Journal of Movement and Neuromuscular Science
Human movement · Neuromuscular function · Biomechanics
EDITORIAL POLICIES

Editorial Records and Retention

JMNS preserves the scholarly and peer-review record where editorial integrity requires it, while limiting retention of routine and unpublished material. This policy applies to records held in the JMNS Editorial Management System.

Retention schedule

The periods below apply unless a research-integrity investigation, complaint, dispute, security incident, legal hold or applicable legal requirement requires longer preservation.

RecordRetentionDisposition
Published article and peer-review recordPermanentConfidential preservation of the submission, revisions, reviewer records, decisions, production/proof history and audit trail.
Accepted but not ultimately publishedPermanent core recordPreserve the acceptance decision and core integrity/audit record.
Rejected or withdrawn manuscript3 yearsThen remove scientific files and non-essential confidential content; retain only the minimized record needed for editorial integrity and auditability.
Reviewer record linked only to rejected/withdrawn submission3 yearsThen minimize, unless an integrity, dispute or legal requirement requires continued preservation.
Draft never formally submitted180 daysDelete the draft and associated files after authorized retention review.
Inactive account with no preservation requirement3 yearsDelete or minimize account data after authorized review.
Expired sessions and used/expired reset records30 daysDelete routine authentication records.
Delivered/closed notification and outbox records12 monthsDelete unless required for an unresolved editorial or security matter.
Routine security/access logs12 monthsDelete unless required for an active incident, investigation or legal hold.
Routine editorial backups90 days rollingExpire under the backup rotation unless preserved for an incident, investigation or legal hold.

Permanent confidential record

For a published JMNS article, the retained editorial record includes the original submission, revisions, responses to reviewers, review reports, reviewer identity and affiliation, conflict assessments, editorial decisions and letters, production/proof history and the confidential audit trail. Reviewer identities and reports are not routinely made public.

When a manuscript has been formally accepted but is not ultimately published, JMNS preserves the core acceptance and integrity record rather than treating the matter as an ordinary rejected submission.

Rejected and withdrawn submissions

Scientific files and detailed confidential content are retained for three years after closure. At the end of that period they become eligible for authorized removal or minimization. JMNS may preserve a limited record of the manuscript identifier, dates, decision/status and integrity/audit information needed to demonstrate the editorial process without retaining the complete unpublished scientific content indefinitely.

No automatic purge

Retention review is controlled and auditable

JMNS does not use unattended automatic deletion for editorial records. The system identifies records that have reached their scheduled retention point; any future deletion or minimization must be separately authorized, audited, legal-hold aware and backup-aware.

Legal holds, investigations and disputes

Scheduled disposition is suspended when records are needed for a research-integrity investigation, appeal, complaint, authorship or peer-review dispute, security incident, litigation or another applicable legal obligation. The hold remains until the responsible authority formally releases it.

Participant consent documents

JMNS does not routinely request authors to upload identifiable participant consent forms. Authors should normally retain the underlying consent documentation and provide the required ethics and consent statements. JMNS may request supporting evidence when a legitimate editorial, integrity or legal need arises.

Privacy rights and the scholarly record

Requests for access, correction, restriction or erasure are assessed under applicable data-protection law. Some information may need to be preserved where deletion would compromise the scholarly record, peer-review integrity, legal obligations or the handling of an active dispute or investigation. JMNS applies data minimization where permanent retention of the complete record is not justified.

This retention schedule is adopted as JMNS Editorial Records Policy v1.0. The complete privacy/GDPR notice will be finalized before public launch once the real domain, hosting and processor arrangements, and journal privacy contact route are established.