Terms of Use

1. Agreement

These Terms govern your use of ScholarXIV (the "Service"), including our website, desktop and mobile apps, Papers API, Agent API and other APIs, Model Context Protocol (MCP) server, Router, official bots (including our Telegram bot), command-line tools (CLI), developer dashboard, and related features and integrations that link to these Terms. By creating an account or using the Service, you agree to them. If you do not agree, do not use the Service. If you act for an organisation, you confirm that you have authority to bind it. Our Privacy Policy explains how we process information across these products.

2. Eligibility and your account

• You must be at least 16 years old to use ScholarXIV.
• You are responsible for the security of your account and for activity that occurs under it.
• Provide accurate information and keep it current.
• One person or organisation per account; do not share login credentials. Connect API keys only to clients, bots and integrations you trust and are authorised to use. Keep keys and tokens out of public repositories and public or group messages, and revoke compromised keys promptly.

3. Acceptable use

You agree not to:

• Break the law, infringe others' rights, or violate the terms of the sources we search.
• Upload content you have no right to upload, or that contains another person's data without their consent.
• Attempt to bypass authentication, plan limits, rate limits, or access other users' data.
• Scrape, resell, or redistribute access to the Service outside the permissions of your plan or a separate agreement, or bulk-extract its outputs to build a competing product. Authorised use of our APIs, MCP and developer tools in your applications is permitted subject to these Terms, applicable plan limits, and third-party content licences.
• Use the Service to generate harmful, deceptive, or abusive content.
• Use the Service to make clinical decisions about other people.

Developer integrations and automated actions

You are responsible for applications and agents you connect, the instructions and permissions you give them, and their use of your account and quotas. MCP tools, bots and APIs can read account content and perform actions such as creating, sharing, changing or deleting chats, collections and health records, depending on the tools available to your account. Review tool permissions and use your client's approval controls before allowing sensitive or destructive actions. Automated actions may take effect without a separate confirmation in ScholarXIV.

If you build a service for other users, provide appropriate notices, obtain necessary permissions and have a lawful basis for submitting their data. Protect their credentials and content, comply with applicable privacy and consumer laws, and do not misrepresent your application as an official ScholarXIV product. Access remains subject to authentication, entitlements and usage limits.

4. AI-generated output

The Service uses AI models to generate answers, summaries and citations. AI output can be inaccurate, incomplete, outdated, or fabricated — including citations that look plausible but are wrong. You are responsible for verifying anything you rely on, especially before using it in academic, professional or medical contexts. Always check the cited source itself.

Output is provided for information only and is not professional advice of any kind. As between you and us, you own the content you submit, and subject to these Terms you may use the output you generate. We make no claim of exclusivity over output, and similar output may be generated for other users.

Router and model selection

The Router can recommend models or route and execute requests through AI providers. Routing may use an AI classifier even when you request only a recommendation. Model availability, fallbacks, performance and provider pricing can change. Scores, token counts and cost estimates are estimates, not guarantees of the best model, accuracy, response time or final charges. Review your routing configuration and the model returned with a response. When you supply your own provider or gateway key, you authorise us to use it for the configured requests and remain responsible for the provider's terms and charges.

5. Health information — important

Health features across the Service, including in apps, bots, MCP and APIs, provide research-based information, not medical advice. The Service is not a doctor, does not diagnose or treat, and does not establish a clinician–patient relationship. ScholarXIV is not a healthcare provider and is not a covered entity under HIPAA.

• Always consult a qualified healthcare professional about your health and before making any decision about treatment or medication.
• Never disregard or delay professional medical advice because of something you read here.
• Never start, stop, or change a prescribed medication based on the Service.
• In an emergency, contact your local emergency services immediately. If you are in crisis or considering self-harm, contact a crisis line — in the US, call or text 988.

Any reference ranges, interactions or care-level suggestions are general information drawn from published literature and labeling, and may not apply to your circumstances.

6. Third-party sources

The Service searches and links to third-party sources such as arXiv, PubMed, Europe PMC, medRxiv, ClinicalTrials.gov, OpenAlex, Semantic Scholar and Crossref. We do not own that content, we do not guarantee its accuracy or availability, and your use of it is subject to the terms and licences of the respective publisher.

Third-party clients, platforms and app stores

AI clients, messaging platforms, app stores and other external services have their own terms and privacy policies. They may process content you send through them or receive from us. ScholarXIV does not control their availability or their handling of data. Content shared in a group, public collection or shared link may be visible to others. Check the audience before sharing.

We grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable right to use our apps and tools in accordance with these Terms and any applicable distribution licence. Separate open-source licences govern components distributed under those licences. Device compatibility and feature availability may vary; updates may be needed to continue using the Service.

7. Subscriptions and billing

• Paid plans unlock additional features and higher limits, billed in advance on a recurring basis through our payment processor.
• Subscriptions renew automatically until cancelled. You can cancel at any time; access continues until the end of the paid period.
• Fees are non-refundable except where required by law or expressly stated otherwise.
• We may change pricing with reasonable notice; changes apply from your next billing period.

Features, quotas and usage charges depend on the product and plan shown at purchase or in the developer dashboard; a subscription does not promise unlimited use across every product. Automated API, MCP, Router and bot activity can consume your account's allowances. Any usage-based charges are governed by the pricing disclosed for that service. Charges incurred directly with your own AI provider are separate from ScholarXIV fees. If you purchase through an app store, that store's billing, cancellation and refund procedures also apply. Uninstalling an app, disconnecting a bot or revoking an API key does not cancel a subscription. Nothing here limits mandatory consumer rights.

8. Your content

You retain ownership of the content you submit. You grant us a limited licence to host, process and transmit it to provide the Service you request — including routing requests, sending content to AI providers, returning results to connected clients or bots, and sharing content with the audience you select, as described in our Privacy Policy. You confirm you have the rights necessary to submit it.

9. Availability and changes

We may modify, suspend or discontinue features at any time. We aim for high availability but do not guarantee uninterrupted service, and third-party sources and AI providers may be unavailable outside our control.

10. Termination

You may stop using the Service and delete your account at any time from Settings → Account. We may suspend or terminate accounts that violate these Terms or create risk for the Service or other users.

11. Disclaimers

The Service is provided "as is" and "as available", without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, and accuracy of output.

12. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, we are not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential or exemplary damages, or for lost profits, data or goodwill, arising from your use of the Service. Our total liability for any claim is limited to the amount you paid us in the twelve months preceding the claim.

Nothing in these Terms excludes liability that cannot be excluded by law, including for death or personal injury caused by negligence, or for fraud.

13. Indemnity

You agree to indemnify us against claims arising from your misuse of the Service, your content, or your breach of these Terms.

14. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the jurisdiction in which ScholarXIV is established, and disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of its courts, without regard to conflict-of-law rules.

15. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms. Material changes will be signalled by updating the date above, and where appropriate we will notify you in the app. Continued use after a change means you accept the revised Terms.

16. Contact

Questions about these Terms: hello@scholarxiv.com.