The Netherlands Journal of Critical Care (Neth. J. Crit. Care) is committed to the long-term preservation, accessibility, and integrity of its published scholarly record. The journal recognizes that digital preservation is essential to ensuring that published research remains available to researchers, healthcare professionals, libraries, and the wider academic community over time.

1. Digital Preservation

The journal maintains digital copies of published articles and journal issues in stable, preservation-oriented formats. Published content may include full-text PDF and XML files, together with article metadata, references, figures, tables, supplementary materials, and publication information.

The journal aims to maintain multiple copies and appropriate backups to reduce the risk of permanent data loss resulting from technical failure, accidental deletion, security incidents, or other unforeseen events.

2. Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs)

Where applicable, each published article is assigned a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) to provide a persistent and reliable means of identification and citation.

DOIs and associated metadata are registered through an appropriate DOI registration agency. Persistent identifiers support long-term discoverability and linking of scholarly content. Crossref supports the inclusion of archive locations within DOI metadata and recognizes preservation services such as CLOCKSS, Internet Archive, Portico, and others.

The journal will make reasonable efforts to ensure that DOI metadata remains accurate and that DOI links continue to resolve to the appropriate article landing page.

3. Preservation of PDF and XML Files

The journal preserves published articles in PDF and XML formats where available.

PDF provides a stable representation of the published article, while XML supports structured content, metadata exchange, indexing, accessibility, and long-term digital preservation.

The journal may migrate or convert files to updated preservation-friendly formats when technological changes make this necessary, while making reasonable efforts to preserve the authenticity and integrity of the scholarly record.

4. Secure Digital Repositories

Published journal content may be deposited in secure digital repositories and recognized scholarly preservation services to provide additional protection against loss or disruption of access.

Where preservation arrangements are established, the journal may use recognized services such as CLOCKSS, Portico, LOCKSS, PKP Preservation Network, Internet Archive, institutional repositories, or other appropriate archival services.

Crossref's current documentation identifies CLOCKSS, Internet Archive, Portico, PKP Preservation Network, and other organizations among recognized archive locations.

5. Archive.com / Internet Archive

Where technically and legally appropriate, the journal may preserve publicly available journal content through the Internet Archive or its relevant archival services.

Such archival copies provide an additional layer of protection and may help maintain access to published scholarly material if the journal website becomes temporarily unavailable.

The journal does not rely exclusively on any single external archive and may use multiple preservation mechanisms where feasible.

6. Long-Term Archiving

The journal aims to preserve the complete scholarly record, including:

• Published articles
• Complete journal issues
• Article metadata
• DOI information
• References and citations
• Tables and figures
• Supplementary files, where applicable
• Corrections and post-publication notices
• Retraction and expression-of-concern notices

Established preservation services such as CLOCKSS are designed to preserve complete scholarly content and associated metadata for long-term access.

7. Backup and Redundancy

The journal maintains appropriate backup procedures to reduce the risk of data loss. Where feasible, backups may be maintained in geographically or technically separate locations.

Redundant preservation is intended to ensure that the scholarly record remains recoverable in the event of hardware failure, software failure, cyber incidents, natural disasters, or other disruptions.

8. Preservation of the Scholarly Record

The journal is committed to maintaining the integrity of the published record. Corrections, retractions, expressions of concern, and other post-publication notices will be appropriately linked to the relevant publication and retained as part of the scholarly record.

Archived content will not be altered without appropriate editorial authorization. Where an article requires correction or retraction, the journal will preserve the publication history and clearly identify the relevant post-publication action.

9. Website or Publisher Discontinuation

If the journal website or publishing platform becomes unavailable, the journal will make reasonable efforts to maintain access to published content through established archival copies, DOI infrastructure, and other preservation arrangements.

Long-term preservation services such as CLOCKSS are specifically designed to provide continued preservation of scholarly content in the event that publisher-hosted access becomes unavailable.

10. Commitment to Continued Accessibility

The Netherlands Journal of Critical Care recognizes digital preservation as an ongoing responsibility rather than a one-time activity. The journal will periodically review its preservation practices and may adopt additional trusted repositories, archival technologies, persistent identifiers, and preservation standards as appropriate.

The journal's objective is to ensure that published research remains authentic, identifiable, discoverable, and accessible for future generations of researchers and healthcare professionals.