Protecting privacy across OAPA’s publishing and training activities.

Information We Collect

OAPA collects only the information necessary to operate its journals, publishing services, training programs, and related association activities. This may include:

• Author, reviewer, editor, learner, member, and partner details, including name, email address, institutional affiliation, ORCID iD, role information, and relevant professional information.
• Manuscripts, abstracts, supplementary files, peer review reports, editorial correspondence, editorial decisions, and publication records processed through Open Journal Systems and related publishing platforms.
• Learning participation data collected through Moodle or other OAPA Academy systems, including enrolment information, course participation, assessment or completion records, and communication related to training activity.
• Membership, partnership, event, and enquiry information where individuals or organisations interact with OAPA programs, services, or representatives.
• System and technical data, including IP address, browser type, device information, login timestamps, access logs, cookies, and security records used for performance, monitoring, fraud prevention, and platform security.

Purpose of Collection

OAPA collects and uses personal information to support legitimate publishing, educational, administrative, governance, and communication functions. These purposes include:

• Managing manuscript submission, peer review, editorial workflows, copyediting, production, publication, indexing, and long-term publication records.
• Communicating with authors, reviewers, editors, learners, members, partners, committees, and other stakeholders.
• Delivering editor, reviewer, author, and publishing-related training through OAPA Academy and related programs.
• Maintaining journal, publication, membership, partnership, governance, and event records.
• Improving the security, reliability, performance, and usability of OAPA websites, journals, and learning platforms.
• Meeting legal, contractual, ethical, indexing, archiving, reporting, and scholarly publishing obligations.

OAPA does not sell personal information. Personal information is not shared with unauthorised parties.

Storage and Security

OAPA stores information on secure systems used to operate its publishing, training, and organisational activities. Data may be held in OAPA-managed platforms, including Open Journal Systems, Moodle, WordPress, membership systems, email systems, backup systems, and approved administrative tools.

• OAPA uses secure server environments, access controls, encrypted transmission where available, and regular backups to support data integrity and availability.
• Transmission between users and OAPA systems is protected using TLS/SSL where supported by the relevant platform.
• Access to administrative systems is restricted to authorised personnel who require access for publishing, training, governance, support, or operational purposes.
• OAPA takes reasonable steps to protect information from misuse, interference, loss, unauthorised access, modification, or disclosure.

Third-Party Services

OAPA works with a limited number of trusted service providers and scholarly infrastructure partners where this is necessary to operate its journals, training activities, and organisational services.

These may include DOI registration agencies, indexing and discovery services, archiving services, plagiarism detection systems, hosting providers, learning platforms, email providers, analytics tools, payment processors, advertising systems, and professional service providers.

• Only the minimum necessary information is shared for the relevant purpose.
• Third-party providers are expected to maintain appropriate privacy, security, and confidentiality practices.
• Some third-party providers may process or store data outside Australia, depending on the service used.

Access and Correction

Individuals may request access to personal information held about them or request correction where information is inaccurate, incomplete, out of date, or misleading.

OAPA will respond to access and correction requests in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles and may need to verify the identity of the person making the request before releasing or correcting information.

Policy Updates

This Privacy Policy is reviewed periodically to support ongoing compliance with legal and ethical standards and to reflect operational changes within OAPA, its journals, publishing platforms, training programs, or related services.

Updated versions may be published on this page from time to time.