Digital Archiving and Preservation Policy

The National Journal of Physiology, Pharmacy and Pharmacology (NJPPP) recognizes the importance of preserving the scholarly record and ensuring that published content remains accessible, authentic, and usable over the long term. The journal is committed to maintaining appropriate digital archiving and preservation arrangements for its published content and to reducing the risk of permanent loss arising from technical failure, organizational disruption, or changes in digital publishing infrastructure.

This policy applies to all scholarly content published by NJPPP, including research articles, reviews, editorials, case reports, and other formally published content.

1. Digital Preservation Principles

NJPPP's digital preservation approach is based on the following principles:

• Long-term accessibility: Published content should remain accessible for as long as reasonably possible.

• Integrity: The published version of the scholarly record should be protected against unauthorized alteration or loss.

• Redundancy: Appropriate backup and recovery mechanisms should be maintained to reduce the risk of data loss.

• Persistent identification: Published articles should be identifiable and retrievable through persistent identifiers, including Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs), where assigned.

• Version integrity: Corrections, retractions, and other post-publication notices should remain connected to the relevant published record.

• Interoperability: Metadata should be structured to facilitate discovery, indexing, citation, and preservation by scholarly services and repositories.

2. Digital Archiving and Backup

2.1. Server and Storage Redundancy

NJPPP maintains appropriate technical measures to reduce the risk of loss of journal content resulting from hardware failure, software failure, or other technical disruptions. Where available, redundant storage and infrastructure are used to support the continued availability and integrity of published content.

2.2. Backup and Recovery

Regular backups of journal content and associated publishing data should be maintained in accordance with the publisher's technical and operational procedures. Backup and recovery arrangements are intended to enable restoration of journal content following accidental deletion, system failure, or other unforeseen events.

Backup systems are not considered a substitute for independent long-term digital preservation.

2.3. Preservation of the Scholarly Record

NJPPP seeks to maintain preservation arrangements that are independent, where feasible, of the journal's primary publishing platform. The journal will periodically review available preservation services and repositories and may establish or expand preservation arrangements as appropriate.

3. Open Access and Long-Term Availability

NJPPP is a fully open-access journal. Published articles are made freely available online without subscription barriers or embargoes.

Open access does not replace the need for digital preservation. The journal therefore seeks to ensure that published content remains accessible even if the primary website or publishing platform experiences technical or organizational disruption.

The Version of Record is considered the authoritative published version of an article. Where an article is corrected, retracted, or otherwise subject to a post-publication notice, the scholarly record should retain the relevant publication history and clearly identify the status of the article.

4. Metadata and Interoperability

4.1. Bibliographic Metadata

NJPPP maintains structured bibliographic metadata for published articles to support discoverability, indexing, citation, and interoperability with scholarly databases and repositories.

Metadata may include, as applicable:

• article title;

• author names and affiliations;

• abstract;

• keywords;

• publication date;

• volume, issue, and article or page information;

• references;

• funding information;

• conflict-of-interest statements;

• ethical approval information where applicable;

• licensing information; and

• persistent identifiers.

The journal seeks to use recognized metadata and interoperability standards appropriate to scholarly publishing.

4.2. Digital Object Identifiers

NJPPP assigns Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) to published articles through Crossref, where applicable. DOI metadata are maintained to facilitate persistent identification, citation, linking, and retrieval of published content.

Where post-publication changes occur, relevant metadata and links should be updated as appropriate.

5. Licensing and Copyright

5.1. Creative Commons License

NJPPP articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0), unless a specific article-level exception is clearly stated.

Under this license, users may read, download, copy, share, and adapt the licensed work for non-commercial purposes, provided that appropriate credit is given, a link to the license is provided, and any changes are indicated.

Commercial reuse is not permitted under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license without appropriate permission from the relevant rights holder.

5.2. Author Copyright

Authors retain copyright in their published work, subject to the applicable publishing and licensing terms. The journal's licensing arrangements are intended to facilitate broad scholarly dissemination while preserving the rights of authors.

6. External Digital Preservation

6.1. Portico

NJPPP participates in Portico, a recognized community-supported digital preservation service dedicated to the long-term preservation of scholarly electronic publications.

