Food Systems, Safety & Sustainability (FSSS) is committed to preserving its published scholarly content and maintaining reliable long-term access to the journal’s academic record.

The journal applies a layered approach combining platform maintenance, regular backups, persistent identifiers, open and documented file formats, repository deposit, metadata distribution, version control, and participation in an independent digital-preservation network when the applicable eligibility and technical requirements have been satisfied.

Operational backups support restoration following hardware failure, software error, cyber incident, or accidental deletion. They do not, by themselves, constitute long-term digital preservation. FSSS therefore seeks to maintain preservation arrangements that remain effective if the journal website, publishing platform, publisher, or current technical infrastructure is no longer available.

1. Purpose

This policy is intended to:

• protect published scholarship from accidental or deliberate loss;
• maintain access following technical, organisational, financial, or environmental disruption;
• preserve the authentic Version of Record;
• maintain the relationship between articles and post-publication notices;
• support recovery following hardware, software, security, or human error;
• preserve sufficient metadata for discovery and identification;
• support migration to future technical formats;
• maintain the integrity and provenance of preserved files;
• provide continuity if the journal changes platform, publisher, or domain;
• support permanent scholarly citation; and
• protect the continuity of the open scholarly record.

2. Scope

This policy applies to scholarly and editorial content formally published by FSSS, including:

• research articles;
• review articles and evidence syntheses;
• methods and data papers;
• short communications;
• case studies and policy analyses;
• editorials, perspectives, commentaries, and correspondence;
• complete journal issues and volumes;
• article landing pages and bibliographic records;
• HTML, PDF, XML, EPUB, and other publication formats;
• supplementary files hosted directly by the journal;
• corrections and addenda;
• expressions of concern;
• retraction notices and marked retracted articles;
• publisher and editorial notices;
• copyright and licensing information;
• publication-history and version information;
• associated metadata supplied to preservation services; and
• other content designated as part of the permanent scholarly record.

3. Preservation Principles

FSSS seeks to preserve content according to the following principles:

• Authenticity: Preserved content should correspond to the publication issued by the journal.
• Integrity: Files should be protected against undetected alteration, corruption, or incomplete transfer.
• Redundancy: Important content should not depend on a single server, storage device, organisation, or geographical location.
• Discoverability: Bibliographic metadata and persistent identifiers should remain available.
• Usability: Preserved content should remain readable and interpretable using current or migrated formats.
• Provenance: The origin, version, date, and status of preserved content should be documented.
• Continuity: Access should be recoverable following closure or prolonged interruption of the journal platform.
• Transparency: Preservation arrangements and their current status should be described accurately.
• Version control: Corrections, retractions, and other updates must remain connected to the original publication.
• Open access: Preservation arrangements should support continuing access consistent with the journal’s open-access and licensing policies.

4. Backup and Preservation Are Different

FSSS distinguishes operational backup from long-term preservation.

Operational Backup

Operational backups are intended to restore the working journal system following:

• server or storage failure;
• software malfunction;
• database corruption;
• accidental deletion;
• cybersecurity incidents;
• failed system upgrades;
• configuration errors; or
• another short-term technical disruption.

Long-Term Digital Preservation

Long-term preservation is intended to maintain scholarly content beyond the operational life of the current website, software installation, server, or publisher infrastructure.

It may involve:

• independent archival custody;
• multiple distributed copies;
• integrity and fixity checking;
• audit and repair procedures;
• format identification and migration;
• persistent metadata;
• trigger-event access;
• documented preservation rights; and
• continuity planning following publication cessation.

FSSS does not represent routine server backup as a substitute for an independent preservation archive.

5. Publisher-Managed Backups

Panorama Scholarly Group maintains backup and recovery arrangements for the journal’s operational infrastructure.

Backups should cover, where technically applicable:

• the journal database;
• article and issue files;
• supplementary materials;
• website configuration;
• themes and customised components;
• journal settings and workflow records;
• metadata and identifier information;
• user and role information subject to applicable privacy requirements;
• editorial correspondence required for legitimate recordkeeping; and
• other information necessary for system restoration.

