Privacy Policy: eLife Preprint Recommender Chrome Extension

Effective Date: 2025-07-07
Last Updated: 2025-07-07

This Chrome extension, eLife Preprint Recommender, is designed to help researchers recommend articles from bioRxiv and medRxiv to eLife for consideration. Your privacy is important to us. This policy explains what data we collect, how we use it, and your rights as a user.

📄 What This Extension Does

When installed, this extension:

• Adds a "Recommend to eLife" button to bioRxiv and medRxiv article pages

• Lets users input their name to recommend a preprint

• Collects the article’s title, authors, DOI, and the recommender’s name

• Sends that information to a secure eLife-accessible spreadsheet via a webhook

🔐 What Data We Collect

We collect the following only when you click the recommend button and choose to submit:

• Your name (as you entered)

• Article metadata (title, DOI, authors)

• Timestamp of submission

We do not collect:

• Your email address

• Your browsing history

• Any personal data unrelated to the recommend action

📦 Where Your Data Goes

The submitted data is:

• Sent via HTTPS to a secure Make.com webhook

• Stored in a private Google Sheet accessible only to eLife staff

• Used solely for the purpose of inviting authors to consider publishing with eLife

💻 What We Store Locally

The extension uses chrome.storage.local to remember your name between sessions so you don’t need to retype it. This is stored only in your browser and is not shared externally.

🚫 No Tracking or Advertising

This extension:

• Does not use cookies

• Does not track you across the web

• Does not display ads or share data with advertisers

🔧 Permissions Justification

The extension requests:

• activeTab: to access the current article page when the user clicks the extension

• storage: to remember the user’s name

• Host permissions (https://www.biorxiv.org/*, https://www.medrxiv.org/*): to extract metadata from article pages

These permissions are used only to support the functionality described above and are not used to collect any other user data.

📬 Contact Us

If you have questions about this privacy policy or how your data is used, please contact:
eLife Sciences
📧 [email protected]

🛡️ Your Rights

You have the right to:

• Request deletion of data you’ve submitted

• Stop using the extension at any time by removing it from Chrome