1. Purpose and guiding principles

Criminology (Uzbekistan) seeks to ensure the long-term preservation, integrity, authenticity and accessibility of published research in criminology, crime prevention, victimology, criminal policy and criminal justice.

This policy distinguishes between hosting content on an operational website, operational backups and independent long-term digital preservation. DOI registration, the use of Crossmark, indexing and search engine visibility do not, in themselves, preserve full-text publications.

Preservation aims to maintain the scholarly record and its usability through technical and organisational changes. Authors’ rights, licensing conditions and requirements for protecting confidential information must be respected.

2. Current status of external preservation

This version of the policy makes no claim of verified coverage of the journal’s content by an external long-term preservation system. Until the actual transfer, acceptance and coverage of content have been checked, the journal does not identify the PKP Preservation Network (PKP PN), LOCKSS, CLOCKSS, Portico or another service as an active preservation system for its publications.

This limitation on the public claim reflects the absence of verified confirmation for this policy; it is not a technical finding on whether individual archival copies exist. Installing a plugin, submitting an application, entering into an agreement or displaying a service’s logo does not replace checking the transfer results for specific materials.

Once confirmation is obtained, the editorial office updates this section with the service, verification date and actual coverage. The deposit of some issues is not described as preservation of the entire archive; significant gaps and interruptions to deposits are reflected in the preservation status information.

3. Backups and recovery

The Research Institute of Criminology of the Republic of Uzbekistan, as the journal’s founder and publisher, organises the backup and recovery of digital resources through authorised personnel. These measures are required before an external preservation service is connected and continue after its implementation.

Backup arrangements must cover:

• official article files in PDF and, where available, HTML, XML and other published formats;
• covers, tables of contents, complete issue files and integral published supplementary materials;
• bibliographic metadata, author and affiliation information, abstracts, keywords and licensing conditions;
• DOI records and information on their updates, corrections, retractions and other official notices;
• the platform database, files and settings needed to restore journal operations;
• technical documentation of backup contents, verification results and recovery procedures.

The Institute establishes the backup schedule, retention and rotation periods, responsible personnel and restoration testing procedures. The schedule takes account of new publications, data changes, platform updates and technical risks. At least one recoverable copy must be stored separately from the main server and protected against simultaneous loss or unauthorised modification.

Backups are subject to integrity checks and periodic restoration tests. Access is restricted to authorised personnel; appropriate safeguards are applied to confidential data in storage and transit, including encryption where necessary. Test results and identified failures are documented.

Operational backups may contain unpublished manuscripts, confidential reviews, user accounts and personal data. Such information, consent forms, restricted criminal case materials and other sensitive documents must not be included in the package of public publications deposited for external archiving. Their backup retention is governed by access restrictions, the purposes of processing and applicable retention periods, rather than the principle of indefinite open access to articles.

Backups support recovery of platform operations but do not replace independent long-term preservation of scholarly publications. This policy establishes requirements for organising backups; it does not certify compliance with a particular schedule without technical records and verification.

4. Planned external long-term preservation

The journal plans to engage an external long-term preservation service, taking into account platform compatibility, participation conditions, rights in the materials and the sustainability of the chosen solution. One option under consideration is the PKP Preservation Network; considering this option does not mean that the journal is already connected or that its content has been accepted for preservation.

Before deposit, the Institute checks its authority to deposit, the contents of exported files and metadata, licensing conditions and the exclusion of confidential editorial documents. After transfer, the outcome and the list of materials actually accepted are checked; errors and omissions are addressed and checked again.

When external preservation is confirmed, the journal publishes:

• the service’s full name and a link to its official website;
• the date on which active preservation was confirmed;
• the years, issues, file types and supplementary materials covered, together with known exclusions;
• the arrangements and frequency for depositing new content and post-publication updates;
• the conditions for providing preserved content if access through the main website ceases, where the service offers such a mechanism;
• a link to a public preservation record, where available, or a description and date of another verification method.

The Institute periodically compares published materials with the service’s confirmed coverage. Preservation in a dark archive does not mean that a publicly accessible backup of the website is available: access to the archive is governed by the relevant service’s conditions. Routine open access to articles is provided on the journal’s website.