The publisher should maintain backup copies separately from the active production environment so that failure of the primary server does not destroy every available copy.

Backup access must be restricted to authorised personnel and protected through appropriate technical and organisational security measures.

6. Backup Testing

The existence of backup files does not establish that a system can be restored successfully.

The publisher should therefore conduct periodic checks appropriate to the journal’s infrastructure, including:

• confirmation that scheduled backup processes are completing;
• verification that backup files are readable;
• testing of database restoration procedures;
• testing of article-file recovery;
• review of backup retention and storage capacity;
• verification of access permissions;
• documentation of failed backup processes;
• correction of identified deficiencies; and
• review following substantial platform or server changes.

7. Independent Digital Preservation

FSSS seeks to preserve published content through an independent digital-preservation service in addition to publisher-managed backups.

An independent preservation service should ordinarily provide:

• custody outside the journal’s primary production server;
• multiple preservation copies or equivalent redundancy;
• content-integrity checking;
• repair or recovery procedures;
• long-term organisational responsibility;
• documented procedures for preservation failure or publisher closure;
• persistent identification of preserved content;
• appropriate security controls;
• format-management or migration capability; and
• a defined process for restoring public access when necessary.

8. PKP Preservation Network

FSSS is published using Open Journal Systems and intends to use the PKP Preservation Network (PKP PN) as a principal independent preservation route once the journal satisfies the current inclusion requirements and successful deposits have been confirmed.

Current PKP PN participation requirements include:

• use of a compatible version of Open Journal Systems;
• assignment of an ISSN to the journal;
• publication of at least one article;
• installation and activation of the PKP PN plugin;
• acceptance of the applicable preservation terms; and
• successful registration and deposit of journal content.

Further information is available from the official PKP Preservation Network page.

Installation or activation of the plugin alone must not be treated as proof that journal content has been preserved. The Editorial Office or publisher must verify registration and deposit status before describing FSSS as preserved in PKP PN.

9. PKP PN Trigger Events

PKP PN operates as a dark preservation archive. Preserved content is not ordinarily used as the journal’s public publishing platform.

Archived content may be restored for public access following a recognised trigger event, which may include:

• explicit notification that the journal has ceased publication;
• prolonged cessation of content deposits;
• confirmed disappearance of the journal’s public content;
• loss of the publisher’s capacity to maintain access; or
• another event recognised under the preservation network’s applicable terms.

The applicable preservation service determines whether its conditions for a trigger event have been satisfied.

10. Other Preservation Services

Panorama Scholarly Group may establish additional preservation arrangements through recognised services such as:

• LOCKSS;
• CLOCKSS;
• Portico;
• national or institutional libraries;
• trusted institutional repositories;
• legal-deposit systems;
• subject repositories;
• publisher-independent archive services; or
• another recognised preservation network.

Mention of a service in this policy does not state that FSSS currently participates in that service. Participation will be claimed only where a valid agreement, registration, or deposit arrangement has been confirmed.

11. Accurate Disclosure of Preservation Status

The journal must not display a preservation service’s name or logo in a manner that falsely implies:

• current membership;
• successful enrolment;
• completed content deposit;
• certification;
• endorsement;
• audit approval;
• comprehensive preservation coverage; or
• guaranteed recovery.

Where participation is pending, the journal should describe the arrangement as planned or in progress rather than active.

When participation is confirmed, this page should identify:

• the preservation service;
• the general scope of preserved content;
• the date or stage from which deposits began;
• how participation may be verified where a public record exists; and
• any material limitation on coverage.

12. Content Included in Preservation Deposits

Preservation deposits should include as much of the complete publication record as the service and platform support.

This may include:

• article metadata;
• author and affiliation metadata;
• titles, abstracts, and keywords;
• issue and volume information;
• publication dates;
• DOIs and other identifiers;
• HTML and PDF article files;
• XML and machine-readable files;
• supplementary files;
• licensing and copyright information;
• references;
• funding and competing-interest declarations;
• data-availability statements;
• correction and retraction notices;
• links among related publication versions; and
• other materials supported by the preservation system.

