RESEARCH EXCHANGE
1.1 Who We Are. These End User Terms of Service (these "Terms") are entered into directly between John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and its applicable affiliates ("referred to herein as “Research Exchange”," "we," "us") and you, the individual accessing or using the Platform ("you" or "User"). These Terms govern your use of the Platform regardless of the context in which you access it.
1.2 Scope. These Terms apply to your access to and use of Wiley's Research Exchange platform and all related services, applications, tools, and workflows that reference these Terms (collectively, the "Platform"). The Platform may be used in connection with Publications and other publications (collectively “Publications”) owned and published directly by Research Exchange, published by Research Exchange on behalf of a society, association, or other publisher, or Publications and workflows administered by an Institution that has separately licensed the Platform from Research Exchange. These Terms apply in all such contexts.
1.3 Acceptance. You accept these Terms by: (a) clicking or checking a box indicating acceptance during account creation or first access; (b) using or accessing the Platform; or (c) continuing to use the Platform following notice of an update to these Terms. If you do not agree to these Terms, you must not use the Platform.
1.4 Institutional Agreements — Where Applicable. In some cases, you may access the Platform through an organization — such as a university, research institution, hospital, or other entity — that has entered into a separate license agreement with Research Exchange for access to the Platform ("Institutional Agreement"). If an Institutional Agreement exists and applies to your access, it governs the commercial and operational relationship between Research Exchange and that organization (the "Institution"). These Terms govern your individual use directly, regardless of whether an Institutional Agreement exists.
Where there is a conflict between these Terms and an Institutional Agreement regarding your individual obligations as a User, these Terms prevail. The existence of an Institutional Agreement does not limit or modify the obligations you owe directly to Research Exchange under these Terms, including obligations of confidentiality, acceptable use, and intellectual property.
1.5 Non-Institutionally Provisioned Users. If you access the Platform other than through an Institution — for example, as an author, reviewer, or editor participating in a Research Exchange-owned or society-managed Publication where no Institutional Agreement governs your access — these Terms constitute the entire agreement between you and Research Exchange with respect to your use of the Platform. References in these Terms to the Institution or to Institutional Agreements do not apply to you except where the context otherwise requires.
1.6 Updates to These Terms. Research Exchange may update these Terms at any time by posting the revised Terms on the Platform or at researchexchange.com/terms. The updated Terms will indicate the revised "Last Updated" date at the top of the document. Your continued use of the Platform following the posting of any update constitutes your acceptance of the updated Terms. If you do not agree to updated Terms, you must stop using the Platform. We encourage you to review these Terms periodically.
2.1 "Account" means your Platform account credentials and associated profile, whether created by you directly or provisioned by an Institution or Publication administrator.
2.2 "Content" means any text, data, files, manuscripts, metadata, images, reports, communications, or other materials submitted to, generated within, or transmitted through the Platform.
2.3 "User Content" means Content that you submit, upload, transmit, or otherwise make available through the Platform in the course of your use.
2.4 "Research Exchange Content" means the Platform and all software, interfaces, workflows, templates, algorithms, documentation, and other materials provided or made available by Research Exchange, excluding User Content.
2.5 "Modules" means the separately licensable or configurable components of the Platform. The Modules currently available are: (a) "Research Exchange Submission" ("Submission") — manuscript submission management and related author-facing workflows; (b) "Research Exchange Screening" ("Screening") — editorial assessment tools, including integrity and quality screening of submitted manuscripts; (c) "Research Exchange Review" ("Review") — peer review invitation and management, reviewer participation, editorial decision-making, and related communications; and (d) “Research Exchange Curate” (“Curate”) - proposal intake and management for special issues and curated content.
Additional Modules may be added to the Platform from time to time. Where new Modules are introduced, Research Exchange will update this Section 2.5 and provide notice pursuant to Section 1.6. Schedule terms applicable to any new Module will be added to Part II accordingly.
Which Modules are available to you depends on (i) where an Institutional Agreement exists, the modules licensed under that agreement and enabled for your role; or (ii) where no Institutional Agreement applies, the modules enabled by Research Exchange for the relevant journal or workflow.
