Preservation and Archiving Policy

The Archives of Clinical and Experimental Orthopaedics (ACEO) is dedicated to the long-term preservation and accessibility of all published scholarly content. Our Preservation and Archiving Policy ensures that all articles remain available permanently, even in the event of technical failures, platform changes, or discontinuation of the journal.

“Digital preservation safeguards the legacy of science for future generations.”

1. Purpose and Commitment

ACEO recognizes its responsibility to maintain perpetual access to published research. The journal ensures redundancy, reliability, and interoperability across multiple digital preservation systems.

  • Guarantees ongoing access regardless of publisher or platform changes.
  • Complies with international open-access preservation mandates (LOCKSS, CLOCKSS, PKP PN).
  • Adopts secure backup and metadata replication practices.

2. Digital Preservation Networks

ACEO’s preservation infrastructure is distributed across the following trusted third-party networks:

  • LOCKSS (Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe): Maintains secure, decentralized archiving of published content.
  • CLOCKSS (Controlled LOCKSS): Provides community-managed long-term archiving and content restoration.
  • PKP Preservation Network (PKP PN): Integrated through OJS for automated deposit and archival assurance.
  • Portico and Crossref: Metadata and DOI archiving ensuring persistent scholarly referencing.

3. Local Server Backups

In addition to global preservation networks, ACEO maintains secure, encrypted local backups:

  • Daily incremental and weekly full database backups.
  • Secure off-site storage on redundant servers managed by IgMin Research IT division.
  • Quarterly verification and checksum validation to ensure data integrity.

4. File Formats and Integrity

ACEO stores articles and metadata in open, non-proprietary formats to ensure long-term readability:

Type File Format Preservation Method
Full Text PDF/A, HTML LOCKSS / CLOCKSS
Metadata XML, JSON-LD, Dublin Core OAI-PMH Harvesting
Figures & Tables JPEG, PNG, SVG Repository Archive & DOI Link

5. Metadata Standards

ACEO uses structured, machine-readable metadata to ensure discoverability and long-term interoperability:

  • Crossref DOI registration and reference linking.
  • OAI-PMH metadata exposure (Dublin Core and MARCXML).
  • Schema.org structured data embedded in all web pages.

6. Version Control and Identification

Each article is uniquely identified by a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) registered with Crossref. Version control ensures consistency across repositories, archives, and citation indexes.

  • DOIs are permanent and never reassigned.
  • Corrections and retractions are linked to original records.
  • Version of Record (VOR) is clearly marked on each article.

7. Preservation Workflow

ACEO follows an automated preservation workflow integrated into its publishing system:

  1. Article acceptance triggers metadata export (XML/JSON).
  2. Final versions uploaded to LOCKSS and PKP PN via OAI-PMH.
  3. Regular integrity checks with verification logs stored internally.
  4. Cross-validation with CLOCKSS and institutional repositories.

8. Publisher and Library Collaboration

ACEO partners with university libraries and digital preservation agencies to ensure content survivability:

  • Cooperative data storage agreements with university repositories.
  • Library partnerships enable independent content validation.
  • Interoperable metadata shared with institutional catalogs (MARC21, RDF).

9. Accessibility and Long-Term Availability

ACEO ensures that all preserved content remains openly accessible under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. Accessibility follows the WCAG 2.1 and Section 508 compliance standards.

10. Disaster Recovery Plan

To mitigate risks associated with data loss, ACEO implements a comprehensive disaster recovery plan:

  • Daily off-site data replication to geographically separate locations.
  • Disaster simulations performed semi-annually to test resilience.
  • Full restoration capabilities within 24 hours in case of data loss.

11. Content Transfer and Succession

In the event of journal migration or publisher transition, all data and metadata will be transferred to a successor organization. All archived content remains permanently accessible via DOI links and CLOCKSS restoration mechanisms.

12. Policy Review and Updates

This policy is reviewed annually by the ACEO Editorial and IT Committees to ensure compliance with emerging digital preservation standards and technologies.

13. Compliance and Transparency

  • Registered with DOAJ as an open-access journal with preservation guarantee.
  • Compliance with PKP PN and CLOCKSS for redundancy.
  • Public transparency of preservation partners and methods.

14. Conclusion

The Preservation and Archiving Policy of ACEO guarantees uninterrupted access to scientific knowledge through robust, redundant, and secure digital preservation mechanisms. By combining global networks and local resilience, ACEO ensures that every publication remains accessible, verifiable, and citable indefinitely.