13. Completeness of Deposits

The journal should monitor whether preservation deposits are complete.

Checks may include:

• whether every published issue is represented;
• whether all articles within an issue have been deposited;
• whether article files and metadata are present;
• whether supplementary files have been included where supported;
• whether corrections and retractions are deposited;
• whether deposit errors remain unresolved;
• whether newly published content is being harvested or transferred; and
• whether platform upgrades have interrupted preservation functions.

The journal should not assume that preservation remains active merely because it operated successfully at an earlier date.

14. File Integrity and Fixity

Where supported by the relevant systems, the publisher or preservation service should use checksums, fixity information, comparison procedures, or other mechanisms to detect whether a file has been altered or corrupted.

Integrity procedures should support:

• detection of accidental corruption;
• detection of incomplete transfer;
• comparison among preserved copies;
• replacement or repair of damaged copies;
• verification following migration;
• documentation of file changes; and
• preservation of the authentic Version of Record.

15. File Formats

FSSS seeks to use established, documented, and widely supported publication formats.

Depending on the type of content, preservation formats may include:

• PDF or an appropriate archival PDF profile;
• HTML;
• XML;
• plain-text formats;
• TIFF, PNG, or other documented image formats;
• CSV, TSV, JSON, or other documented data formats;
• plain-text source code;
• standard audio or video formats where relevant; and
• other formats accepted by the applicable archive.

Use of a proprietary format may be necessary for some scholarly materials. Where reasonably possible, an accessible and documented alternative should also be provided.

16. Format Migration

Digital formats, software, and rendering technologies may become obsolete.

FSSS authorises reasonable preservation actions necessary to maintain future usability, including:

• format migration;
• normalisation;
• technical conversion;
• creation of preservation copies;
• creation of access copies;
• repair of damaged files;
• extraction and preservation of embedded resources;
• updating of technical metadata; and
• other non-substantive technical transformations.

Preservation processing must not alter the scholarly meaning of the publication. Material editorial changes must be handled under the Corrections and Retractions Policy.

17. Persistent Identifiers

FSSS uses or may use persistent identifiers to support stable discovery and citation.

Relevant identifiers may include:

• Digital Object Identifiers for articles and notices;
• ISSNs for the journal;
• ORCID identifiers for authors;
• repository identifiers for datasets and code;
• grant and funder identifiers;
• article-version relationships; and
• other recognised persistent identifiers.

A DOI assists with persistent identification and redirection but does not, by itself, preserve the article files. DOI registration must therefore operate alongside actual preservation arrangements.

18. DOI Maintenance

The publisher should maintain DOI records and destination information where DOIs are assigned.

If the journal’s domain, platform, or article location changes, the publisher should:

• update DOI destination URLs;
• maintain redirects where reasonably possible;
• preserve article bibliographic metadata;
• update correction and retraction relationships;
• avoid assigning an unnecessary replacement DOI to an unchanged Version of Record; and
• coordinate with the relevant registration agency where preservation content is triggered.

19. Metadata Preservation

Preservation must include sufficient metadata to identify, interpret, locate, and manage the content.

Relevant metadata may include:

• journal title and abbreviation;
• ISSN;
• volume, issue, and publication date;
• article title;
• author names and affiliations;
• abstract and keywords;
• article type;
• DOI and other identifiers;
• copyright holder;
• licence information;
• publication and revision history;
• correction or retraction status;
• file format and technical characteristics;
• relationships to supplementary material, data, and code;
• preservation-event information; and
• provenance and version information.

20. Version Control

The journal preserves the distinction among:

• the submitted manuscript;
• the accepted manuscript;
• proof versions;
• the Version of Record;
• formally corrected versions;
• retracted versions;
• replacement or republished versions; and
• associated notices.

The Version of Record should not be altered silently where the change affects scholarly meaning, data, authorship, ethics, licensing, interpretation, or conclusions.