2.6 "User Roles." Depending on context, configuration, and assigned permissions, you may hold one or more of the following roles:
(a) "Author" — a User who submits manuscripts through the Platform and participates in related submission and revision workflows;
(b) "Reviewer" — a User invited to evaluate manuscripts through the Review Module;
(c) "Editor" — a User who manages editorial workflows, reviewer selection, and editorial decisions;
(d) "Publication Administrator" — a User with elevated administrative permissions for journal configuration, user management, reporting, or access controls;
(e) “Publication Screener” – a User who reviews submissions for suitability for entering the peer review process; and
(f) "Submission Administrator" — a User with administrative permissions to access and manage submission workflows on behalf of a journal, including the ability to assist authors with submission processes and monitor submission activity, as enabled by the Institution or Research Exchange.
(g) "Research Exchange Staff" — Research Exchange personnel and designated contractors with Platform access for support, operations, security, compliance, or analytics purposes.
A User may hold more than one role, including in relation to different journals. Role-specific obligations apply to each role as held and are not mutually exclusive.
2.7 "Institution" means, where applicable, an organization — such as a university, research institution, hospital, society, association, or other entity — that has entered into an Institutional Agreement with Research Exchange governing access to or deployment of the Platform for specific journals or workflows. The existence of an Institution is not a prerequisite for access to or use of the Platform under these Terms.
3.1 Registration. You must provide accurate, current, and complete information when creating or maintaining your Account, and you must keep that information updated. Account authentication may occur through Research Exchange's identity services (including "Atypon Connect") and may permit the use of third-party identity providers (e.g., Google, ORCiD, Microsoft, Apple) where enabled. Your use of any third-party identity provider is subject to that provider's own terms and privacy practices; Research Exchange is not responsible for third-party identity provider availability or security failures.
3.2 Institutional Provisioning — Where Applicable. If you access the Platform through an Institution, your Account may be created, managed, modified, or deactivated by a Journal Administrator or by Research Exchange acting on the Institution's instructions. Where no Institutional Agreement applies, your Account is managed directly between you and Research Exchange.
3.3 Credential Responsibility. You are solely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your login credentials and for all activity that occurs under your Account. You must not share, transfer, or permit any other person to use your Account credentials.
3.4 Security Incidents. You must promptly notify Research Exchange at InfoSec@Wiley.com. if you become aware of any unauthorized access to your Account, any compromise of your credentials, or any other actual or suspected security incident involving your use of the Platform. Where an Institutional Agreement applies, you should also notify the relevant Journal Administrator or Institution as appropriate.
4.1 Permitted Use. You may use the Platform only for legitimate scholarly publication workflow purposes consistent with your role, the applicable publication’s policies, and (where applicable) the scope of the Institution's license.
4.2 Prohibited Conduct. You must not, and must not attempt to: (a) access or use the Platform in a manner that exceeds your authorized permissions; (b) probe, scan, or test vulnerabilities in the Platform, or attempt to breach any security or authentication controls; (c) scrape, crawl, harvest, or systematically extract Content or data from the Platform except through Platform functionality expressly made available to you by Research Exchange for that purpose; (d) reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble, or attempt to derive the source code or underlying models of any part of the Platform, except to the extent that applicable law expressly permits and cannot be excluded; (e) introduce viruses, malware, or other harmful code, or otherwise interfere with or degrade the Platform or its infrastructure; (f) misrepresent your identity, affiliation, authorship, or any conflict of interest; (g) submit Content that is fraudulent, plagiarized, defamatory, infringing, or unlawful; (h) use the Platform to send unsolicited communications or for any commercial purpose not authorized by Research Exchange; (i) violate any confidentiality obligation applicable to manuscripts, review materials, or editorial communications under these Terms; or (j) submit, facilitate, or assist in submitting manuscript reviews, editorial decisions, or other professional outputs that have been generated, outsourced, or substantially produced by another person or by automated means without disclosure, in breach of the applicable journal's policies.
4.3 Compliance with Law, Journal Policies, and Ethics Standards. You must comply with all applicable laws and regulations in your use of the Platform. You must also comply with the applicable journal's published policies and with generally accepted standards of research integrity and publication ethics, including the Core Practices and guidelines published by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), as applicable to your role. The operative obligations regarding AI use applicable to your use of the Platform are set out in Section 4.4 and, for Authors, in Schedule A.4.
