Archiving and Preservation Policy

MEV Journal is fully committed to the permanent availability, digital preservation, and broad accessibility of all published content. We implement multiple archiving strategies to protect scholarly works from loss, ensure long-term discoverability, and comply with international best practices.

1. Publisher-Managed Archiving

MEV maintains a local, state-of-the-art archiving infrastructure to store accurate digital versions of all published articles. Each article is preserved in both PDF and XML formats to ensure machine-readability and future-proofing across evolving technologies.

All journal content is backed up on three separate storage systems:

  • One active online server for public access.
  • Two offline backups to ensure recovery in case of system failure. If the primary server is compromised, access will be restored from backups within 24–36 hours.

MEV also participates in global archiving initiatives such as LOCKSS (Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe) and CLOCKSS (Controlled LOCKSS)

These systems enable decentralized, secure, and permanent archives, allowing libraries and institutions worldwide to preserve MEV content independently.

2. Indexing-Based Preservation

MEV’s indexing partners, including DOAJ, Google Scholar, and Index Copernicus, store metadata and in many cases full texts of articles. This ensures that multiple external systems can serve as access points for MEV publications, even if the journal platform becomes temporarily unavailable.

All published articles are assigned a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) via CrossRef, allowing them to be persistently cited and located.

3. Author Self-Archiving

MEV fully supports and encourages self-archiving as a means to amplify research visibility and accessibility.

Authors are permitted to deposit:

  • Preprints (submitted version before peer review)
  • Postprints (accepted version after peer review)
  • Published version (Version of Record)

…into:

  • Institutional repositories
  • Subject-based repositories
  • Personal websites

This can be done immediately after publication, without embargo, provided that proper citation and link to the official journal version are included. This complies with the journal’s Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license.

4. Metadata Harvesting

MEV makes its metadata openly available in compliance with the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH). This enables third-party digital libraries and discovery platforms to harvest, index, and redistribute MEV’s research output, enhancing global dissemination and visibility.

5. Policy in the Event of Discontinuation

MEV intends to publish indefinitely. However, in the rare event that publication ceases:

  • The complete journal archive will remain online and accessible for a minimum of 10 years.
  • LOCKSS and CLOCKSS systems will serve as alternative access points.
  • All articles will continue to be available via DOI and external indexing platforms.

6. Data Preservation During Litigation or Complaints

In the event of formal complaints, legal claims, or subpoenas, MEV will:

  • Immediately preserve all related digital files and records.
  • Prevent deletion or tampering of involved data.
  • Require editors, reviewers, and secretariat members to back up relevant information stored locally (e.g., on computers, flash drives) to secure institutional servers.
  • Retain paper and electronic records as required by legal protocols.

Deliberate destruction of such data will be treated as a serious offense and subject to disciplinary actions.