Uploaded manuscript files, extracted manuscript content and author-facing assessment reports are ordinarily deleted from active storage 90 days after report release. A verified user may request earlier deletion. Encrypted backup copies ordinarily expire within 30 additional days, subject only to the limited lawful exceptions stated below.
1. Purpose of this policy
EAIPAM processes unpublished manuscripts and related information to provide manuscript-integrity assessments, including plagiarism and similarity analysis where included in the selected service.
This policy is intended to explain the categories of information that may be retained, why they are retained, when deletion may occur and when limited records may need to remain available for legal, security, payment, audit or dispute purposes.
2. Retention principles
EAIPAM applies the following principles:
- Information should be retained only for a defined and legitimate purpose.
- Manuscript files and extracted manuscript content should not be retained longer than reasonably necessary for the selected service and related authorised purposes.
- Manuscripts, reports, account information, payment records, security logs and audit records are treated as separate information categories.
- Deleting or hiding an item from an author-facing dashboard does not necessarily delete the administrator's audit record or information that must be retained for another lawful purpose.
- Records required for legal, security, taxation, accounting, fraud-prevention, audit or dispute purposes may be retained after manuscript or report access has ended.
- Authorised service providers should receive only the information reasonably necessary for their function and should be subject to appropriate confidentiality, security, retention and deletion requirements.
- Temporary processing files should be removed when they are no longer reasonably necessary for the assessment or report workflow.
3. Current manuscript and report deletion workflow
The platform's current operational workflow distinguishes between pending manuscripts, manuscripts already under assessment and released reports.
- A pending manuscript may be eligible for permanent deletion through the author workflow before analysis has started.
- Once analysis has started, manuscript deletion through the standard author dashboard may be restricted so that the active assessment and related audit record are not disrupted.
- A released report may be removed from the author's dashboard where that option is available. This is a dashboard-visibility action and does not by itself delete the administrator's retained audit copy.
- For Comprehensive Manuscript Analysis, the Plagiarism & Similarity Report and the EAIPAM Integrity Report are separate outputs but are released together. Author-facing removal applies to the released report package rather than silently deleting only one of the two reports.
Where a user requests permanent deletion beyond the self-service workflow, EAIPAM may review the request subject to identity verification, technical feasibility, legal obligations, security needs and legitimate audit requirements.
4. Standard retention period
EAIPAM applies a standard 90-day active-storage period to uploaded manuscripts, extracted manuscript content and author-facing reports, calculated from the date on which the completed report is released.
A verified user may request earlier deletion after downloading any report they wish to retain. EAIPAM will action an eligible request without undue delay and normally within 30 days of identity and authority verification.
Any minimal audit, transaction, consent or security record retained after content deletion will not ordinarily contain the complete manuscript and remains subject to the separate periods and lawful exceptions described below.
5. Retention schedule
| Information category | Retention approach | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Uploaded manuscript files | Until 90 days after release of the completed report, unless earlier deletion is requested and no lawful exception applies | Assessment, report generation, quality control and authorised support |
| Extracted manuscript content | Until 90 days after release of the completed report, aligned with the related uploaded manuscript | Reference, citation, scientific, evidence and similarity assessment |
| Plagiarism and similarity report files | Until 90 days after report release, unless the user downloads and requests earlier deletion or a lawful exception applies | Report delivery, editorial review, correction and authorised record keeping |
| Assessment findings and EAIPAM reports | Until 90 days after report release, followed by deletion or de-identification except for a minimal audit record | Assessment delivery, quality control and audit |
| Account information | While the account remains active and normally for 30 days after a verified closure request, subject to lawful exceptions | Authentication, account administration, support and dispute resolution |
| Payment and invoice records | For the period required by applicable tax, accounting, payment and legal obligations | Transaction verification, refunds, accounting and compliance |
| Consent and policy-acceptance records | For up to three years after account closure where needed to demonstrate consent, policy acceptance or dispute history | Compliance, audit and dispute resolution |
| Security and access logs | Normally for up to 12 months, or longer where required for an active security investigation or by law | Security monitoring, incident investigation and fraud prevention |
| Support communications | Normally for up to 24 months after closure of the request, complaint or dispute | Customer support, complaints and service administration |
| Encrypted backup copies | Until expiry of the backup cycle, ordinarily no later than 30 days after deletion from active storage | Disaster recovery and service continuity |
6. Manuscripts and extracted content
Manuscript-related information may include:
- The original uploaded manuscript file.
- Temporary converted or parsed copies.
- Extracted manuscript text.
- Extracted references, citations and claims.
- Similarity percentages, matching source information and manuscript locations identified in a Plagiarism & Similarity Report.
- Intermediate assessment information that can reasonably be linked to the manuscript.
Temporary processing files should be deleted when they are no longer reasonably necessary for completing the assessment, generating the report, resolving a technical issue or meeting another authorised purpose.
Processing and retention of a manuscript does not transfer ownership of the manuscript to EAIPAM.
7. Assessment reports
Assessment reports are ordinarily retained for 90 days after release to allow the authorised user and EAIPAM to:
- Access and download a released report.
- Review identified findings.
- Request or perform an authorised correction or clarification.
- Compare authorised report versions.
- Maintain an appropriate editorial and audit record.
Where Comprehensive Manuscript Analysis is selected, the Plagiarism & Similarity Report and EAIPAM Integrity Report remain separate report outputs. They are not mathematically combined and are released together under the Comprehensive workflow.
Removing a released report from the author dashboard does not by itself delete the administrator's audit copy. A newly released revised report may become visible again in accordance with the applicable workflow.
