JQBio

Cookies and Local Storage Policy

JQBio (published by InnoQlar Academic Press, with the website provided by PROTOCELL IO) is dedicated to privacy-by-design. We do not use advertising cookies, marketing trackers, or third-party behavioral profiling technologies.

1. What Technologies We Use

Under data protection regulations (including the UK GDPR and PECR), “cookies” refers to HTTP cookies as well as modern browser storage mechanisms such as Local Storage and Session Storage. JQBio uses one HTTP cookie; everything else listed below is held in your browser's Local Storage or Session Storage.

2. Strictly Necessary Storage

These items are essential for the operation and security of the journal platform:

  • Authentication Session (Local Storage): When you sign in as an author or editor, an encrypted authentication token is held in your browser's local storage to maintain your authenticated session. This is never shared with third parties.
  • Cookie Choice (Local Storage, jqbio_cookie_consent): Remembers whether you selected Accept or Reject on the cookie banner, so the banner is not shown again on every visit.
  • Navigation State (Session Storage, jqbio-auth-next): A temporary marker used to return you to your intended page after you sign in. Automatically deleted once the action completes.
  • Page Recovery Marker (Session Storage): A short-lived marker that prevents the page from repeatedly refreshing if your browser fails to load an updated version of the site's JavaScript.
  • Platform Security: Essential edge infrastructure cookies that protect against denial-of-service attacks and ensure network integrity.

3. Functional Preferences

  • Reading View (Session Storage, jqbio:article-view): Remembers whether you chose the standard or side-by-side reading layout while reading an article. This preference is kept only in your active browser tab and is cleared when the tab is closed.
  • Studio Sidebar (HTTP cookie, sidebar_state): Remembers whether the sidebar in the Editorial Studio is open or collapsed. This cookie is only set if the Studio sidebar is used.

4. Readership Metrics & Analytics

Scholarly metrics (such as article download counts and page readership) are calculated using privacy-preserving, aggregated server logs. We do not load third-party analytics trackers, tracking pixels, or cross-site monitoring scripts on your device.

5. Third-Party Services

  • Typography: We load typefaces from Google Fonts. Google serves these static files without setting cookies.
  • Single Sign-On: Authors sign in exclusively via Google OAuth and are redirected to Google’s secure identity service; any credentials entered there are governed by Google's privacy policy. Editors sign in with a pre-approved email address.

6. Cookie Consent & Browser Control

When you first visit JQBio, a banner asks you to Accept or Reject cookies and similar storage. Your choice is remembered in your browser's local storage, as described in Section 2.

You can clear or block local storage and cookies through your browser settings at any time; please note that blocking local storage will disable author and editorial account sign-in.