21. Corrections and Retractions

Corrections, expressions of concern, retractions, and other editorial notices are permanent components of the scholarly record.

Preservation arrangements should maintain:

• the original article;
• the relevant notice;
• reciprocal links between them;
• the date and reason for the update;
• the article’s current publication status;
• the marked or watermarked retracted version where applicable;
• updated DOI and metadata relationships; and
• earlier versions where preservation is legally and technically possible.

A retracted article should ordinarily remain preserved and clearly identified as retracted rather than being erased from the record.

22. Supplementary Materials

Supplementary files hosted by FSSS should be included in preservation arrangements where supported.

Authors should supply supplementary materials in stable, documented formats and should avoid:

• temporary download links;
• links requiring a personal account;
• files hosted only on a personal website;
• undocumented proprietary formats;
• password-protected files without an approved access process;
• external content that may disappear without notice; and
• files containing passwords, access tokens, or restricted personal information.

23. Research Data and Software

Research data, analytical code, software, protocols, and other research materials are governed principally by the Data Availability Policy.

Where these materials are deposited in an external repository:

• the article should contain a persistent identifier;
• the repository should provide appropriate preservation and access arrangements;
• the resource should be cited formally where applicable;
• licensing and reuse conditions should be clear;
• versions should be documented;
• changes should not be made silently; and
• the article should not rely solely on a temporary web link.

FSSS cannot guarantee the preservation of material held exclusively by an independent third-party repository. Authors should select repositories with credible long-term stewardship arrangements.

24. Self-Archiving and Repository Copies

Authors retain copyright and may deposit the Version of Record in appropriate repositories without an embargo, subject to the Copyright and Licensing Policy.

Repository copies should contain:

• the complete article citation;
• the DOI of the Version of Record;
• the copyright notice;
• the CC BY 4.0 licence statement;
• the publication status;
• links to corrections or retractions where applicable; and
• an indication of the deposited version.

Distributed repository copies increase access and resilience but do not remove the need for a coordinated preservation strategy.

25. Legal Deposit

Panorama Scholarly Group may deposit journal content with national libraries, legal-deposit bodies, or other authorised institutions where required or permitted by applicable law.

Legal deposit may supplement but does not automatically replace:

• independent digital-preservation participation;
• publisher backups;
• repository distribution;
• DOI maintenance;
• format migration; or
• continuity planning.

26. Website and Platform Migration

If FSSS changes its publishing platform, hosting provider, server, or domain, the publisher should seek to preserve:

• all published article and issue files;
• complete bibliographic metadata;
• DOI destination continuity;
• article URLs or appropriate redirects;
• publication histories;
• corrections and retraction relationships;
• supplementary files;
• licence and copyright information;
• preservation-service registration;
• deposit continuity;
• search-engine and indexing discoverability; and
• reader access with minimal interruption.

A platform migration should be verified before the previous system is permanently decommissioned.

27. Publisher or Ownership Transfer

If the journal is transferred to another publisher, institution, or owner, the transfer arrangements should address:

• custody of published content;
• continued public access;
• copyright and licensing commitments;
• DOI and domain management;
• preservation-service participation;
• article and issue metadata;
• correction and retraction responsibilities;
• archived editorial records;
• privacy and data-protection obligations;
• author and reader communications; and
• continuity of the scholarly record.

A transfer must not be used to remove legitimate correction or retraction information.

28. Temporary Service Interruption

Where the journal website becomes temporarily unavailable, the publisher should seek to:

• identify the cause of the interruption;
• protect the integrity of stored content;
• restore access from verified backups;
• communicate material service interruptions where possible;
• avoid republishing incomplete or unverified copies;
• confirm DOI resolution after restoration;
• verify preservation deposits following recovery; and
• document significant incidents and remedial action.

29. Disaster Recovery

The publisher’s continuity planning should consider risks including:

• hardware failure;
• data corruption;
• malware and ransomware;
• unauthorised access;
• accidental deletion;
• software incompatibility;
• failed platform upgrades;
• loss of hosting services;
• domain or DNS failure;
• power or network interruption;
• natural disaster;
• political or regulatory disruption;
• financial or organisational failure; and
• loss of essential personnel or credentials.