4.4 AI-Generated and AI-Assisted Content.
(a) General. Use of AI tools in connection with Content submitted through the Platform must comply with applicable journal policies and Research Exchange's publishing ethics guidance. Where journal policy requires or recommends disclosure of AI tool use, you must disclose the tools used and describe how they were used.
(b) Data integrity. You must not use AI tools to create, alter, fabricate, or manipulate original research data or results.
(c) Spelling and grammar tools. Use of AI-powered spelling, grammar, and language-editing tools is generally permitted unless a specific journal policy states otherwise, and does not require disclosure.
(d) Confidential materials. Reviewers and Editors must not input or upload unpublished manuscripts, reviewer reports, or other confidential Platform materials into external AI tools or services in a manner that breaches confidentiality, violates applicable journal policy, or transmits personal data outside of authorized channels. See also Schedule B and Part III.
(e) Author accountability. The use of AI tools does not affect or limit the accountability of named authors for the accuracy, integrity, and originality of their submissions.
5.1 Platform Ownership. Research Exchange (and, as relevant, its licensors) own all right, title, and interest in the Platform and Research Exchange Content, including all related intellectual property rights worldwide. Nothing in these Terms grants you any ownership interest in the Platform.
5.2 Your Content. As between you and Research Exchange, you retain ownership of your User Content, subject to: (a) the licenses granted to Research Exchange in Section 5.3; (b) any separate publishing, copyright transfer, or license-to-publish agreement you execute in connection with an accepted manuscript; and (c) any rights belonging to co-authors or third parties in jointly owned or third-party materials.
5.3 License to Research Exchange to Operate the Platform. You grant Research Exchange a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to host, store, process, transmit, route, and display your User Content to the extent necessary to provide and operate the Platform, administer journal workflows, including submission processing, screening, and peer review, maintain, secure, and support the Platform, and optimize and improve the technical performance and operation of the Platform.
Where your access is institutionally provisioned, you also grant the Institution a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to access and use your User Content solely for the purposes of administering the applicable journal and its editorial workflows.
This license does not authorize Research Exchange to use your unpublished manuscript content for AI model training, product development unrelated to the Platform, or any purpose beyond what is necessary for the operation and administration of the Platform and applicable journal workflows, except as expressly agreed in a separate publishing or licensing agreement.
5.4 No Implied Rights. No license or rights in Research Exchange Content or the Platform are granted to you except as expressly stated in these Terms or authorized in writing by Research Exchange.
6.1 Research Exchange's Privacy Notice. Research Exchange's collection and use of personal data in connection with the Platform is governed by the applicable privacy notice. The Research Exchange privacy notice is available at researchexchange.com/privacy. Your rights with respect to personal data, including any right of access, correction, or erasure, are as set out in the applicable privacy notice and are subject to Research Exchange's retention rights under Section 10.5(c).
7.1 General Obligation. You must not disclose non-public information you access or become aware of through the Platform — including non-public workflows, system configurations, communications, or technical vulnerabilities — except as expressly permitted by your role, the applicable journal's policies, and these Terms. You acknowledge that breach of your confidentiality obligations under these Terms may cause irreparable harm for which monetary damages would be an inadequate remedy, and that Research Exchange may seek injunctive or other equitable relief in addition to any other remedies available.
7.2 Role-Specific Confidentiality. Additional and more specific confidentiality obligations apply to Reviewers and Editors under Schedule B and Part III of these Terms. Those provisions supplement and do not replace this general obligation.
7.3 Security Disclosures. Nothing in this Section prohibits good-faith reporting of suspected security vulnerabilities to Research Exchange through appropriate channels. If you believe you have identified a security vulnerability, please contact security@researchexchange.com without exploiting or further disclosing the vulnerability.
8.1 THE PLATFORM IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE." TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, RESEARCH EXCHANGE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED, OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.
8.2 Research Exchange does not warrant that the Platform will be uninterrupted, error-free, free of harmful components, or that any particular feature or function will be available at any given time. Research Exchange is not responsible for any losses or damages arising from Platform unavailability, errors, or unauthorized access to your data that are beyond Research Exchange's reasonable control.
