designed to protect your information. Third parties we share data with include, but are not limited to, the following:
  • Amazon Web Services
  • Google (Analytics, Adwords, etc.)
  • Mixpanel
  • Github
  • LogDNA
  • Mailgun
  • WebSOLR
  • Box
• With your consent: We share information about you with third parties when you give us consent to do so. For example, we display personal testimonials of satisfied customers on our public websites. With your consent, we may post your name alongside the testimonial.

Safe Harbor

Scholastica strives to comply with the U.S.-EU Safe Harbor Framework as set forth by the U.S. Department of Commerce regarding the collection, use, and retention of personal information from European Union member countries.

Our computer systems are currently based in the United States, so your personal data will be processed by us in the United States. As a visitor from outside the United States, by using the Site you agree to this privacy policy and you consent to the transfer of all such information to the United States and to the processing of that information as described in this privacy policy.

Cookies and tracking

A cookie is a small amount of data, which often includes an anonymous unique identifier, that is sent to your browser from a web site’s computers and stored on your computer’s hard drive. Cookies are required to use the Site. We use cookies to assist in delivering the Service and to provide a positive and personalized user experience. Our persistent and session ID cookies are used to identify unique visitors to our sites and to provide you with easy access to your files. If you have your browser set to reject cookies, your usage of the Site is likely to be interrupted.

In addition to using cookies as described above, we may use various technologies to collect and store information when you use the Site, including cookies and similar tracking technologies such as pixels, to analyze trends, track users’ movements around the website, to gather aggregate demographic information and also to serve targeted advertisements via services such as Google AdWords and social media such as Twitter and Facebook. The cookies and tracking technologies we use do not in any way identify you or give access to your computer. Users can control the use of cookies at the individual browser level. Visitors can opt out of being shown third-party ads from Google here: https://adssettings.google.com/u/0/authenticated

For visitors to the site from the European Economic Area (EEA), Scholastica uses a service (https://www.cookiebot.com/) to help visitors manage and consent to cookies.

Security

Scholastica has implemented processes intended to protect user information and maintain security of data. Each Account holder requires a unique user name and password, which is required to access their Account. It is each user’s responsibility to protect the security of his or her login information. We encrypt some information and use secure third-party vendors for our servers and to host data in a secure way.

These safeguards help prevent unauthorized access, maintain data accuracy, and ensure the appropriate use of data, but NO GUARANTY CAN BE MADE THAT YOUR INFORMATION AND DATA WILL BE SECURE FROM INTRUSIONS AND UNAUTHORIZED RELEASE TO THIRD PARTIES.

Data retention

We only retain the personal data collected from Account holders and those who opt into email communication (e.g. by downloading a white paper, subscribing to the blog) for as long as we need it to fulfill the purposes for which it was initially collected, unless otherwise required by law.

Your rights

You have the right to request a copy of your information, to object to our use of your information (including for marketing purposes), to request the deletion or restriction of your information, or to request your information in a structured, electronic format. You may contact us at support@scholasticahq.com to request assistance.

Your request and choices may be limited in certain cases: for example, if fulfilling your request would reveal information about another person, or if you ask to delete information which we or another user/journal customer are permitted by law or have compelling legitimate interests to keep. If you have unresolved concerns, you may have the right to complain to a data protection authority in the country where you live, where you work or where you feel your rights were infringed.

• Access and update your information: Our Services and related documentation give you the ability to access and update certain information about you from within the Service. For example, you can access your profile information from your account. You can view and update your profile information from within your account settings. For other information (e.g. information outside the site, such as in our marketing database) please contact us at support@scholasticahq.com to request your information.
• Delete your information: You can request we delete your information by emailing us at support@scholasticahq.com to request assistance. Please note, however, that we may need to retain certain information for record keeping purposes, to complete transactions or to comply with our legal obligations.
• Request that we stop using your information: In some cases, you may ask us to stop accessing, storing, using and otherwise processing your information where you believe we don't have the appropriate rights to do so. For example, if you believe an account was created for you without your permission or you are no longer an active user, you can request that we delete your account as provided in this policy. Where you gave us consent to use your information for a limited purpose, you can contact us to withdraw that consent, but this will not affect any processing that has already taken place at the time. You can also opt-out of our use of your information for marketing purposes by contacting us at support@scholasticahq.com to request assistance. When you make such requests, we may need time to investigate and facilitate your request.
• Opt out of communications: You may opt out of receiving promotional communications from us by using the unsubscribe link within individual emails or by contacting us at support@scholasticahq.com to request assistance.
• Data portability: Data portability is the ability to obtain some of your information in a format you can move from one service provider to another (for example, as a CSV or structured JSON file). Should you request it, we will provide you with an electronic file of the information.

Cancellation or Termination of the Account

If you choose to cancel your Account or your Account is terminated because of your breach of the Terms of Service, please be aware that Scholastica may for a time retain residual information in our backup and/or archival copies of our database. We will make reasonable commercial efforts to delete your information as soon as reasonably practical.

Compliance with Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act

As a business service, Scholastica does not target its offerings toward, and does not knowingly collect any personal information from users under 13 years of age.

Legal bases for processing (for EEA users)

If you are an individual in the European Economic Area (EEA), we collect and process information about you only where we have legal bases for doing so under applicable EU laws. The legal bases depend on the Services you use and how you use them. This means we collect and use your information only where:

• We need it to provide you site functionality, including to operate the Site, provide customer support, personalized features, and to protect the safety and security of the Site;
• It satisfies a legitimate interest (which is not overridden by your data protection interests), such as for research and development, to market and promote the site and to protect our legal rights and interests;
• You give us consent to do so for a specific purpose; or
• We need to process your data to comply with a legal obligation.
• If you have consented to our use of information about you for a specific purpose, you have the right to change your mind at any time, but this will not affect any processing that has already taken place. Note that we may be using your information because we or a third party (e.g. a journal using Scholastica) have a legitimate business interest to do so. For example: if you write a review of a manuscript for a journal using Scholastica, the journal has a legal interest in retaining a record of who submitted the review. Similarly, if a journal decides to stop using Scholastica, the user who submitted the review has a legitimate interest in retaining a record of the review in Scholastica after the journal stops using the site.

Data breach

In the event that personal information is compromised as a breach of security, Scholastica will promptly notify the affected users, data controllers if applicable (e.g. the editors of an affected journal account), and any relevant authorities (e.g. the relevant supervisory authority in the European Union).

Accessing and Updating Personal Information

When you use the Site, we make good faith efforts to provide you with access to your personal information and either to correct this data if it is inaccurate or to delete such data at your request if it is not otherwise required to be retained by law or for legitimate business purposes. You may update your Account information by logging into your Account. When requests come to Scholastica with regard to personal information, we ask individual users to identify themselves and the information requested to be accessed, corrected or removed before processing such requests, and we may decline to process requests that are unreasonably repetitive or systematic, require disproportionate technical effort, jeopardize the privacy of others, or would be extremely impractical. In any case where we provide information access and correction, we perform this service free of charge, except if doing so would require a disproportionate effort.

Changes to this Policy

Scholastica may periodically update this policy. We will notify you about significant changes in the way we treat personal information by posting a notice on the Site and possibly sending a notice to the primary email address specified in your Account. We do not intend to reduce your rights under this Policy without your explicit consent, and we expect most such changes will be minor. Updates to this Policy will be identified at the bottom of the page by its effective date.

Questions

Any questions about this Privacy Policy should be addressed to support@scholasticahq.com.