Digital Archiving Policy

Journal of Excellence in Social Sciences (JESS)
Publisher: SMARCONS (Private) Limited

The Journal of Excellence in Social Sciences (JESS) is committed to maintaining the long-term accessibility, integrity, and availability of its published scholarly content.

The journal’s preservation strategy addresses risks associated with data loss, hosting failure, website disruption, technological change, and discontinuation of the journal or publisher. It includes maintaining published files and bibliographic metadata, operational backup procedures, and developing independent digital preservation arrangements.

1. Current Preservation Status

JESS is currently implementing preservation through the PKP Preservation Network (PKP PN). The process is in progress, and successful preservation coverage has not yet been confirmed.

The journal will update this policy when successful deposits and the extent of preservation coverage have been verified. Until then, PKP PN is identified as an arrangement in progress, rather than confirmed archival coverage.

Enabling a preservation plugin or displaying a service logo does not by itself confirm that published content has been successfully preserved.

2. PKP Preservation Network

PKP PN provides digital preservation for eligible journals using Open Journal Systems (OJS). It uses LOCKSS technology to preserve content across distributed preservation nodes independently of the journal’s primary hosting environment.

As part of implementation, JESS will:

Complete the applicable eligibility, configuration, and participation requirements;
Monitor the status of deposits through the OJS preservation plugin;
Investigate failed or incomplete deposits;
Verify which published issues have been successfully preserved; and
Update public information to reflect confirmed coverage.

Preservation coverage will be determined by successful deposits. The journal will not assume that all issues or files have been preserved merely because the plugin is enabled.

Access to preserved content following discontinuation or loss of availability will be governed by PKP PN’s applicable procedures.

3. LOCKSS Technology

LOCKSS stands for “Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe.” Its technology supports distributed preservation through multiple copies and integrity checking.

PKP PN uses LOCKSS technology. Accordingly, once JESS’s deposits are confirmed, its arrangement will be described as:

Preserved through the PKP Preservation Network (PKP PN), using LOCKSS technology.

This arrangement does not establish separate participation in the Global LOCKSS Network. Any future participation in that network will be reported only after confirmation.

Further information is available from the LOCKSS Program.

4. CLOCKSS

CLOCKSS is a separate preservation organisation that operates a distributed dark archive using LOCKSS technology. It preserves participating publishers’ content under its own arrangements and release procedures.

JESS does not currently claim confirmed CLOCKSS preservation coverage. Participation in PKP PN does not establish participation in CLOCKSS.

If a separate CLOCKSS arrangement is established, the journal will update this policy after confirming participation and content coverage.

Further information is available from CLOCKSS.

5. Additional External Archives

Any additional preservation or archiving arrangement, including Internet Archive, will be identified as active only when journal-specific deposited files or archived full texts have been verified.

Where publicly accessible archival records exist, the journal will provide links and identify the publication periods covered.

A capture of the homepage alone will not be treated as evidence that all article PDFs or supplementary files have been archived.

6. Content Intended for Preservation

The journal’s preservation arrangements are intended to cover the published scholarly record, including:

Full-text articles and article PDFs;
Supplementary files, where supported;
Titles, abstracts, and keywords;
Author names and affiliations;
Publication dates;
Volume, issue, pagination, or article numbers;
References and citation information;
Digital Object Identifiers;
Copyright and licensing information; and
Corrections, retraction notices, and other published updates.

The actual content preserved will depend on each service’s capabilities and successfully completed deposits.

7. Operational Backups

The publisher is responsible for maintaining operational backup and recovery procedures for published files, bibliographic metadata, and publishing-system records.

Backups support recovery following technical failure or accidental loss. They complement independent preservation arrangements but are not represented as equivalent to an external long-term preservation service.

OJS is the journal’s publishing platform. Using OJS alone does not establish independent digital preservation coverage.

8. File Formats and Metadata

Published articles are maintained primarily in PDF format. The journal seeks to retain supplementary material in formats suitable for continued access and reuse.

Article metadata include, where applicable:

Article title;
Author names and affiliations;
Abstract and keywords;
Publication date;
Volume and issue;
Page range or article number;
DOI;
Copyright holder; and
Applicable licence.

The journal maintains structured metadata to support discovery, accurate citation, and interoperability with scholarly services. Where supported, metadata are made available through standard formats and harvesting protocols.

9. Preservation Monitoring

The editorial and publishing teams periodically review:

Deposit status and successful preservation coverage;
Missing or incomplete issue deposits;
Availability of published files;
Accuracy of bibliographic metadata;
DOI resolution;
Publicly accessible archival copies, where available; and
Preservation of licensing information and post-publication notices.

Problems are investigated and corrected where possible. Public preservation statements are updated when implementation status or coverage changes.

10. Continuity of Access

If the journal changes its domain, hosting provider, or publishing platform, the publisher will take reasonable steps to retain access to published content, transfer files and metadata, and update persistent links.

If JESS or its publisher ceases operation, access to independently preserved content will depend on confirmed preservation coverage and the relevant service’s release procedures.

While PKP PN implementation remains in progress, the journal does not claim that recovery of its complete published record through an independent preservation network is guaranteed.

11. Digital Object Identifiers

JESS assigns Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) to published scholarly articles through Crossref.

DOIs provide persistent identification and support accurate citation and linking. They are displayed on article webpages and in published files where applicable.

The journal maintains DOI metadata, including relevant article titles, author information, publication details, and destination URLs. If article locations change, DOI destination URLs are updated.

DOI registration does not itself preserve article full texts and does not replace digital archiving arrangements.

12. Author Self-Archiving

JESS permits authors to deposit and share:

The submitted manuscript or preprint;
The accepted manuscript; and
The final published Version of Record.

There is no embargo period.

Authors may deposit these versions in institutional repositories, subject repositories, personal or institutional websites, funder-designated repositories, and other lawful scholarly platforms.

Authors are encouraged to identify the manuscript version and, following publication, add the final citation, DOI, and link to the published article.

No additional permission from JESS or SMARCONS (Private) Limited is required to exercise these rights in accordance with the journal’s copyright and licensing terms.

JESS charges no fee for author self-archiving. Authors remain responsible for complying with the terms of any third-party platform they use.

13. Copyright and Licensing

Authors retain copyright in their published work.

Published scholarly articles are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence (CC BY 4.0).

The licence permits sharing and adaptation, including commercial reuse, subject to its requirements. Users must provide appropriate attribution, link to the licence, and indicate changes.

Third-party material excluded from the article’s licence must be clearly identified.

Depositing or preserving an article does not change its copyright ownership or licensing terms.

14. Corrections and Retractions

Corrections, retraction notices, and other post-publication updates are maintained as part of the scholarly record.

Updated files and notices will be supplied to preservation services where supported by their procedures. The journal seeks to retain clear links between original publications and subsequent notices.

15. Policy Transparency

The journal distinguishes between:

Confirmed preservation coverage;
Arrangements being implemented; and
Services described for informational purposes.

Website statements and logos must accurately reflect these distinctions. Preservation services are presented separately from indexing and abstracting services.

This policy operates alongside the journal’s:

16. Contact

Editorial Office
Journal of Excellence in Social Sciences (JESS)
Email: jess@smarcons.com
Further information: Journal Contact Page