8.3 Nothing in this Section excludes any warranty that cannot lawfully be disclaimed under applicable consumer protection law.
9.1 Exclusion of Liability. THE PLATFORM AND ALL MATERIALS AND WORKFLOWS CONTAINED THEREIN ARE PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, NEITHER RESEARCH EXCHANGE, ITS AFFILIATES, LICENSORS, OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, NOR ANYONE ELSE INVOLVED IN CREATING, OPERATING, OR DELIVERING THE PLATFORM SHALL BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE OF, OR INABILITY TO USE, THE PLATFORM OR ANY CONTENT OR WORKFLOWS CONTAINED THEREIN, EVEN IF RESEARCH EXCHANGE HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
9.2 Mandatory Exceptions. Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits Research Exchange's liability for: (a) fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; (b) death or personal injury caused by Research Exchange's negligence; or (c) any other liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited under applicable law, including mandatory consumer protection rights where applicable.
9.3 User Indemnification. To the extent permitted by applicable law, you will defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Research Exchange, its affiliates, licensors, officers, directors, employees, and agents (collectively, "Research Exchange Indemnitees") from and against all losses, liabilities, claims, damages, costs, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or in connection with: (a) any claim that your User Content infringes or misappropriates any patent, copyright, trademark, trade secret, or other proprietary right of any third party; (b) your breach of any representation, warranty, or obligation under these Terms, including any author representations in Schedule A; or (c) your violation of applicable law in connection with your use of the Platform.
You must provide Research Exchange with prompt written notice of any claim triggering this indemnification obligation, and cooperate reasonably with Research Exchange in the defense or settlement of such claim. Research Exchange reserves the right to assume sole control of the defense of any such claim at its own expense.
10.1 Term. These Terms apply from the date you first accept them or use the Platform and continue until your access is terminated. Where your access is institutionally provisioned, your access will generally continue for the duration of the applicable Institutional Agreement and your assigned permissions within it. Where your access is not institutionally provisioned, your access continues until terminated by you or by Research Exchange.
10.2 Termination and Suspension by Research Exchange. Research Exchange may suspend or terminate your access to the Platform at any time, with or without notice, if: (a) you breach these Terms and, where the breach is capable of remedy, fail to remedy it within a reasonable period following notice; (b) where your access is institutionally provisioned, the Institution requests deactivation of your Account or the Institutional Agreement terminates or expires; (c) Research Exchange discontinues the Platform or a relevant Module; (d) required by applicable law; or (e) Research Exchange determines in good faith that continued access poses a security, legal, or integrity risk.
10.3 Termination by You. You may stop using the Platform at any time. If you wish to deactivate your Account, visit https://support.scienceconnect.io/.
10.4 Effect of Termination. Upon termination, your right to access and use the Platform ceases immediately. Provisions of these Terms that by their nature should survive termination — including Sections 5, 7, 8, 9, and 11 — will continue in effect.
10.5 Data Retention and Deletion.
(a) User Account data. Following termination of your access under Section 10.2 or 10.3, personal data associated with your Account will be retained or deleted in accordance with Research Exchange's applicable privacy notice and retention schedules.
(b) Institutional deployments. Where an Institutional Agreement applies, the handling of data associated with that Institution's deployment of the Platform upon termination or expiration of the Institutional Agreement is governed by the Institutional Agreement.
(c) Retention of editorial and integrity records. Notwithstanding the termination of your access or any request by you for deletion of your personal data, Research Exchange reserves the right, and may permit Institutions and journals, to retain: (i) records of manuscript submissions, peer review reports, editorial decisions, and related editorial communications as part of the scholarly and journal record; (ii) records relating to research integrity concerns, conflicts of interest, sanctions, and other matters relevant to publication ethics; (iii) any data subject to a legal hold, regulatory obligation, audit requirement, or pending or anticipated dispute; and (iv) anonymized or aggregated data that does not identify you. Any right of erasure or deletion you may have under applicable data protection law is subject to the foregoing.