Independent preservation reduces reliance on the successful recovery of the publisher’s own operational systems.

30. Cessation of Publication

If FSSS ceases accepting new submissions or publishing new content, Panorama Scholarly Group should seek to maintain access to previously published material.

The publisher should, where reasonably possible:

• publish a notice explaining the journal’s status;
• keep the archive publicly accessible;
• maintain DOI resolution;
• continue preservation-service deposits through the final publication;
• notify the applicable preservation service;
• maintain access to corrections and retractions;
• preserve licence and copyright information;
• notify relevant indexing and abstracting services;
• retain an official journal contact for post-publication concerns; and
• activate or cooperate with trigger-event procedures where necessary.

31. Permanent Closure or Publisher Failure

Where Panorama Scholarly Group can no longer provide access, the publisher authorises an applicable preservation service, archive, successor organisation, library, or other authorised custodian to make preserved content available according to the relevant preservation agreement and licence terms.

Preserved content should remain connected to:

• the original journal title;
• the original authors;
• the original publication citation;
• the article DOI;
• the original copyright holder;
• the CC BY 4.0 licence;
• corrections and retractions;
• publication-history information; and
• other information necessary to interpret the record accurately.

32. Security and Access Control

Preservation and backup systems may contain confidential administrative and editorial information in addition to published content.

Access controls should:

• limit administrative access to authorised personnel;
• use appropriate authentication measures;
• protect passwords, encryption keys, and recovery credentials;
• separate public preservation content from confidential editorial records where possible;
• record material administrative actions where supported;
• remove access when personnel roles change;
• protect transferred files against interception or alteration; and
• comply with applicable privacy and data-protection requirements.

33. Preservation of Confidential Editorial Records

Confidential peer-review and editorial records are not ordinarily made publicly accessible through preservation arrangements.

Such records may be retained separately for legitimate purposes including:

• documentation of editorial decisions;
• publication-ethics investigations;
• complaints and appeals;
• legal or regulatory compliance;
• security and fraud prevention;
• audit and quality assurance; and
• defence or exercise of legal rights.

Retention of confidential editorial records must be distinguished from preservation of publicly published scholarly content.

34. Responsibilities of the Publisher

Panorama Scholarly Group is responsible for:

• maintaining appropriate operational backups;
• supporting system recovery;
• maintaining publication files and metadata;
• seeking independent preservation coverage;
• monitoring deposit status;
• maintaining DOI records;
• preserving corrections and retractions;
• managing platform and domain transitions;
• documenting significant preservation failures;
• providing accurate public information about preservation status;
• notifying preservation services of relevant organisational changes; and
• reviewing the preservation strategy periodically.

35. Responsibilities of the Editorial Office

The FSSS Editorial Office should:

• ensure that final article files are complete;
• verify that metadata are accurate;
• maintain links between articles and post-publication notices;
• report missing or failed preservation deposits;
• avoid silent alteration of the Version of Record;
• ensure that supplementary files are identified correctly;
• coordinate preservation of corrections and retractions;
• retain necessary publication-history information; and
• refer technical preservation issues to authorised publisher personnel.

36. Responsibilities of Authors

Authors support preservation by:

• providing complete and accurate manuscript files;
• using stable and documented file formats;
• providing complete metadata;
• supplying persistent identifiers for data and code;
• obtaining rights necessary for long-term publication and preservation;
• identifying third-party material and licence restrictions;
• avoiding temporary links as the sole location for supporting material;
• retaining original research records;
• notifying the journal of material errors; and
• updating repository copies following correction or retraction where reasonably possible.

37. Preservation Audit and Review

The publisher should review preservation arrangements periodically and following significant operational changes.

