Effective Date: October 1, 2025
Governing Authority: Directorate of OER & Webometrics, Mountain Top University
Legal Framework: Nigeria Data Protection Act (NDPA 2023) & International Scholarly Data Ethics
1. Introduction and Scope
This Cookie Policy outlines the categories of browser cookies, local storage mechanisms, and digital session tokens utilized across the Mountain Top University Scholarly Publishing Network (including the central portal at
journals.mtu.edu.ng and autonomous faculty journal nodes
MUJAST,
JESD, and
JHUMASS).
By accessing the journal portal, scholars, reviewers, authors, and public readers are empowered to manage their data preferences while understanding the technical necessities required for secure double-blind editorial operations.
2. What are Cookies and Web Storage?
Cookies are compact alphanumeric files stored on your computer or mobile device by a web browser. Modern web applications also utilize
HTML5 Local Storage and
Secure Session Tokens to preserve user state and session continuity across domain namespaces.
Mountain Top University does not deploy third-party advertising networks, surveillance trackers, or data broker beacons on our scholarly publishing infrastructure.
3. Categories of Cookies Employed
3.1 Strictly Necessary (Essential) Technologies
These technologies are technically imperative to enable core website functionalities. The platform cannot function correctly without them, and they cannot be deactivated:
- Authentication Credentials (auth_token): JSON Web Token (JWT) credentials that verify active sessions for authors, editorial board members, reviewers, and university administrators across .mtu.edu.ng and subdomains.
- Journal Node Routing & Scoping: Stores the active faculty journal node selection (admin_active_scope, x-journal-subdomain) ensuring manuscript submissions and board triage route to the correct editorial hierarchy.
- Security & CSRF Protection: Cryptographic hashes verifying that requests originate from legitimate users, preventing cross-site scripting and unauthorized editorial impersonation.
3.2 Functional & Academic Preferences
These settings remember user choices to provide a tailored research reading environment:
- Reading Progress Tracking: Records scroll completion percentages across lengthy scholarly articles so scholars can resume where they left off.
- Visual Display Settings: Stores dark/light mode preference (mtu-theme) and customized editorial table view layouts.
- Cookie Consent Preference (mtu_cookie_consent): Records your customized cookie preference choices for 365 days so you are not prompted repeatedly.
3.3 Readership & Impact Analytics
These analytics collect aggregated, anonymized metrics without profiling individual scholars:
- Article Usage & Download Counts: Measures how many times published peer-reviewed PDFs and galleys are downloaded, assisting university faculties in assessing research impact and citation discovery.
- Country and Institutional Reach: Determines geographical readership distribution for Crossref and DOAJ reporting, demonstrating the global dissemination of MTU scientific discoveries.
4. Managing and Revoking Your Consent
You maintain full agency over non-essential cookies on this platform:
- 1
- 2
5. Amendments to this Policy
The Mountain Top University Senate and Editorial Committee may periodically update this Cookie Policy to reflect technical infrastructure updates or statutory data protection enactments. Material modifications will be flagged in the editorial announcement bulletins.
6. Institutional Inquiries
For data protection inquiries or to exercise statutory privacy rights under the NDPA:
- Email: journals@mtu.edu.ng
- Physical Address: Directorate of OER & Webometrics, Mountain Top University, Km 12 Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Prayer City, Ogun State, Nigeria
