Privacy Policy

Privacy Notice

Last updated: March 2026

1. Data Controller

Futures House Limited, a company incorporated in England and Wales (trading as “Westminster Academic Press”), is the data controller responsible for your personal data. We are committed to protecting your privacy in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

Contact: privacy@westminsteracademic.press

2. Personal Data We Collect

Authors and submitting researchers:

Full name, institutional affiliation, and contact email address
Researcher identifier (obtained via identity verification)
Manuscript content and associated metadata
Payment information (processed securely by our payment provider; we do not store full card details)
Correspondence relating to submissions, revisions, and editorial decisions
Fee waiver application details, where submitted

Peer reviewers:

Full name, institutional affiliation, and contact email address
Areas of expertise and keywords
Review reports, recommendations, and confidential comments
Payment details for reviewer honoraria (bank account details or Wise/PayPal email), processed via secure payment services

Website visitors:

IP address and browser user-agent string (in server access logs)
Essential session cookies (see our Cookie Policy)
Any information you voluntarily submit via contact forms

3. Purposes and Lawful Bases

Purpose	Lawful Basis (UK GDPR Art. 6)
Processing manuscript submissions and conducting peer review	Performance of a contract (Art. 6(1)(b))
Collecting and processing publication fees	Performance of a contract (Art. 6(1)(b))
Paying reviewer honoraria	Performance of a contract (Art. 6(1)(b))
AI-assisted editorial triage, reviewer matching, integrity checks, revision assessment, and typesetting	Legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f)) — improving editorial quality and efficiency
Communicating editorial decisions and publication updates	Performance of a contract (Art. 6(1)(b))
Maintaining security and preventing fraud	Legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f))
Responding to enquiries and complaints	Legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f))
Complying with legal obligations (e.g. financial records)	Legal obligation (Art. 6(1)(c))

4. AI Processing Disclosure

Westminster Academic Press uses artificial intelligence tools to assist with certain editorial processes. These include:

Editorial triage: AI evaluates submissions for scope, quality, and integrity to assist editors with initial screening decisions.
Reviewer matching: AI analyses manuscript topics against reviewer expertise to suggest suitable peer reviewers.
Integrity checks: AI assists in detecting potential issues with submitted content.
Revision assessment: AI compares revised manuscripts against original submissions and reviewer feedback.
Typesetting: AI assists in generating publication-ready formatted documents.

All AI outputs are advisory. Final editorial decisions are made by human editors. Manuscript content may be processed by third-party AI service providers under data processing agreements. No manuscript content is used to train third-party AI models.

5. Third-Party Recipients

We may share your personal data with the following categories of recipients, solely for the purposes described above:

Payment processors — to collect submission fees, process refunds, and issue reviewer payments
AI service providers — to support editorial triage, reviewer matching, integrity checks, revision assessment, and typesetting
DOI registration agencies — to assign and register persistent digital object identifiers for published articles
Identity verification providers — to authenticate author accounts via institutional or researcher identifiers
Cloud hosting and infrastructure providers — to host the website, store manuscripts, and operate editorial systems
International payment transfer services — to process reviewer honorarium payments across jurisdictions

6. International Transfers

Some of the third parties listed above are based outside the United Kingdom. Where personal data is transferred internationally, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) approved by the UK Information Commissioner, or transfers to countries recognised as providing an adequate level of data protection.

7. Data Retention

Published article metadata and author information: retained indefinitely as part of the scholarly record.
Rejected manuscript data: retained for 2 years following the final decision, then securely deleted.
Reviewer records and reports: retained for 5 years from the date of the review.
Financial and payment records: retained for 7 years in accordance with UK tax and accounting requirements.
Server access logs: retained for 90 days.
Contact form enquiries: retained for 1 year after resolution.

8. Your Rights

Under the UK GDPR, you have the following rights:

Right of access — to obtain a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to rectification — to have inaccurate personal data corrected.
Right to erasure — to request deletion of your personal data, subject to legal retention obligations.
Right to restriction of processing — to limit how we use your data in certain circumstances.
Right to data portability — to receive your data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format.
Right to object — to object to processing based on legitimate interests, including AI-assisted processing.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at privacy@westminsteracademic.press. We will respond within one month.

9. Right to Complain

If you are not satisfied with how we handle your personal data, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO):

Website: ico.org.uk
Telephone: 0303 123 1113

We encourage you to contact us first so that we can try to resolve any concerns directly.

10. Changes to This Notice

We may update this privacy notice from time to time. Any material changes will be posted on this page with an updated revision date.

