Digital Preservation and Archiving Policy

This policy describes the journal’s verified preservation infrastructure, the measures used to support continued access to published content and metadata, and the limitations that still require confirmation. It distinguishes operational evidence from a service that is merely enabled in settings or proposed for future use. English is the reference version; Uzbek and Russian versions express the same policy.

Technical status verified on 1 September 2026. This is a point-in-time audit: services must be monitored and this statement updated when the infrastructure changes.

Contents

  1. Purpose and Scope
  2. Confirmed Infrastructure
  3. Long-Term Preservation Strategy
  4. OJS Published Archive
  5. LOCKSS and CLOCKSS Gateway Status
  6. Institutional Repository
  7. Server Backups and Recovery
  8. Metadata Preservation and Interoperability
  9. DOI Registration and Persistence
  10. Integrity Checks and Review
  11. Journal Closure and Continuity of Access
  12. VERIFY — Services and Arrangements Not Yet Confirmed
  13. Responsibility and Contact

1. Purpose and Scope

The journal aims to preserve published articles, issue files, supplementary material available through OJS, descriptive metadata and persistent identifiers for long-term discovery and access. Preservation is a shared technical and organisational responsibility and should not depend on a single website copy.

The policy covers the published scholarly record. Editorial working files, confidential submissions and peer-review material require separate retention and access controls and are not promised as part of the public archive.

2. Confirmed Infrastructure

The audit confirmed: a public OJS archive and OAI-PMH metadata feed; enabled public OJS LOCKSS and CLOCKSS gateway pages; an accessible Qarshi State Technical University DSpace repository containing SRT article and issue files; recent consecutive daily local Hestia server backups containing website and database components; and an active production Crossref plugin with registered DOI records and a sampled DOI that resolves through doi.org and appears in the Crossref API.

Each statement is limited to the observed evidence. The gateway configuration does not prove harvesting by LOCKSS or CLOCKSS nodes; repository examples do not prove complete journal coverage; local backups do not prove off-site preservation; and a successful DOI sample does not prove that every DOI record is correct.

3. Long-Term Preservation Strategy

The current strategy uses several layers: the primary OJS publication archive, machine-readable OAI-PMH metadata, secondary copies in the institutional DSpace repository, server-level recovery backups, persistent DOI registration, and preservation gateway exposure. These layers reduce dependence on one access route, but their coverage and recovery functions differ.

Operational backups support recovery after loss or failure; they are not a substitute for an independently managed preservation network. The journal should periodically compare published issues, files, metadata and DOI destinations across the confirmed systems and resolve gaps.

4. OJS Published Archive

Published issues and articles remain accessible in the journal’s OJS archive with article landing pages and downloadable files. OJS stores the relationships among issues, articles, authors, publication metadata and files. Public issue and article URLs form the primary access copy.

The production database, public files and non-public OJS files needed for recovery must be handled together. Copying only the visible PDF files would not preserve the full publication structure or administrative metadata.

5. LOCKSS and CLOCKSS Gateway Status

OJS settings for LOCKSS and CLOCKSS are enabled, and the journal’s public gateway pages respond successfully and expose journal content for harvesting. This confirms gateway integration at the OJS level.

The audit did not confirm that a LOCKSS library network or the CLOCKSS Archive has accepted, harvested and preserved this journal. The journal therefore does not state that recovery from either network is currently guaranteed. Such a claim requires evidence from the relevant preservation service or participating node.

6. Institutional Repository

The Qarshi State Technical University DSpace repository is publicly accessible. The audit located SRT article records, article files and issue files in that repository, confirming that it provides a secondary access location for at least part of the journal’s content.

The audit did not establish complete issue coverage, an automatic OJS-to-DSpace deposit workflow, a deposit schedule or a repository retention commitment for every SRT item. Repository coverage should be reconciled against OJS before it is described as a complete mirror.

7. Server Backups and Recovery

The hosting control system produces local Hestia backup archives. During the audit, consecutive daily archives were present and identified the journal’s web domain and database among the included components. This confirms an operational local recovery layer at the time of inspection.

