Privacy Statement

Privacy Policy

This policy (together with any other resources referred to in it) set out the basis on which any personal information you provide to us (or data we collect about you from other sources) will be processed (meaning collected, stored, and otherwise used) by us.

Please note that this policy may be further supplemented by terms included on other PLOMS websites where you might register.

Please read this policy carefully as it sets out what you can expect from us and gives you our contact details if you wish to ask any questions or raise concerns about how we are processing your personal information.

Your rights

Data protection legislation gives you a number of rights to protect you against an organisation mishandling your personal information. It is important that you understand your rights and in this document we have set out what those rights are and how you can exercise your rights in respect of SI processing of your personal information.

How we collect your personal information

Information you provide to us – you may provide us with information when you are:

  • accessing our websites. This includes information that you provide when you register to use any of our websites, products or services, subscribe to one of our services, search for a product, place an order, participate in a discussion group, request a complimentary copy of a book, make an application for employment or report a problem with our site or request content or other information from us.
  • corresponding with us by post, telephone, email or otherwise.

The information you give us may include your name, email address, mailing address, telephone number, financial or credit card details, academic institution, affiliation, job title, or subject specialism.

Information we collect about you – we may also process certain personal information about you which you have not provided to us yourself.

In limited circumstances, we may collect data that you have made available in the public domain, such as your contact details, research interests, courses that you teach and the institution at which you are based. When we do this, we carefully consider whether to do so is in your interest and any impact on your rights, and we will inform you as soon as practically possible about our use of your data and your right to object to these uses and how to unsubscribe from any communications from us.

Information from other sources – we also work with third parties and may receive information about you from them.

We work with business partners, such as web hosting providers, email service providers, list brokers and other third parties, to deliver our products, services and communications, and they may provide us with additional information about you. This could include details of content that you have viewed or requested through through the SI platforms and other websites, or details of which email communications from us you viewed or clicked.

We may obtain your personal details as a result of a journal transfer or business acquisition, or from societies and associations that we work with.

Cookies – When you visit our websites we automatically collect technical information from your computer or other device.

We use cookies (small text files that are placed on your computer) to give you the best possible experience when visiting our websites. You can disable cookies through your web browser’s settings and still access our websites – although certain functionality may not be available to you in those circumstances.

The information we may collect about you in this way may include, without limitation, the Internet Protocol (IP) address used, your browser type and version, the type of device used, and time zone setting. We may also collect information about each visit you make to our website, including which website you were on immediately before you navigated to our sites, and how you have progressed through and from our sites – as well as content you have searched for or viewed on our sites.

We may use Google User ID – We may use the Google User ID feature to associate individual user visits/website sessions from different devices with a unique user ID. This data is used in accordance with Google’s policies, and we do not transmit personally identifiable information to Google. We may use the Google User ID feature to stitch together data from unauthenticated sessions and authenticated sessions, and also combine this with data in our contact database. We use this data to understand usage better, and to serve the needs of users through tailored communications. You can opt-out of Google Analytics’ tracking entirely by using the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on developed by Google, available at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout/. If you opt-out, you may receive marketing or advertising from us that is not as tailored as it otherwise would have been.

How we use your information (and the lawful bases for that processing)

We use information held about you in the following ways:

To deliver our products and services to you – we may use your personal information to:

  • carry out our obligations arising from any contracts entered into between you and us and to provide you with the information, products and services that you request from us (as is necessary for the performance of those contracts);
  • notify you about changes to our service (as is necessary for the performance of a contract to which you are a party and/or as is necessary for our legitimate interests); and
  • allow you to access restricted areas of our websites, when you choose to do so (which may rely on your consent for the processing of your personal information which is necessary for giving you access to those restricted areas).

To improve the effectiveness of our products, services and marketing communications – we may use your personal information (in each case as is necessary for our legitimate interests or exceptionally where you have given your consent) to:

  • administer our websites and for internal operations, including troubleshooting, data analysis, testing, research, statistical and survey purposes;
  • improve our websites to ensure that content is presented in the most effective manner for you and for your computer or device;
  • keep our websites safe and secure;
  • measure or understand the effectiveness of advertising we deliver to you and others, and to deliver relevant advertising to you;
  • enter co-marketing agreements and share contact information with third parties who sell similar goods and services;
  • provide you with information about other goods and services we offer that are similar to those that you have already purchased or enquired about, provided that you have not told us that you do not wish to receive this information (as is necessary for our legitimate interests);
  • make suggestions and recommendations to you about goods or services that we believe may interest you, based on your previous transactions, behaviour, subject interests and other information that we may hold about you and your institution or organization; and
  • perform any Business Purpose as defined by the Delaware Online Privacy and Protection Act (“DOPPA”), if applicable.

References to our "legitimate interests" in this policy include our commercial interests in operating our business (and the business of PLOMS Publishing more generally) in an efficient and sustainable manner, in accordance with all applicable legal and regulatory requirements.

Your marketing preferences

If you would like to update your details, including details of how you prefer to be contacted for marketing purposes, you can do this by:

  • Changing your mailing preferences on your profile  
  • Sending an email to [email protected]    and indicating your new preferences

If you decide to change your marketing preferences you may still be contacted by SAGE in relation to other business activities or transactions.

How long do we keep your information

We retain your personal information for as long as necessary to finalise any transaction with you. We will normally retain your information for eight (8) years after your last recorded interaction with PLOMS although there may be exceptions to this, for example where we have a legal obligation to retain information for a longer period, or where we store limited personal information securely in an archive (for reference purposes).

Your rights in respect of your personal information

You have the following rights:

  • to obtain access to, and copies of, the personal information that we hold about you;
  • to require us to correct the personal information we hold about you if it is incorrect;
  • to require us to erase your personal information;
  • to require us to restrict our data processing activities;
  • where our processing is based on your consent, the right to withdraw that consent (without affecting the lawfulness of our processing based on consent before its withdrawal);
  • where the processing is carried out by automated means, to receive from us the personal information we hold about you which you have provided to us, in a reasonable format specified by you (including for the purpose of you transmitting that personal information to another data controller);
  • to object, on grounds relating to your particular situation, to any of our particular processing activities where you feel this has a disproportionate impact on your rights; and
  • to require us not to send you marketing communications;

Please note that these rights are not absolute, and we may be entitled to refuse requests where exceptions apply. If you wish to exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the contact details set out below.