Digital Archiving & Preservation Policy
Long-Term Preservation and Continuity of the Scholarly Record
Purpose and Scope
This policy defines the digital archiving and preservation framework of the International Interdisciplinary Scientific Journal “Expert”.
It establishes the mechanisms used to support the long-term preservation, redundancy, continued accessibility, and integrity of the Journal’s published scholarly record.
The Journal applies a multi-layered preservation approach that combines independent third-party preservation, external full-text repository availability, national repository-based storage and access, supplementary web archiving, and persistent identification and metadata infrastructure.
This policy operates together with the Journal’s Open Access Policy, Copyright and Licensing, Publication Conditions, and Corrections, Retractions, Expressions of Concern and Article Removal Policy, as well as other applicable publishing and scholarly-record provisions.
1. Preservation Principles and Objectives
The Journal recognises long-term digital preservation as an essential component of maintaining the continuity, accessibility, and integrity of the scholarly record.
The Journal’s preservation framework is intended to support:
- continued access to published scholarly content;
- independent preservation outside the Journal’s primary website infrastructure;
- redundancy through multiple external systems;
- preservation of the published Version of Record and associated metadata;
- continuity in the event of technical disruption or loss of the primary website;
- long-term accessibility of the scholarly record;
- clear distinction between preservation, dissemination, persistent identification, and discovery.
The Journal does not rely exclusively on its primary website as the sole location of the published scholarly record.
2. Independent Third-Party Preservation
The Journal participates in independent third-party preservation through the Internet Archive.
Published articles and associated journal metadata, including full-text article files, are deposited and made publicly accessible through the Journal’s Internet Archive archival collection.
The Internet Archive provides an external preservation environment that operates independently of the Journal’s primary hosting infrastructure.
This independent preservation layer is intended to support continued access to published content in the event of:
- technical failure;
- temporary website disruption;
- permanent loss of the Journal website;
- migration of publishing infrastructure;
- other circumstances affecting access through the primary website.
The Journal’s public Internet Archive archival collection remains accessible independently of the operational status of the Journal’s website.
3. Preservation Scope and Version of Record
The principal object of preservation is the published Version of Record.
For the purposes of this policy, preservation may include:
- the full-text published article;
- associated bibliographic metadata;
- publication metadata;
- article identification information;
- DOI-related metadata where applicable.
The Version of Record is the authoritative published version made available by the Journal following completion of the applicable editorial and production process.
Preservation copies do not alter the status of the Journal-published article as the Version of Record.
This policy does not, by itself, establish preservation requirements for:
- unpublished manuscripts;
- preprints;
- submitted manuscripts;
- internal editorial files;
- reviewer reports;
- author correspondence;
- research datasets;
- supplementary materials not expressly deposited as part of the published record.
Where additional materials are preserved through a particular repository or platform, their status is determined by the applicable deposit and publication arrangements.
4. Additional Repository Deposit and Redundancy
In addition to preservation through the Internet Archive, the Journal uses external scholarly repositories and full-text platforms to provide additional independent copies, storage, access, and dissemination of published content.
These additional repository layers supplement the Journal’s principal preservation arrangements and contribute to redundancy of the scholarly record.
4.1 Central and Eastern European Online Library (CEEOL)
Published journal content is additionally hosted and made accessible through the Central and Eastern European Online Library (CEEOL).
The Journal has a dedicated CEEOL journal record containing issues and published articles, including full-text article files.
CEEOL therefore provides an additional external full-text hosting, repository, access, and scholarly dissemination layer for Journal content.
The Journal’s CEEOL record is maintained independently of the Journal’s primary website and supplements the Journal’s broader preservation and access infrastructure.
4.2 Bulgarian Portal for Open Science (BPOS)
Published Journal records and deposited scholarly content are additionally available through the Bulgarian Portal for Open Science (BPOS) and the Bulgarian national repository for open scientific information.
Journal records can be identified through the Publisher’s DOI prefix: 10.62034.
The Bulgarian national repository supports the storage, sharing, and long-term preservation of scientific publications and other research outputs.
The Journal’s use of BPOS provides an additional national repository-based layer of storage, access, dissemination, and continuity.
5. Public Archival Access
The Journal’s preservation framework is intended not only to retain digital copies but also, where applicable, to maintain public access to preserved scholarly content.
The Journal’s Internet Archive archival collection is publicly accessible and contains deposited full-text articles and related metadata.
Published Journal content is also publicly discoverable and accessible through external repository and full-text infrastructures, including CEEOL and BPOS, subject to the access conditions of the respective platforms.
Public archival access supports:
- continued availability of published articles;
- independent verification of the scholarly record;
- access in the event of disruption to the primary website;
- redundancy across multiple external systems.