11.1 Governing Law; Jurisdiction. These Terms and any dispute or claim arising out of or relating to them or your use of the Platform (including non-contractual disputes or claims) shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York, without regard to its conflict of law provisions. You agree that any legal action, suit, or proceeding arising out of or relating to these Terms or your use of the Platform shall be instituted exclusively in a court of competent jurisdiction in New York County, State of New York, and you hereby consent and submit to the personal jurisdiction of such courts and waive any objection to venue therein.
Any claim or cause of action arising out of or relating to these Terms or your use of the Platform must be filed within one (1) year after such claim or cause of action arose, or be forever barred, to the extent permitted by applicable law.
Consumer Rights Notice. Some countries and jurisdictions do not permit the exclusion of implied warranties, the limitation or exclusion of liability for certain damages, or the limitation of time to bring a claim in contracts with consumers. If you are located in such a jurisdiction, some of the provisions of Sections 8, 9, and this Section 11.1 may not apply to you, and your statutory rights under applicable local law are not affected by these Terms.
11.2 Relationship to Other Wiley Terms. These Terms, together with any incorporated policies and referenced notices (including the applicable privacy notice), constitute the entire agreement between you and Research Exchange regarding your individual use of the Platform. Where an Institutional Agreement also applies, it governs the B2B relationship between Research Exchange and the Institution separately. These Terms do not govern your rights with respect to published content on Wiley Online Library or other Wiley platforms, which are governed by separate terms.
11.3 Supplemental Terms. Where Module-specific terms in Part II or role-specific terms in Part III conflict with the Universal Terms in Part I, the Module-specific or role-specific terms prevail with respect to the subject matter of that conflict.
11.4 Severability. If any provision of these Terms is found to be unenforceable, that provision will be modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it enforceable, or severed if modification is not possible, and the remainder of the Terms will continue in full force and effect.
11.5 Waiver. Research Exchange's failure to enforce any provision of these Terms at any time is not a waiver of Research Exchange's right to enforce that provision in the future.
11.6 Assignment. You may not assign or transfer these Terms or any rights or obligations under them without Research Exchange's prior written consent. Research Exchange may assign these Terms and its rights and obligations hereunder in connection with a merger, acquisition, corporate reorganization, or sale of all or substantially all of its assets, without your consent.
11.7 Contact. Questions about the Platform or these Terms may be directed to: support@researchexchange.com.
11.8 Third-Party Links and Services. The Platform may contain links to third-party websites or integrate with third-party services (including identity providers). Such links and integrations are provided for convenience only. Research Exchange is not responsible for the content, accuracy, security, or privacy practices of any third-party website or service, and your use of any third-party website or service is at your own risk and subject to that third party's terms. Research Exchange may use third-party subprocessors to operate the Platform; details of subprocessors are available in the applicable privacy notice.
Access to each Module depends on (i) where an Institutional Agreement applies, the Modules licensed under that agreement and enabled for your role; or (ii) where no Institutional Agreement applies, the Modules enabled by Research Exchange for the relevant journal or workflow. Module-specific terms supplement and, in the event of conflict, prevail over the Universal Terms in Part I with respect to their specific subject matter.
Applies to: Authors and any other Users interacting with submission workflows.
A.1 Eligibility and Submission Authority. By initiating or completing a manuscript submission through the Platform, you represent that: (a) you have the authority to submit the manuscript on behalf of yourself and all co-authors named in the submission, and to provide the co-authors’ contact and affiliation information for use in Platform-generated communications and workflow processing; (b) the author submitting the manuscript has been authorized by all co-authors to do so and to act as the primary point of contact for the Publication in connection with the submission, unless and until another User is assigned that role within the Platform; (c) submission does not violate any agreement, obligation, or restriction binding on you or any co-author; and (d) you agree and acknowledge that the applicable Publication’s submission terms, ethics policies, and disclosure requirements, as presented to you during the submission process, apply in addition to these Terms, and that you are responsible for ensuring that the submission complies with those terms and policies.
A.2 Manuscript Integrity. You represent that: (a) the manuscript is original work of the named authors, except for properly cited and attributed third-party material; (b) the manuscript has not been published previously and is not under concurrent consideration at another Publication, except as the Publication's policy otherwise permits (e.g., for preprints); (c) you have obtained all necessary permissions for any third-party material included in the submission (including figures, images, and data); and (d) you have disclosed any potential conflicts of interest in accordance with Publication policy.