The audit did not verify an off-site copy, geographic separation, encryption, a documented retention schedule, automated backup monitoring or a successful restoration test. Backups should be monitored, protected from unauthorised access and tested through controlled restoration. A backup is considered useful only when its required website, database and file components can be restored coherently.

8. Metadata Preservation and Interoperability

The OJS OAI-PMH endpoint successfully returns repository identity information and Dublin Core records. This makes published metadata machine-readable for harvesting and migration. The DSpace repository also exposes an OAI-PMH endpoint, and deposited SRT records contain descriptive metadata and downloadable files.

Core preserved metadata should include title, authors and contributor identifiers where available, abstract, keywords, dates, journal/issue context, pagination or article identifier, language, licence, DOI, URL and relationships to files and notices. Metadata exports should be retained with database and file backups and checked after migrations.

9. DOI Registration and Persistence

The Crossref plugin is enabled in production mode. OJS contains registered DOI records, and a recent sampled DOI resolved through doi.org to its article page and was returned by the Crossref API. DOI registration supports persistent identification and metadata discovery; it does not itself store the article file.

The journal is responsible for maintaining DOI metadata and destination URLs. When an article URL changes, its Crossref resource URL should be updated rather than assigning a replacement DOI. Corrections, retractions and other notices should retain and link the original DOI history according to the Corrections, Retractions and Expressions of Concern Policy.

10. Integrity Checks and Review

Preservation checks should compare issue and article counts, file availability, file size or checksums where available, OAI-PMH records, repository coverage, DOI status and DOI destinations. Failed backups, broken files, missing metadata and unresolved DOI links require documented follow-up.

The audit found SHA-1 checksum settings in legacy PKP PN database configuration, but no PKP PN deposits. That setting is not evidence that current journal packages are being fixity-checked by PKP PN. A verified preservation workflow should define appropriate contemporary fixity checks and record their results.

11. Journal Closure and Continuity of Access

If the journal ceases active publication, the preservation objective is to keep the published record accessible. Where feasible, the OJS site should remain available in read-only form while complete content and metadata are transferred to a verified continuing archive or repository. Crossref DOI destinations must be maintained or updated to the surviving copy.

No approved closure plan, designated successor custodian, funding commitment or complete preserved copy was verified. Before closure, responsibility for the domain, DOI account, OJS database and files, repository deposits, public notices and access requests must be assigned in writing. Confidential editorial records must not be made public merely because the journal closes.

12. VERIFY — Services and Arrangements Not Yet Confirmed

The following must not be presented as operational until documentary or technical evidence is obtained:

  • VERIFY: PKP Preservation Network: legacy database settings say enabled and accepting, but the plugin code is absent and both PKP PN deposit tables contain zero records. Confirm compatibility, eligibility, current terms, installation and a successful preserved deposit before claiming use.
  • VERIFY: LOCKSS/CLOCKSS: confirm actual acceptance, harvesting status and preserved holdings with the relevant service or participating node; enabled OJS gateways alone are insufficient.
  • VERIFY: Institutional DSpace: confirm the responsible unit, complete SRT coverage, deposit schedule or automation, retention policy, file/metadata update procedure and closure-access role.
  • VERIFY: Backups: confirm off-site or geographically separate copies, retention schedule, encryption/access control, monitoring and documented restoration tests.
  • VERIFY: Closure governance: approve a written closure plan naming the custodian, funding, domain/DOI responsibility, archive destination and procedure for maintaining public access.

13. Responsibility and Contact

Technical preservation responsibilities should be assigned between the editorial office, publisher or owner, server administrator, institutional repository and DOI account holder. Changes to hosting, domain, OJS, repository or DOI configuration should include backup, migration and post-change validation.

Questions or reports of missing files, broken DOI links or archive discrepancies may be sent to admin@srt-journal.uz. Current general contact information is available on the Contact page. Email delivery and monitoring were not tested by this audit.

Read this policy with the Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement, Open Access Policy and Corrections, Retractions and Expressions of Concern Policy.