SciBeacon

Summary: These Terms form a binding contract with our Privacy policy and Disclaimer (together, the "Legal & Data Agreement"). Registration constitutes acceptance of all three documents (version 2026-06-06).

1. ACCEPTANCE AND THE LEGAL & DATA AGREEMENT

These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your access to SciBeacon. By creating an account, checking the agreement box at registration, or using the service, you enter a binding contract with us and confirm that you agree to:

These Terms of service
The Privacy policy (data processing, patient privacy, encryption, AI safeguards)
The Disclaimer (AI limitations, professional responsibility, liability)

Together these documents are the Legal & Data Agreement. We record your acceptance with timestamp and version for compliance audit. If you disagree with any part, do not register or use the platform.

2. ELIGIBILITY

You must be at least 18 years old (or the age of majority in your jurisdiction) and able to form a binding contract. Use for academic or professional research must comply with your institution's policies, ethics approvals, and applicable law.

3. THE SERVICE

SciBeacon provides software for literature search, screening, methodology planning, statistical support, manuscript preparation, and related research workflows. Features may change, require administrator approval, or incur third-party API costs. We do not guarantee outcomes from journals, ethics committees, regulators, or funders.

3a. PLANNED MAINTENANCE AND SERVICE AVAILABILITY

SciBeacon may perform planned server updates, migrations, security patches, or infrastructure changes that temporarily interrupt some or all features. Where practicable, we provide advance notice through in-app announcements (typically at least 48 hours before significant planned downtime). Maintenance windows may affect availability of research sessions, AI features, exports, and integrations. We do not guarantee uninterrupted or error-free operation of the platform.

4. DATA AGREEMENT — YOUR OBLIGATIONS

The data agreement in the Privacy policy and Disclaimer imposes the following contractual duties on you:

Do not submit patient-identifiable information or PHI unless explicitly authorised with appropriate safeguards.
Ensure a lawful basis for processing any personal data you upload (consent, legitimate interest, or legal obligation as applicable).
Protect account credentials and limit workspace access to authorised colleagues.
Review all AI outputs with human-in-the-loop oversight before professional or publication use.
Notify us and your data protection officer promptly of any suspected data breach.

We process your content solely to provide requested features, with encryption and access controls as described in the Privacy policy.

5. YOUR CONTENT AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

You retain ownership of content you submit.
You grant us a limited, non-exclusive licence to process that content solely to operate the service and fulfil your requests.
You must not submit unlawful material, malware, others' confidential data without permission, or content that infringes third-party rights.
You are responsible for accuracy, citations, authorship, and final manuscripts you publish.

6. ACCEPTABLE USE

You agree not to:

Reverse engineer, scrape, or overload the platform
Share credentials or bypass access controls
Use the service to produce misleading clinical or legal advice for patients or courts
Violate research ethics, plagiarism rules, or applicable regulations
Circumvent patient-data prohibitions described in the Privacy policy

7. AI OUTPUTS AND HUMAN REVIEW

AI-generated content may be incomplete, biased, or incorrect. You must verify outputs before reliance. Human-in-the-loop review is mandatory at critical steps. See the Disclaimer for full limitations.

8. FEES AND THIRD-PARTY SERVICES

Your organisation may bear costs for LLM and database usage (see Analytics). Third-party providers (model APIs, literature sources, hosting) operate under their own terms and privacy policies.

9. SUSPENSION AND TERMINATION

We may suspend or terminate access for breach of this Legal & Data Agreement, security risk, or non-payment where applicable. You may stop using the service at any time. Upon termination, data handling follows the Privacy policy retention rules.

10. DISCLAIMERS AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

The service is provided "as is" without warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we are not liable for indirect, incidental, or consequential damages arising from use of the service, reliance on AI outputs, or regulatory non-compliance linked to your submissions.

11. INDEMNITY

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless SciBeacon and its operators against claims, losses, and costs arising from your content, breach of the Legal & Data Agreement, misuse of patient data, or violation of law—except where caused by our gross negligence or wilful misconduct.

12. GOVERNING LAW

These Terms are governed by the laws applicable to the entity operating SciBeacon, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. Exclusive venue lies in that jurisdiction unless mandatory consumer protections require otherwise.

Operators should specify registered entity name and governing jurisdiction before production launch.

13. CONTACT

Questions about these Terms or the Legal & Data Agreement: Contact us.