The review may consider:

• whether independent preservation remains active;
• whether newly published issues are being deposited;
• whether deposit errors have been resolved;
• whether backups are functioning and restorable;
• whether storage arrangements remain secure;
• whether file formats remain usable;
• whether DOI links remain accurate;
• whether corrections and retractions are preserved;
• whether platform upgrades affected preservation plugins;
• whether preservation terms or eligibility requirements changed;
• whether public statements remain accurate; and
• whether additional preservation arrangements are necessary.

38. Preservation Incidents

A material preservation incident may include:

• loss of published article files;
• corruption of archived content;
• failed or incomplete deposits;
• loss of DOI resolution;
• missing issues or supplementary files;
• disappearance of a repository resource;
• failure of backup restoration;
• unauthorised alteration of the Version of Record;
• loss of links to corrections or retractions;
• termination of a preservation agreement; or
• another event threatening continuing access.

The publisher should investigate the cause, restore content from a verified source, document significant corrective action, and update public information where the incident materially affects access.

39. Limitations

FSSS seeks to maintain robust preservation arrangements but cannot guarantee that every file will remain accessible in every format indefinitely.

Preservation may be affected by:

• failure of a third-party service;
• legal restrictions;
• unresolvable third-party rights;
• corruption existing before deposit;
• unsupported or obsolete formats;
• missing files not supplied to the journal;
• confidentiality or privacy requirements;
• security or public-safety restrictions;
• catastrophic events affecting multiple preservation locations; or
• other circumstances beyond reasonable publisher control.

The journal will nevertheless take reasonable measures to prevent loss, maintain redundant access routes, and restore content where possible.

40. Complaints and Preservation Concerns

Authors, readers, libraries, repositories, and other interested parties may report concerns including:

• missing articles or issues;
• broken DOI links;
• unavailable supplementary files;
• incorrect archived versions;
• missing corrections or retraction notices;
• preservation-status claims that appear inaccurate;
• corrupted or unreadable files;
• inconsistencies between HTML and PDF versions;
• loss of repository access; or
• another matter affecting long-term accessibility.

Concerns will be handled under this policy and, where applicable, the Complaints and Appeals Policy.

41. Policy Review

Digital-preservation technologies, standards, services, and risks continue to develop. FSSS may revise this policy in response to:

• changes in the journal’s preservation services;
• changes in Open Journal Systems;
• changes in preservation-service eligibility or terms;
• platform or hosting migration;
• new file formats or publication types;
• new security or integrity risks;
• changes in legal requirements;
• changes in publishing standards; or
• experience gained from preservation incidents and audits.

The journal should update this page when a preservation service is activated, discontinued, or materially changed.

42. Standards and Services Informing This Policy

This policy is informed by recognised digital-preservation systems and practices, including:

• PKP Preservation Network;
• LOCKSS Program;
• CLOCKSS Archive;
• Portico; and
• other recognised library, repository, persistent-identifier, and digital-preservation practices applicable to scholarly publishing.

Reference to a preservation service means that its methods or requirements inform this policy. It does not imply current participation, certification, endorsement, or complete preservation coverage unless this page states that participation has been verified.

43. Current Preservation Status

FSSS will publish verified preservation information in this section after the applicable service has accepted the journal and successful content deposit has been confirmed.

Until such confirmation is available, references to PKP PN, LOCKSS, CLOCKSS, Portico, or another service describe planned or potential preservation arrangements rather than verified active coverage.

The publisher will update this section when:

• an independent preservation service becomes active;
• the first successful content deposit is confirmed;
• the scope of preservation coverage changes;
• a preservation arrangement is suspended or terminated; or
• a different long-term preservation service is adopted.

44. Contact

Questions concerning journal preservation, missing archived content, failed DOI links, unavailable supplementary files, platform migration, or cessation-of-publication arrangements should be directed to the FSSS Editorial Office through the official contact information provided on the journal website.

Correspondence should include, where available:

• the article or issue title;
• the volume and issue number;
• the DOI or publication URL;
• the affected file or resource;
• a description of the preservation or access problem;
• the date on which the problem was observed;
• screenshots or technical information where relevant; and
• the sender’s contact information.