Archiving Policy

Archiving and Digital Preservation Policy

1. Commitment to Long-Term Digital Preservation

The Andalasian International Journal of Agricultural and Natural Sciences (AIJANS) is committed to the long-term preservation, integrity, accessibility, and continuity of its published scholarly content.

AIJANS recognizes that scholarly publications form part of the permanent scientific record and should remain available to researchers, institutions, and the wider public, including in circumstances where the journal's website becomes temporarily or permanently unavailable.

To support this commitment, AIJANS uses the Public Knowledge Project (PKP) Preservation Network (PKP PN) as its digital preservation service.

The PKP Preservation Network is developed and maintained by the Public Knowledge Project and provides long-term preservation services for journals published using Open Journal Systems (OJS).

Further information about this service is available from the official PKP Preservation Network website.

2. Digital Preservation Through PKP Preservation Network

AIJANS uses the PKP Preservation Network to support the preservation of its scholarly publications independently of the journal's primary website and hosting infrastructure.

The PKP Preservation Network employs distributed digital preservation technology based on the LOCKSS (Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe) approach.

This approach supports the preservation of journal content through geographically and institutionally distributed preservation nodes.

The objectives of preservation through PKP PN include:

  • Protecting scholarly content against loss resulting from hosting failures or technological disruptions.
  • Supporting the integrity and authenticity of preserved journal content.
  • Maintaining preservation copies independently of the journal's primary publishing platform.
  • Supporting the continued availability of published scholarly research if normal journal operations cease.
  • Reducing the risk of permanent loss of scholarly publications.

Participation in the preservation network is subject to the technical requirements, preservation agreement, and operational procedures established by PKP.

3. Scope of Preserved Content

The digital preservation arrangements of AIJANS are intended to cover its formally published scholarly content.

This includes, where supported by the preservation service and available through the journal's publishing system:

  • Published research articles.
  • Review articles and short communications.
  • Article full-text files and associated publication materials.
  • Relevant article metadata and bibliographic information.
  • Published issues and their associated scholarly content.
  • Other publication components supported by the PKP Preservation Network.

The precise content preserved depends on the material included in the journal's preservation deposits and the capabilities of the preservation service.

AIJANS does not assume that unpublished manuscripts, confidential peer-review records, editorial correspondence, or internal administrative files are preserved through PKP PN.

4. Preservation Process

The PKP Preservation Network integrates with Open Journal Systems through the PKP PN preservation plugin.

The preservation process is designed to support the transfer and preservation of eligible published journal content through the network's established deposit and archiving mechanisms.

AIJANS is committed to maintaining the necessary publishing infrastructure, plugin configuration, and administrative procedures to support participation in the preservation service.

The journal's technical administrators are responsible for monitoring the availability and operation of the preservation mechanism.

Where deposit failures, incomplete transfers, or other technical problems are identified, the journal will seek appropriate corrective action to restore the preservation process.

5. Preservation Status and Verification

AIJANS recognizes the importance of distinguishing between participation in a preservation service and the successful preservation of individual articles or journal issues.

The journal's technical administrators should periodically examine the status of preservation deposits through the relevant PKP PN administrative interface and available preservation records.

Preservation status may also be checked through independent preservation information services where the relevant journal records are available.

One such resource is the Keepers Registry, which provides information about the preservation of serial publications.

AIJANS can be searched using its International Standard Serial Numbers:

  • Electronic ISSN (e-ISSN): 2745-7885
  • Print ISSN (p-ISSN): 2776-6500

The availability and completeness of preservation records may vary according to the reporting practices and update schedules of the relevant services.

An absence of a publicly displayed preservation record does not, by itself, establish that the journal is not preserved. Likewise, the installation or activation of a preservation plugin does not alone confirm successful preservation of all published content.

6. Dark Archive and Preservation Access

The PKP Preservation Network operates as a dark archive.

Under normal circumstances, readers access published AIJANS articles through the journal's official website rather than directly through the PKP PN preservation copies.

Preserved content within the PKP Preservation Network is not ordinarily made directly accessible to the public.

The network provides mechanisms for making preserved content available following a qualifying trigger event, in accordance with PKP's preservation procedures.

Such events may include:

  • Formal notification that the journal has ceased publication or requires preservation-based access.
  • A prolonged interruption or cessation of preservation deposits that leads the network to investigate the journal's operational status.

The activation of public access to preserved content is governed by the applicable PKP PN procedures, including verification and approval of the relevant trigger event.

The purpose of this arrangement is to support the continued availability of preserved scholarly content when the journal's normal publishing infrastructure can no longer provide reliable access.

7. Journal Continuity and Service Disruption

AIJANS is committed to maintaining the accessibility of its published scholarly content during normal journal operations.

In the event of temporary website unavailability, hosting disruption, platform migration, or other technical difficulties, the journal will seek to restore access through its normal publishing infrastructure.

Where the journal permanently ceases publication or experiences a qualifying loss of access, its preserved content may be made available through the PKP Preservation Network, subject to the network's preservation agreement and trigger-event procedures.

The journal will make reasonable efforts to notify the PKP Preservation Network when a permanent cessation of publication is anticipated.

8. Institutional and Subject Repositories

In addition to preservation through PKP PN, AIJANS encourages authors to deposit their published articles in appropriate institutional or disciplinary repositories.

Authors may share their work in accordance with the journal's Open Access, Copyright, and Licensing Policy.

Where applicable, repository deposits should retain:

  • The original article title.
  • Author names and affiliations.
  • The journal name and bibliographic citation.
  • The article DOI.
  • The applicable copyright and licensing information.
  • A link to the official published version.

Authors and repository managers are encouraged to maintain accurate records of any subsequent correction, expression of concern, or retraction.

Repository deposits provide an additional means of access and dissemination but do not replace the journal's formal digital preservation arrangements.

9. Preservation of the Scholarly Record

AIJANS recognizes that digital preservation includes maintaining the integrity and traceability of the scholarly record.

Where an article is corrected, retracted, or becomes subject to an expression of concern, the journal will maintain appropriate public records of the editorial action.

Such actions are governed by the journal's Corrections, Retractions, and Expressions of Concern Policy.

The journal will seek to ensure that published notices remain linked to the affected articles and that relevant bibliographic metadata accurately reflect their publication status.

Preservation of previously published versions does not remove the obligation to communicate subsequent editorial changes transparently.

10. Responsibilities and Policy Review

The editorial and technical management teams of AIJANS share responsibility for implementing the journal's digital preservation policy.

Their responsibilities include:

  • Maintaining the journal's participation in PKP PN.
  • Monitoring preservation configuration and deposit status.
  • Investigating reported preservation failures.
  • Supporting accurate publication metadata and persistent identifiers.
  • Maintaining access to published content through the journal's official website.
  • Reviewing preservation arrangements when the publishing platform or hosting infrastructure changes.

AIJANS will periodically review its preservation arrangements to ensure their continued suitability and consistency with recognized standards of scholarly publishing.

11. References

  1. Public Knowledge Project (PKP). PKP Preservation Network.
  2. Public Knowledge Project (PKP). PKP Preservation Network Guide.
  3. COPE, DOAJ, OASPA, and WAME. Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing, Version 5.0 (2026).
  4. ISSN International Centre. The Keepers Registry.