Privacy Policy
The Journal of Clinical and Medical Academia (JCMA) is published by Wilton Clarke Academic Publishing, a publishing imprint of FirstDraft Academic Services, which is responsible for personal data processed for the journal. JCMA and the publisher do not sell or rent personal data, and do not use it for advertising or third-party marketing. Personal data is shared only with the parties described in this policy, and only for the purposes described here.
Scope
This policy applies to the journal information website at jcma.in, to the JCMA journal platform at cienciaflow.com/jcma (where manuscripts are submitted, peer reviewed and published), and to email correspondence with the journal. The publisher’s own website, wiltonclarke.com, is covered by a separate Privacy Policy.
Information Collected
jcma.in: The journal information website does not have user accounts, login, or submission forms. Personal information reaches the journal through this website only if you choose to write to a journal email address.
Journal platform accounts: Submitting a manuscript or reviewing for JCMA requires an account on the journal platform. Registration collects your name, email address, affiliation and country. You may also add an ORCID iD, a short biography and reviewing interests.
Submissions: A submission includes the names, affiliations, email addresses and ORCID iDs of all authors, the author contribution, funding and conflict of interest statements, the manuscript and any supplementary files.
Peer review and editorial records: The platform keeps reviewer reports and recommendations, editorial decisions, and correspondence between authors, reviewers and editors.
Patient and participant information: Manuscripts must not contain information that can identify patients or research participants unless written consent for publication has been obtained. Consent forms and ethics approval documents provided for verification are kept confidential, are seen only by the editors handling the manuscript, and are never published.
Payments and waivers: Where an article processing charge applies, the journal collects the details needed for invoicing and tax compliance, such as billing name, billing address and GSTIN where applicable. Payments are processed through the publisher’s bank or payment service provider, and JCMA does not collect or store payment card details. Requests for an APC waiver may require evidence of country of residence.
Print copies: Orders for the print edition require a name, postal address and phone number for delivery.
Use of Information
Personal information is used to manage submissions, peer review and editorial decisions; to publish articles and register, index and preserve them; to communicate about submissions, reviews and journal matters; to issue invoices and meet tax and accounting obligations; to check research and publication integrity; to deliver print orders; and to meet legal obligations.
The journal sends emails related to your submissions, reviews and account. Announcements of new issues are sent only if you choose to receive them, and you can switch them off at any time in your account settings.
Peer Review Confidentiality
JCMA uses double-blind peer review. Author identities are not disclosed to reviewers, and reviewer identities are not disclosed to authors. Reviewers and editors are required to keep manuscripts confidential and must not share them or use their content for any other purpose.
Information Published with Articles
When an article is published, author names, affiliations, ORCID iDs, the corresponding author’s email address, and the author contribution, funding and conflict of interest statements become public as part of the scholarly record. Articles are published open access under the CC BY 4.0 license, and this information appears in the article and in its metadata.
Once an article is published, author information cannot be removed from it, as the published record must remain complete. Corrections and retractions follow the journal’s Publication Ethics policy. Requests to update an author’s name on a published article are considered on case to case basis.
Sharing of Information
Service providers: Hosting, security and email service providers process data on the publisher’s behalf to operate jcma.in, the journal platform and journal email. Submitted manuscripts may be checked through a third-party similarity screening service as part of integrity checks. Service providers may store or process data on servers located in or outside India.
Publication and discovery: Metadata of published articles, including author names, affiliations and ORCID iDs, is deposited with Crossref for DOI registration and made available to indexing and abstracting services, including through the platform’s open metadata interface (OAI-PMH). Published articles are preserved through the PKP Preservation Network. If you connect your ORCID record to your account, information is exchanged with ORCID with your permission.
Research integrity: Where plagiarism, data fabrication, duplicate submission or other misconduct is suspected, relevant information may be shared with the authors’ institutions, ethics committees or funders, or with other journal editors and publishers, following COPE guidance.
Legal requirements: Information may be disclosed where required by law, court order or a competent government authority.
Payments and delivery: Billing information is shared with the publisher’s bank, payment service provider and accounting advisers as needed for payment processing and tax compliance. Delivery details for print orders are shared with courier or postal services.
Cookies and Usage Statistics
jcma.in does not use analytics or advertising cookies. Basic technical information may be processed by the hosting and security providers, and essential cookies may be set for site functionality and security.
The journal platform uses essential cookies to keep you logged in, and submission and review are not possible without them. The platform also records article views and downloads to produce usage statistics.
Data Retention
Published articles: Author information, peer review records and editorial decisions linked to published articles are retained indefinitely, as part of the scholarly record and to support integrity investigations, audits and legal compliance. Consent forms for published articles are retained confidentially for as long as the article remains published.
Rejected and withdrawn manuscripts: Manuscript files and reviews are retained for two years from the final decision, to allow for appeals, and are then deleted. A minimal record (title, author names, submission and decision dates) is kept longer to help detect duplicate or redundant submissions.
User accounts: Accounts are kept until the user asks for deletion. Where an account is linked to a published article or a completed review, the account can be closed, but records that form part of the scholarly or editorial record are retained as described above.
Financial records: Invoices and payment records are retained for the period required under Indian tax and accounting laws.
Your Rights
You may ask the journal for information about the personal data it holds about you and how that data is used, and you may ask for your data to be corrected, completed, updated or deleted. Deletion is subject to the retention requirements described above.
Where processing is based on your consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time. Withdrawal does not affect processing carried out before it. If you withdraw consent for a manuscript under consideration, the journal will not be able to process it further.
You may also nominate another person to exercise these rights on your behalf in the event of your death or incapacity.
Requests are answered within 30 days. If you are not satisfied after using the grievance process below, you may complain to the Data Protection Board of India.
Children
The journal’s services are intended for adults. A person under 18 years of age who wishes to submit a manuscript may do so only with the verifiable consent of a parent or legal guardian, and should contact the journal before submitting.
Security
The publisher uses reasonable safeguards to protect personal data, including encrypted (HTTPS) connections, restricted administrative access, storage of submission files outside publicly accessible web directories, and regular backups. No online system is completely secure. In the event of a personal data breach, affected users and the relevant authorities will be informed as required by law.
External Links
This website and the journal platform may contain links to external websites. JCMA is not responsible for the privacy practices or content of external websites.
Contact and Grievances
Questions, requests and complaints about this policy or the handling of personal data should be sent to editor@jcma.in. Where the matter concerns the publisher, or is not resolved satisfactorily, it may be escalated to grievances@wiltonclarke.com.
Policy Updates
This privacy policy may be updated to reflect changes to the journal’s services or legal requirements. Registered users will be informed by email of significant changes.
Last Updated: [10-Sep-2026]