A.3 Metadata Accuracy. You must provide accurate author names, affiliations, ORCiD identifiers (where required or requested), funding sources, and other metadata, and must not misrepresent authorship, contributions, or institutional affiliations.
A.4 AI-Assisted and AI-Generated Content. (a) Where Publication policy requires or recommends disclosure of AI tool use in the preparation of a manuscript, you must include that disclosure in the submission, identifying the tools used and how they were used. (b) AI tools must not be listed as authors. (c) Authors remain solely accountable for the accuracy, integrity, and originality of the manuscript regardless of AI tool use. (d) AI tools must not be used to create, alter, fabricate, or manipulate original research data or results.
A.5 Platform Processing License. You grant Research Exchange and, where applicable, the Institution the rights necessary to ingest, store, route, screen, and evaluate the manuscript and all associated metadata and files through the Platform and applicable downstream editorial workflows. This license is limited to workflow processing and evaluation purposes. If your manuscript is accepted for publication, your rights and obligations with respect to publication will be governed by the applicable publishing agreement, copyright transfer agreement, or license-to-publish that you separately execute at the time of acceptance.
A.6 Submission Administrator Proxy Access. In some cases, a Submission Administrator may access your submission workflow in connection with the administration of the applicable Publication workflow for support or administrative purposes as enabled by the Platform. Such access is limited to operational support and does not authorize Submission Administrators to modify manuscript content or execute publishing agreements on your behalf without your authorization.
A.7 Withdrawal. You may request withdrawal of a submitted manuscript in accordance with the applicable Publication's withdrawal policy.
Applies to: Reviewers and Editors interacting with peer review workflows.
B.1 Purpose-Limited Access. Access to manuscripts and review materials through the Review Module is granted solely for the purpose of conducting peer review and discharging editorial functions for the applicable Publication. You must not access or use manuscripts or review materials for any other purpose.
B.2 Reviewer Confidentiality.
(a) Scope of confidential materials. All unpublished manuscripts, supplemental files, data, revision materials, reviewer reports, editorial communications, and any other materials accessed through the Review Module are confidential and remain so unless and until they are publicly released by the Publication or by the authors. Where the applicable Publication operates an open, transparent, or otherwise non-confidential peer review model, the Publication's published policy governs the scope and timing of any publication of review materials. Acceptance of a review invitation for such a Publication constitutes your acknowledgment of, and consent to, that policy.
(b) Non-disclosure. Except as authorized by the applicable Publication's peer review policy or by the Publication editor or editorial office, you must not disclose, share, distribute, post, or otherwise make available any manuscript content or review materials to any third party — including colleagues, students, collaborators, lab members, or online services.
(c) No competitive use. You must not use any manuscript content for your own research, publications, grant applications, product development, competitive analysis, or any other purpose prior to the public availability of the work through authorized publication by the Publication or through confirmed public release by the authors.
(d) Secure handling. You must store any downloaded manuscript files securely, limit access to authorized devices and users, and permanently delete materials once they are no longer needed for review purposes, subject to any applicable Publication or institutional retention policies.
(e) Post-review. Your confidentiality obligations with respect to unpublished manuscript content continue after the conclusion of the review process and are not discharged by rejection or withdrawal of the manuscript. Rejection or withdrawal of the manuscript does not discharge your confidentiality obligations.
B.3 Conflicts of Interest. You must promptly disclose to the Publication editor or editorial office any actual or reasonably apparent conflict of interest — including personal, financial, competitive, or collaborative relationships with the authors or subject matter — and comply with Publication instructions regarding recusal or reassignment. When in doubt, disclose.
B.4 AI Tools and Peer Review. You must not input, upload, or transmit any unpublished manuscript, reviewer report, or other confidential review material into any external AI tool, large language model service, or third-party platform in a manner that: (a) discloses the manuscript content or authorship to third parties; (b) results in confidential material being stored on or processed by systems outside of the Platform or systems expressly approved in writing by Research Exchange or the applicable Publication for that purpose; or (c) violates applicable Publication policy or data protection law.
Use of AI tools for language editing of your own written reviewer report may be permitted by Publication policy but does not relieve you of responsibility for the substance, accuracy, and integrity of the review.
