About the Journal

"Journal of Personal Data Protection Law" is a bilingual, international scientific publication of the Personal Data Protection Service of Georgia, that is operated under the guidance of the international Editorial Board. It’s establishment marks the fourth anniversary of the application of the "General Data Protection Regulation" (GDPR). The Journal's primary focus is conducting the comparative legal discourse on public law and creating the scholarly forum for researchers. It aims to provide the legal analysis of topical issues, to highlight the best practices and raise public awareness. The mission of the Journal is to facilitate the process of harmonization of Georgian Law on Personal Data Protection with European legislation and internationally recognized standards, as well as to share the outcomes of the field-related studies with the academic circle, legal practitioners and, in general, individuals interested in data protection and the right to privacy.

The “Journal of Personal Data Protection Law” is published twice a year, in the form of two independent Georgian and English-language issues (International Standard Serial Numbers for the printed versions are P-ISSN 2720-8753 (for the Georgian edition); P-ISSN 2720-8745 (English edition), and for the electronic version — E-ISSN 2720-8761). It publishes scientific papers in the field of fundamental human rights and freedoms, especially papers authored in the area of personal data protection law, including, scientific article, academic review, analysis of legal practice, translation of a foreign scientific paper.

The first issue of 2023 of the “Journal of Personal Data Protection Law” was published and dedicated to the International Data Protection Day – January 28^th. The publication is openly accessible via the web page — https://journal.pdps.ge/?leng=eng.

About Editorial Board

In order to strengthen the scientific status of the Journal, promote its international recognition, internationalization process and its international scientific indexing in the relevant databases, the Journal has an Editorial Council that manages the publishing process.

The Editorial Board is an advisory body of the Journal, which is membered by the academic personnel of Georgian and foreign Universities, the qualified representatives of the legal practice and the scientific-research institutes operating in the field of the Journal.

Editor-in-Chief:

Prof. Dr. Dr. Lela Janashvili

President of the Personal Data Protection Service of Georgia

Professor at Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University

Visiting Professor at the Autonomous University in Barcelona

Members of the Editorial Board:

Prof. Dr. Giorgi Khubua, Professor at Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University; Rector of Steinbeis University Berlin;

Prof. Dr. Paata Turava, Professor at Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University;

Dr. Otar Chakhunashvili, Visiting Lecturer at Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University;

Prof. Dr. Norbert Bernsdorff, Professor at Philipps University of Marburg; A Retired Judge at the Federal Social Court of Germany;

Prof. Dr. Gerd Winter, Professor at the University of Bremen;

Prof. Dr. Juan Ramón Ferreiro Galguera, Professor at the University of Oviedo;

Prof. Dr. Roser Martínez, Professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona;

Prof. Dr. José Julio Fernández Rodríguez, Professor at the University of Santiago de Compostela;

Prof. Dr. Tanel Kerikmäe, Professor at Tallinn University of Technology;

Prof. Dr. Tihomir Katulić, Professor at the University of Zagreb;

Dr. Endre Győző Szabó, Vice-President of the Hungarian National Authority for Data Protection and Freedom of Information;

Ashwinee Kumar, Master of the University of Göttingen (L.L.M.); Ph.D. Researcher at the Free University of Brussels.

The Editorial Board of the Journal makes decisions on publishing in accordance with the principles of fairness, integrity and impartiality, as well as the editorial policy, academic and ethical standards of the Journal.

Academic requirements and other information regarding the submission of the scientific papers:

• The submission is open from April 12 to July 31.

The following shall benefit from the right to publish scientific papers:

• Professorship, academic staff members, visiting lecturers of Georgian and foreign Universities, scientific-research institutions, along with the Ph.D. students, Master and Doctoral degree holders;
• Legal practitioners of the field;
• Authors other than those above who prepare a publication upon the request/invitation of the member of the Editorial Board.

A scientific article submitted for publication in a journal can be authored by one person or co-authored by several people

The following documentation is requested to be sent to the Journal’s official e-mail address (journal@pdps.ge):

Completed application to the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal;
Scientific paper in Georgian and English languages, which include abstract and keywords (not exceeding 250 words in sum), the full text of the paper (not more than 20 pages), bibliography;
in the case of authors without a doctoral degree — a positive review/assessment is essential, which is to be provided by a supervisor or a legal specialist representing the field of research.

Academic Citation Standard:

The paper submitted for publication in a Journal must be authored in accordance with academic integrity and the academic citation standards of the Journal. At the stage of preparing the paper, it is advisable to cite relevant foreign sources.

The Georgian version of the paper should be composed with font: "Sylfaen" in size of 12, as for the foreign texts - with font: "Times New Roman" in size of 12, footnotes in size of 10 with the same fonts. The distance between the lines — one inch.

Peer Review and Publishing of the Paper:

The author is authorized to act within the limits of academic freedom complying with these principles of the editorial policy of the Journal, standards of academic integrity and ethics. The paper submitted for publication must not contain discriminatory text, hate speech, unethical assessments and insulting/derogatory opinions or personal criticism. The content of the paper must be created with respect for the right to privacy of third parties and the protection of personal data.

By submitting the paper for publication in Journal, the author confirms that the research paper has been carried out in compliance with the academic integrity and the authentic scientific sources used in it are properly cited. In case of the use or/and misappropriation of research/publication/paper of third parties without proper citation and marking, as well as in the event of identification of inaccurate information following the publication of the paper, the liability is imposed on the author pursuant to Georgian legislation.

Reviewers will be selected for the double peer-review of the submitted papers in compliance with the Journal’s editorial policy and ethical standards. The review of scientific articles is mutually confidential, therefore, the identity of the author is unknown to the reviewer of the paper, and vice versa — the identity of the reviewer is unknown to the author. The anonymity of reviewers is ensured at any stage of the evaluation process of the paper as well as after its completion and publication in Journal. The research paper is evaluated within the deadline set by the Editorial Board of the Journal via the special review form.

At the stage of evaluation and reporting, the reviewer performs in compliance with the standards of independence, integrity, objectivity and the relevant assessment rules. As a result of the evaluation of the paper, the reviewer may provide certain technical instructions and give one of the following recommendations:

1. a) The paper may be published (positive review);
2. b) Recommendation to publish a paper in the next issue if substantial or technical changes are required (positive review);
3. c) The paper is not subjected to publication (negative review).

A review of a scientific paper is considered successful if both reviewers issue positive reviews. If, according to the peer-reviewed assessment, the paper requires substantial content and technical editing before publication, the author is obliged to take into account the recommendation, after which the Editor-in-Chief will decide on its publication on the basis of the assessment of its quality. If one of the reviewer's assessments is negative, the evaluation is sent to the author to take into account the relevant comments and further adjust the paper. The final decision on the publication of the paper is made by the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal.

Publishing a scientific paper in the Journal of Personal Data Protection is free of charge.