Access through external archival or repository platforms supplements, but does not replace, the Journal’s official publication environment.
6. Web Archiving and Redundancy
The Journal website is additionally preserved through periodic web archiving by the Internet Archive Wayback Machine.
Wayback Machine captures historical snapshots of publicly accessible Journal webpages and may preserve:
- article landing pages;
- policy pages;
- journal information pages;
- other publicly accessible parts of the website.
Web archiving provides an additional layer of redundancy by preserving historical states of the public website.
Web-page snapshots are supplementary and are not treated as a substitute for preservation of the published Version of Record.
The Journal therefore distinguishes between:
- preservation of published scholarly content and associated metadata;
- repository-based storage and access;
- preservation of historical website snapshots.
7. Continuity in the Event of Disruption or Cessation
The Journal seeks to ensure that published scholarly content remains accessible even if the primary website or publishing infrastructure becomes temporarily or permanently unavailable.
In the event of:
- technical failure;
- prolonged website disruption;
- infrastructure migration;
- loss of the primary hosting environment;
- permanent cessation of the Journal website;
- cessation of Journal or Publisher operations;
the Journal’s external archival and repository copies are intended to provide continued access to the published scholarly record.
Independent copies held through external preservation and repository infrastructures are not dependent solely on the continuing operation of the Journal website.
Where reasonably possible, the Publisher will maintain or facilitate access to existing archived copies, persistent identifiers, and publication metadata.
Cessation of the Journal or Publisher does not, by itself, invalidate the status of previously published Versions of Record.
8. Persistent Identification, Metadata and Discovery
Digital preservation operates alongside persistent identification, metadata registration, indexing, abstracting, and discovery services.
The Journal uses DOI-based persistent identification and bibliographic metadata infrastructure to support stable identification and discovery of published articles.
DOI registration, metadata dissemination, indexing, and abstracting services may assist in:
- persistent identification;
- citation linking;
- bibliographic discovery;
- metadata exchange;
- scholarly visibility.
DOI registration, indexing, and abstracting are not themselves substitutes for independent preservation of the published full text.
The Journal therefore distinguishes between:
Preservation
— retention and continued accessibility of published scholarly content;
Persistent identification and metadata
— stable identification and structured bibliographic information;
Indexing and discovery
— visibility, searchability, citation tracking, and scholarly discovery.
Information about current indexing and abstracting services is provided in the Journal’s dedicated Indexing & Abstracting section.
9. Relationship with Other Journal Policies
This policy forms part of the Journal’s integrated publishing and scholarly-record framework.
Open Access Policy
The Open Access Policy governs immediate reader access, the Gold Open Access model, absence of embargo, and the conditions under which published articles are made openly available.
Copyright and Licensing
The Copyright and Licensing provisions govern copyright ownership, the non-exclusive publishing licence granted to ASPECT-PRO LTD, CC BY 4.0, repository sharing, reuse, and related licensing matters.
Repository deposit and preservation under this policy do not transfer copyright ownership from the author(s).
Publication Conditions
The Publication Conditions govern the publication process, Final Editorial Acceptance, Version of Record, volume assignment, and other applicable publication requirements.
Corrections, Retractions, Expressions of Concern and Article Removal Policy
The Corrections, Retractions, Expressions of Concern and Article Removal Policy governs changes to the published scholarly record after publication.
Preservation systems are intended to support continuity of the scholarly record and do not replace the Journal’s formal processes for corrections, retractions, expressions of concern, or article removal.
Administrative Article Withdrawal Policy
Where an article is subject to administrative withdrawal, management of the publication record is governed by the Journal’s Administrative Article Withdrawal Policy.
Preservation copies and metadata must be managed consistently with the applicable published record and notice procedures.
10. Policy Governance and Review
The Digital Archiving & Preservation Policy forms part of the Journal’s publishing, transparency, and scholarly-record governance framework.
The Editorial Board of the International Interdisciplinary Scientific Journal “Expert” maintains this policy within the Journal’s policy governance system.
The policy is approved by the Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Board.
ASPECT-PRO LTD, as Publisher, is responsible for implementing the technical and administrative arrangements associated with:
- deposit of published content;
- maintenance of archival copies;
- repository submission where applicable;
- publication metadata dissemination;
- coordination of preservation infrastructure;
- continuity of access to the published scholarly record.
The Publisher does not acquire scholarly editorial decision-making authority through its preservation or technical functions.
The Journal may review and update this policy where necessary to reflect:
- changes in preservation infrastructure;
- changes in repository arrangements;
- changes in publishing technology;
- changes in applicable requirements;
- changes in the Journal’s publishing model;
- recognised developments in scholarly digital preservation.
Substantive amendments are documented through the Journal’s applicable versioning and review process.