B.5 Review Integrity. Your reviewer report must reflect your own genuine professional assessment of the manuscript. Fabricated, outsourced, or substantially AI-generated reports submitted as your own assessment are prohibited. Submitting a review under false identity or without disclosing a conflict of interest is a serious breach of these Terms.
B.6 Screening Outputs — Editors. Where the Platform generates integrity screening outputs or flags (including AI-assisted screening results), Editors must treat such outputs as decision-support information only and must apply independent editorial judgment in all decisions. Screening outputs do not constitute conclusive findings regarding manuscript integrity, authorship, or misconduct.
B.7 Data Retention. Reviewer reports and associated materials are retained as part of the Publication's editorial record in accordance with Research Exchange's applicable privacy notice. For details regarding retention periods and your rights in relation to your personal data, including any right to erasure, please refer to the applicable privacy notice at researchexchange.com/privacy.
Applies to: Editors and Publication Administrators interacting with editorial decision and production workflows within the Review Module.
C.1 Editor Authority. Editors represent that they act within the scope of authority granted by the applicable Publication, Publication owner, society, or Institution. Editors must conduct editorial processes — including peer review management, decision-making, and author communications — in accordance with the applicable Publication's published policies and applicable ethics standards, including COPE guidelines.
C.2 Editorial Independence. Editorial decisions must be made on academic and scientific merit and must not be influenced by commercial, personal, political, financial, or other improper considerations. This obligation applies regardless of the Publication's ownership or management structure. Where a Publication is published by Research Exchange on behalf of a society or other publisher, Editors must also comply with any applicable editorial policies of that society or publisher.
C.3 Access to Personal Data. Editors and Publication Administrators acknowledge that in the course of their role they may have access to personal data relating to authors and reviewers (including names, affiliations, contact details, and submission history). Such data must be used only for legitimate Publication administration and editorial purposes consistent with these Terms, the applicable privacy notice, and applicable law. Editors and Publication Administrators must not use author or reviewer personal data for any purpose unrelated to Publication administration.
C.4 Production Workflow Integrity. Where the Platform supports production-stage handoffs, file transmissions, or content modifications, Editors and Publication Administrators must ensure that any changes or instructions comply with Publication policy and do not compromise the integrity, accuracy, or scholarly record of accepted manuscripts.
C.5 Publication Administrator Responsibilities. Publication Administrators are specifically responsible for: (a) configuring user roles and access controls accurately, ensuring that only authorized individuals have access to sensitive submission, review, and editorial data; (b) promptly removing or modifying access when a user's role changes or their authorization to access the Platform ceases; (c) ensuring that users they provision are made aware of and agree to comply with these Terms; (d) cooperating with Research Exchange and, where applicable, the Institution in any audit, investigation, or integrity escalation involving users they have provisioned; and (e) maintaining data segregation principles in multi-Publication or multi-tenant configurations, consistent with applicable data governance requirements.
Publication Administrators accept responsibility for consequences arising from misconfiguration of access controls within the scope of their administrative permissions.
1.1 Co-Author Consent and Author Authority. By submitting a manuscript, the submitting Author or submitting Agent represents that all named co-authors have: (a) reviewed and approved the submitted version of the manuscript; (b) consented to the submission being made to the applicable Publication; and (c) authorized the assigned corresponding Author to act as the primary point of contact with the Publication, to receive and respond to editorial communications, and to make revision decisions on the group's behalf through the Platform.
1.2 Integrity Obligations. Authors must not attempt to circumvent, manipulate, or interfere with Platform screening, integrity checking, or review controls. Submission under a false identity, submission of the same manuscript to multiple Publications concurrently without disclosure (where prohibited by Publication policy), and manipulation of reviewer selection or editorial communications are all prohibited.
1.3 Responsiveness. Authors must respond promptly to editorial requests for ethics statements, conflict of interest disclosures, permissions documentation, authorship clarifications, and revision instructions within any deadlines specified by the Publication.
1.4 AI Use — Author Accountability. As stated in Schedule A.4, AI tool use does not limit author accountability. Authors who use AI tools for manuscript drafting must verify AI outputs for accuracy and must not represent AI-generated content as the product of the authors' original research or analysis where it is not.