Users should download reports they wish to retain independently.
8. Account information
Account information may be retained while the account is active to provide authentication, manuscript access, report access, payment access and support.
Following account closure, EAIPAM may retain limited account information where reasonably necessary for:
- Verifying the closure request.
- Preventing fraud or repeated misuse.
- Resolving payment disputes.
- Responding to legal claims.
- Demonstrating policy acceptance or consent.
- Meeting applicable legal obligations.
9. Payment and transaction records
Payment, invoice, refund, discount, UTR, receipt and tax records may be retained for longer than uploaded manuscripts where required for transaction verification, accounting, taxation, refunds, disputes or compliance.
These records may include:
- Order and submission numbers.
- Transaction or UTR identifiers.
- Payment amount and status.
- Invoice and tax information.
- Discount, refund, credit and chargeback records.
EAIPAM should not retain complete payment-card credentials or complete online-banking credentials.
10. Security, audit and processing logs
EAIPAM may retain access, authentication, processing, payment, report-release, audit and security logs for the period reasonably necessary to:
- Detect unauthorised access.
- Investigate security incidents.
- Prevent fraud and service abuse.
- Demonstrate assessment and report workflow activity.
- Support disaster recovery.
- Resolve disputes.
- Comply with applicable legal requirements.
Security and audit logs may remain after manuscript or report deletion, but they should not contain complete manuscript content unless reasonably necessary for a documented security, legal or dispute-related purpose.
11. Backups
Deleted files may remain temporarily in encrypted or access-restricted backup systems until the applicable backup cycle expires.
Backup copies should not ordinarily be restored or used except for:
- Disaster recovery.
- Service restoration.
- Security investigation.
- Another authorised and documented purpose.
Where a backup is restored, previously deleted data should be re-deleted where technically feasible and no longer required.
Following deletion from active storage, encrypted backup copies ordinarily expire within 30 days. They are access-restricted and are not used for routine assessment, product development or AI-model training.
12. Account closure
When a user closes an account, EAIPAM should begin the applicable account-deletion or retention process.
Before account closure, the user should download any assessment reports they wish to keep.
Account closure does not necessarily require immediate deletion of:
- Payment and invoice records.
- Consent and policy-acceptance records.
- Security and fraud-prevention logs.
- Assessment or report audit records that must reasonably be retained.
- Information required for an unresolved dispute.
- Records that must be retained under applicable law.
13. Permanent deletion requests
An authorised user may request permanent deletion of eligible manuscript files, extracted content, report files or personal information. Such a request is subject to identity verification, ownership or authority, technical feasibility and any applicable legal or audit requirement.
A deletion request should identify:
- The account holder's name.
- The registered email address.
- The submission or assessment number.
- The manuscript, report or information to be deleted.
- The scope of the requested deletion.
EAIPAM may request reasonable information to verify the requester's identity, account ownership and authority before deleting material.
Deletion-request email: eaipm.admin@gmail.com
Privacy contact: eaipm.admin@gmail.com
14. When deletion may be limited
EAIPAM may delay, restrict or partially refuse deletion where retention is reasonably necessary for:
- Compliance with applicable law.
- Tax, accounting or transaction requirements.
- Security or fraud investigation.
- Establishment, exercise or defence of a legal claim.
- Resolution of a payment or service dispute.
- Protection of users, systems, intellectual property or legal rights.
- Preservation of a necessary assessment or report audit trail.
Where complete deletion cannot immediately be performed, access should be restricted and the information should not be used for unrelated purposes.
15. Third-party service providers
EAIPAM may use authorised service providers for hosting, databases, secure storage, authentication, email, payments, scholarly-data access, monitoring, security and defined analytical functions.
Service-provider contracts and technical settings should, where applicable, require providers to:
- Process information only for authorised purposes.
- Apply appropriate security and confidentiality safeguards.
- Retain information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the authorised function.
- Delete or return eligible data when appropriately instructed.
- Restrict access after the relevant retention period or processing purpose ends.
- Support verified deletion requests where technically and legally possible.
EAIPAM maintains an internal record of service providers that receive manuscript content or confidential assessment information, including the categories of information received, processing purpose and applicable retention or deletion terms. Access is limited to what is necessary for the authorised service.
Relevant provider information should also be reflected in the Privacy Policy.
16. Legal holds and disputes
EAIPAM may temporarily suspend normal deletion where information is reasonably necessary for an active legal claim, regulatory request, fraud investigation, payment dispute, assessment dispute or security incident.
Information placed under a legal or investigative hold should be restricted to the relevant purpose and returned to the normal retention process when the hold is no longer necessary.
17. Confirmation of deletion
Following a verified deletion request, EAIPAM may confirm that eligible information has been removed from active systems or scheduled for deletion.
A deletion confirmation may distinguish between:
- Deletion from active storage.
- Expiry from encrypted backups.
- Dashboard removal that does not delete an administrator audit record.
- Records retained for legal, security, payment, audit or dispute purposes.
- Information whose deletion remains pending with an authorised service provider, where applicable.
18. Changes to retention periods
EAIPAM may update retention practices to reflect changes in its services, technical systems, security controls or legal obligations.
Material changes should be communicated through an updated policy and, where appropriate, direct notice to affected users.
A materially longer retention period should not be applied to existing manuscripts for a new purpose without an appropriate notice and lawful basis.
19. Contact information
EAIPAM operating entity: EAIPAM Team
Privacy contact: eaipm.admin@gmail.com
Deletion-request email: eaipm.admin@gmail.com
Country of operation: India