5. File integrity and publication history

The journal preserves the official published article — the Version of Record (VoR) — together with bibliographic information, its DOI where available, publication date, licence and current publication status. Technical migration includes checking file completeness and the links between files; checksums and change logs may be used to monitor integrity.

Corrections, retractions, expressions of concern and other substantive updates are preserved with their links to the original article in accordance with the Policy on Corrections, Retractions and Post-Publication Updates. Updates are deposited with the external service through the procedures it supports. The journal does not replace substantively altered content without identifying the change and preserving publication history.

A retracted article normally remains preserved with clear labelling and a link to the notice. Exceptional removal or restricted access on legal or ethical grounds, or to protect confidentiality and safety, is accompanied by retention of a bibliographic record and an explanation to the extent permitted. The editorial office coordinates necessary action with the preservation service; removal from the website does not automatically remove all external copies.

6. Continuity of access and disaster recovery

The Institute organises a recovery and migration plan for technical failures, cyber incidents, domain or platform changes, changes in technical support arrangements or cessation of journal publication. The plan identifies responsible personnel, access to necessary backups and documentation, recovery priorities and verification of the results.

Depending on the circumstances, measures are taken to:

• restore article and issue files, metadata and published supplementary materials;
• retain links between articles, issues and official update notices;
• update landing page addresses in DOI records when content moves, retaining the DOIs already assigned;
• transfer licensing information and publication status labels;
• notify readers of a significant interruption or a change to the official access location;
• contact the connected preservation service to use its access mechanism when the applicable conditions are met.

A change of domain or platform alone is not a reason to assign an article a new DOI. Restored pages and files are checked against the scientific content, authorship, bibliographic details, licence and subsequent notices.

If publication ceases, the Institute determines arrangements for continued maintenance of the archive and the transfer of necessary authority. Access through an external service depends on the content actually preserved and its conditions; the journal does not promise automatic or immediate recovery of the entire website by that service.

7. Backfiles and limits of rights

Previously published materials are included in external preservation only where the necessary rights, files and technical capabilities are available. If particular materials are hosted on third-party platforms or governed by other agreements, their preservation and distribution are subject to the relevant conditions.

This policy does not establish ownership of externally hosted files or confirm their preservation. Nor does it retrospectively change the copyright or licences of previously published materials. Coverage of earlier years is stated only after the preservation service’s acceptance of those materials has been verified.

Authors’ deposit of permitted article versions in repositories under the Repository Deposit Policy supplements the dissemination and accessibility of research. Such copies do not establish the journal’s participation in an external preservation service and do not replace the publisher’s responsibility to preserve official publications.

8. Responsibilities

The Research Institute of Criminology of the Republic of Uzbekistan is responsible for organising and resourcing preservation, assigning responsible personnel, managing access, backups and recovery, and liaising with the chosen external service. Engagement of technical contractors is documented with provision for confidentiality and continued Institute control over the journal’s resources.

The Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Board are responsible for approving the policy’s content, the accuracy of public preservation coverage information and decisions on the status of scholarly publications. Authorised technical personnel implement approved decisions, maintain files and metadata, check transfer outcomes and report failures.

Technical support and preservation funding do not confer authority to change an article’s scientific content, authorship or editorial status independently. Identified discrepancies between archived copies and official notices are referred to the editorial office for coordinated correction.

9. Policy review and administration

This policy applies together with the journal’s Open Access Policy, Copyright and Licensing Policy, Repository Deposit Policy, Policy on Corrections, Retractions and Post-Publication Updates, and Privacy Statement.

Following approval by the authorised leadership, this policy takes effect on the date of its publication on the official website of Criminology (Uzbekistan). The publication date and dates of subsequent revisions are displayed on the policy page. Review takes place when a preservation service is connected or changed, the platform changes, coverage changes substantially or significant preservation risks are identified.

Questions about digital archiving, unavailable articles and content recovery: info@uzkti.uz. Please include the article title, DOI or link, and a description of the problem. Passwords, access keys and confidential research data should not be sent by ordinary email.