Digital Archiving Policy

At Zendo Academic Publishing Journals (ZAP Journals) we recognize the importance of preserving and providing long-term access to the scholarly content published within our journals. This Digital Archiving Policy outlines our commitment to maintaining the integrity of digital publications and ensuring their availability for current and future generations of researchers and readers.

2. Archiving Objectives

Our digital archiving objectives include:

  • Preservation: Safeguarding the content published in ZAP Journals to prevent loss, deterioration, or obsolescence.
  • Access: Ensuring that all archived content remains accessible to the public, scholars, and institutions over time.
  • Compliance: Adhering to industry best practices, standards, and legal requirements related to digital preservation and archiving.

3. Types of Content to be Archived

We will archive the following types of content:

  • Published Articles: All peer-reviewed and accepted articles, including supplementary materials, in their final published form.
  • Editorial Content: Editorial boards, guidelines, policies, and other relevant documentation.
  • Metadata: Comprehensive metadata related to published content for discovery and retrieval.

4. Archiving Methods

To achieve our archiving objectives, we employ the following methods:

  • Third-Party Archiving Services: We partner with reputable third-party digital archiving services to ensure redundancy and reliability in content preservation.
  • In-House Archiving: We maintain an in-house digital archive repository to store and manage published content.
  • Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs): All published articles will be assigned a DOI to provide a permanent and citable link to the content.

5. Archiving Standards and Formats

We adhere to industry standards and best practices for digital archiving, including but not limited to:

  • Trustworthy Digital Repositories: We strive to meet the criteria outlined in recognized digital preservation standards such as ISO 16363 and ISO 14721 (OAIS).
  • File Formats: Content will be archived in open and widely-accepted file formats to ensure long-term accessibility.

6. Access to Archived Content

We are committed to providing access to archived content as follows:

  • Public Access: Archived content will be made publicly accessible through our website.
  • Persistent URLs: We will maintain persistent URLs to ensure that archived content remains discoverable and citable.

7. Preservation Strategies

Our preservation strategies include:

  • Regular Backups: Regularly scheduled backups of archived content to protect against data loss.
  • Format Migration: Periodic assessment and migration of content to newer, more sustainable formats.
  • Checksum Verification: Periodic verification of content integrity using checksums.

8. Disaster Recovery

We maintain disaster recovery plans and off-site backups to mitigate risks associated with data loss due to unforeseen events.

9. Compliance and Legal Considerations

We comply with applicable copyright laws and licensing agreements, ensuring that archived content remains in compliance with legal requirements.

10. Review and Updates

This Digital Archiving Policy will be reviewed periodically to ensure its continued effectiveness and alignment with evolving industry standards and best practices.