Cookie Policy

Last updated: March 2026

1. About Cookies

Cookies are small text files placed on your device when you visit a website. They are widely used to make websites work efficiently and to provide information to site operators.

2. Our Approach

Westminster Academic Press uses only strictly necessary cookies. We do not use any analytics, tracking, advertising, or third-party marketing cookies.

3. Cookies We Use

Cookie Name	Purpose	Duration	Type
`sessionid`	Django session cookie. Maintains your authenticated session.	2 weeks (or until logout)	Strictly necessary
`csrftoken`	Django CSRF protection token. Protects against cross-site request forgery.	1 year	Strictly necessary
`OJSSID`	OJS session cookie. Maintains your session within the journal management system.	Session	Strictly necessary

4. Consent

Under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (PECR), strictly necessary cookies do not require your consent.

5. Third-Party Cookies

Our site does not set any third-party cookies. External services used for payment processing or authentication may set their own cookies, governed by their respective privacy policies.

6. Managing Cookies

You can control and delete cookies through your browser settings. However, blocking essential cookies may prevent certain features from functioning correctly.

7. Contact

If you have questions about our use of cookies, please contact us at privacy@westminsteracademic.press.

Refund and Cancellation Policy

Last updated: March 2026

1. Overview

This policy explains when a refund may be issued for the combined submission and article processing charge (£2,495.00).

2. Refund on Rejection Following Peer Review

If your manuscript is rejected following peer review, you will receive an automatic refund of 40% (£998.00) to the original payment method via our payment provider.

3. No Refund — Desk Rejection

If your manuscript is desk rejected (before peer review), no refund will be issued.

4. No Refund — Author Withdrawal

If you withdraw your manuscript at any stage, no refund will be issued.

5. No Refund — Accepted Manuscripts

If your manuscript is accepted for publication, no refund applies.

6. Processing Time

Refunds typically take 5–10 business days to appear on your statement.

7. Fee Waivers

Any applicable refund will be calculated based on the amount actually paid.

8. Exceptional Circumstances

Duplicate or erroneous payments will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

9. Withdrawal Process

To withdraw, contact editorial@westminsteracademic.press with your tracking number.

10. Summary

Scenario	Refund
Rejected after peer review	40% automatic refund (£998.00)
Desk rejection	No refund
Author withdrawal	No refund
Manuscript accepted	No refund
Duplicate/erroneous payment	Full refund on request

11. Contact

For refund enquiries, please contact finance@westminsteracademic.press.

Who We Are

Data We Collect

How We Use Your Data

Legal Basis for Processing

Data Retention

Your Rights

Cookies

International Transfers

Changes to This Policy

Privacy Policy

Who We Are

Data We Collect

How We Use Your Data

Legal Basis for Processing

Data Retention

Your Rights

Cookies

International Transfers

Changes to This Policy

Privacy Notice

1. Data Controller

2. Personal Data We Collect

3. Purposes and Lawful Bases

4. AI Processing Disclosure

5. Third-Party Recipients

6. International Transfers

7. Data Retention

8. Your Rights

9. Right to Complain

10. Changes to This Notice

Cookie Policy

1. About Cookies

2. Our Approach

3. Cookies We Use

4. Consent

5. Third-Party Cookies

6. Managing Cookies

7. Contact

Website Terms of Use

1. About These Terms

2. Site Operator

3. Acceptable Use

4. Intellectual Property

5. No Warranties

6. Limitation of Liability

7. Third-Party Links

8. Changes

9. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

10. Contact

Consumer Terms of Sale

1. About These Terms

2. The Service

3. When Payment Is Due

4. Payment Method

5. VAT

6. Fee Waivers

7. Consumer Rights Act 2015

8. Cancellation and Cooling-Off Period

9. Refunds

10. Governing Law

11. Contact

Refund and Cancellation Policy

1. Overview

2. Refund on Rejection Following Peer Review

3. No Refund — Desk Rejection

4. No Refund — Author Withdrawal

5. No Refund — Accepted Manuscripts

6. Processing Time

7. Fee Waivers

8. Exceptional Circumstances

9. Withdrawal Process

10. Summary

11. Contact

Company Information

Legal Entity

Trading Name

Registered Office

Company Registration

VAT Registration

Contact Details

About Westminster Academic Press

Acceptable Use Policy

1. About This Policy

2. Prohibited Uses

3. Consequences of Breach

4. Reporting Abuse

5. Changes

Copyright and Trademark Notice

1. Publisher Identity