Through its participation in Portico, NJPPP's published scholarly content is preserved independently of the journal's primary publishing platform. This provides an additional layer of protection against potential loss of access resulting from technical failure, changes in publishing infrastructure, or other circumstances affecting the journal's website or publishing platform.

Portico preservation complements, but does not replace, the journal's own backup and content-management procedures.

NJPPP will maintain its Portico participation as part of its long-term digital preservation strategy and will provide or deposit eligible journal content in accordance with Portico's preservation and participation requirements.

6.2. Preservation and Continuity

NJPPP recognizes that long-term preservation should not depend solely on the continued operation of a single website, server, or publishing platform. Participation in Portico provides an independent preservation mechanism that supports the continuity and long-term accessibility of the journal's scholarly record.

The journal will monitor its preservation arrangements and will take reasonable steps to ensure that newly published content is included in its established preservation workflow.

6.3. Other Preservation Services

NJPPP may participate in additional recognized digital preservation services or repositories when appropriate and when a formal preservation arrangement has been established.

The journal will identify any additional preservation services on its website once participation has been formally established and operational.

7. Persistent Identifiers and Scholarly Linking

7.1. DOI Linking

DOIs are used to facilitate persistent linking between published articles and relevant scholarly resources. NJPPP seeks to maintain accurate DOI metadata and article links.

7.2. ORCID

Authors are encouraged to provide an ORCID iD during submission or publication where supported by the journal's submission and publishing systems. ORCID helps distinguish researchers with similar names and improves the accuracy of scholarly attribution and metadata interoperability.

7.3. References and External Links

The journal seeks to maintain functional links to cited and related scholarly resources where technically feasible. Reference and metadata integrity may be reviewed as part of the journal's ongoing technical and editorial processes.

8. Accessibility and Usability

NJPPP is committed to improving the accessibility and usability of its online content. The journal seeks to use web and document practices that support access to scholarly content by users with different technical environments and accessibility needs.

Accessibility improvements may include appropriate document structure, readable text, meaningful metadata, and compatibility with commonly used web and assistive technologies, where technically feasible.

9. Preservation of Corrections and Retractions

Digital preservation includes the preservation of the history and status of the scholarly record.

When an article is corrected, retracted, or accompanied by an Expression of Concern, the relevant notice should remain permanently associated with the article and its bibliographic record.

Retracted articles will normally remain accessible as part of the scholarly record but will be clearly identified as RETRACTED in accordance with the journal's Correction and Retraction Policy.

The journal will seek to ensure that relevant post-publication status information is reflected in article metadata and communicated to appropriate indexing or scholarly services when applicable.

10. Monitoring and Review

NJPPP periodically reviews its digital publishing and preservation arrangements to identify technical risks and opportunities for improvement.

Such reviews may consider:

• availability and integrity of published content;

• backup and recovery arrangements;

• preservation-service participation;

• metadata quality;

• DOI and linking integrity;

• file formats and their continued usability;

• website and platform stability;

• accessibility and usability; and

• developments in digital preservation standards and scholarly publishing infrastructure.

The frequency and scope of technical reviews may vary according to operational requirements and available resources.

11. Continuity and Publisher Disruption

NJPPP recognizes that long-term preservation should not depend solely on the continued operation of a single website, server, or publishing platform.

The journal therefore supports the use of appropriate redundancy, backup, repository, and independent preservation mechanisms to reduce the risk of permanent loss of the scholarly record in the event of major technical or organizational disruption.

Where an independent preservation arrangement is established, the relevant preservation service may provide an additional continuity mechanism for the journal's published content.

12. Policy Review and Continuous Improvement

This policy is reviewed periodically and may be updated to reflect changes in digital preservation technologies, standards, infrastructure, indexing requirements, and scholarly communication practices.

Any material changes to the policy will be reflected on the journal website.

13. Commitment to the Scholarly Record

NJPPP is committed to preserving the authenticity, integrity, accessibility, and discoverability of its published scholarly record.

Through appropriate backup procedures, persistent identifiers, structured metadata, responsible self-archiving, and the use of recognized digital preservation mechanisms where available, the journal seeks to ensure that its published research remains accessible and citable for current and future researchers.