2.1 Professional Standards. Reviewers must conduct peer review with objectivity, thoroughness, and professional integrity. Reviews must be based on the academic and scientific merits of the work and must not be influenced by the identity of the authors (whether known or suspected), institutional affiliation, personal relationships, or competitive interests.
2.2 Confidentiality — Reinforcement. Reviewer confidentiality obligations are set out fully in Schedule B.2 and are among the most significant obligations in these Terms. Reviewers should be aware that breach of peer review confidentiality — including forwarding manuscripts to colleagues, using manuscript content in their own research, or inputting manuscripts into external AI tools — may constitute a serious breach of these Terms and applicable professional ethics standards.
2.3 Research Integrity Concerns. If a Reviewer identifies or reasonably suspects research misconduct, data fabrication, plagiarism, or other integrity concerns in a manuscript under review, the Reviewer must not unilaterally disclose the manuscript content to third parties but should raise concerns promptly and in confidence with the Publication editor or editorial office through the Platform.
2.4 Post-Review Obligations. Reviewers must delete or securely destroy any downloaded manuscript materials after completing the review and confirming that their report has been submitted, subject to Publication policy on retention.
3.1 Society and Publisher Relationships. Where a Publication is published by Research Exchange on behalf of a society, association, or other publisher, Editors appointed by or on behalf of that society or publisher must comply with both these Terms and any additional editorial policies or codes of conduct of that society or publisher. In the event of a conflict between those policies and these Terms regarding individual user conduct, the more protective or restrictive obligation applies unless Research Exchange expressly agrees otherwise in writing.
3.2 Conflicts of Interest — Ongoing Monitoring. Editors' conflict of interest obligations are ongoing. Editors must reassess potential conflicts throughout the editorial process and disclose any new conflicts that arise after initial assignment.
3.3 Screening Judgment. Editors must apply independent judgment when acting on any screening, integrity, or quality outputs generated by the Platform (including AI-assisted features). Such outputs are decision-support tools only and do not determine editorial outcomes. An Editor who relies solely on automated screening output as the basis for a rejection, without independent assessment, may be acting outside the scope of sound editorial practice.
3.4 Confidential Use of Reviewer Identities. Where reviewer identities are known to the Editor (in non-open review contexts), the Editor must treat reviewer identities as confidential and must not disclose them to authors or third parties except in accordance with the Publication's review model and applicable policy.
4.1 Supervisory Responsibility. Publication Administrators acknowledge that their access to the Platform carries supervisory responsibilities. Publication Administrators are responsible for the configuration decisions they make and for ensuring that access rights remain accurate and current at all times.
4.2 Access Management. Publication Administrators must promptly: (a) revoke or modify access for any user whose role changes or whose authorization ceases; and (b) investigate and report to Research Exchange any suspected unauthorized access or misuse by users they have provisioned.
4.3 Multi-Tenant and Multi-Publication Environments. In configurations involving multiple Publications, Publication owners, or tenants on the Platform, Publication Administrators must maintain data segregation and must not permit cross-Publication access to submission, review, or editorial data except as expressly authorized by Research Exchange and, where applicable, the Institution.
4.4 Feedback. If you submit ideas, suggestions, or feedback regarding the Platform or its features ("Feedback"), you grant Research Exchange a worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free license to use, incorporate, and exploit such Feedback in any manner and for any purpose without restriction, compensation, or obligation to you. You represent that any Feedback you provide is not subject to any obligation of confidentiality owed to a third party.
4.5 Export Controls. You must not access or use the Platform in violation of applicable export control laws or sanctions regulations, including those administered by the U.S. Department of Commerce (EAR) and the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). By using the Platform, you represent that you are not located in, or acting on behalf of any person or entity located in, a country or territory subject to comprehensive U.S. sanctions, and that you are not otherwise prohibited from using the Platform under applicable law.
4.6 Liability for Misconfiguration. Publication Administrators are responsible for the consequences of access control decisions made within the scope of their administrative permissions. Where misconfiguration of access controls by a Publication Administrator results in unauthorized access to or disclosure of submission, review, or editorial data, the Publication Administrator may be subject to the indemnification obligations in Section 9.3 in addition to any other remedies available to Research Exchange.