Terms of Service

These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your access to and use of the Scholise web application at scholise.com ("the Service"), operated by Scholise ("we", "us", "our"). By creating an account or using the Service, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

1. Service description

Scholise is a research assistance tool that helps users discover peer-reviewed and academic sources, analyse them, build evidence tables, generate Outlines (Beta), check drafts for uncited claims, and export citations. We retrieve bibliographic metadata from public APIs (OpenAlex, Crossref, Semantic Scholar) and use Unpaywall to surface free legal PDF links when available. We use AI providers (Anthropic's Claude) for source discovery, query expansion, summarisation, ranking, and draft check features. AI-enhanced search uses web search to find additional academic sources from Google Scholar, PubMed, arXiv, and university repositories.

2. Accounts

You must be at least 16 years old to create an account. By using the Service, you represent that you meet this age requirement. You must provide a valid email address, and you are responsible for maintaining the security of your login credentials. You must not share your account with others or create multiple accounts to circumvent plan limits.

3. Plans and billing

• Free plan — limited to 3 projects, 10 literature searches total, 10 draft checks total, 20 saved sources per project, 10 evidence table rows per project, 2 AI Outlines (Beta) with content (account-wide), 5 counter-evidence generations total, and 20 AI paper analyses total.
• Pro plan ($7.99/month) — higher limits: unlimited projects, unlimited searches and draft checks, 300 saved sources per project, and 200 evidence table sources.

Pro subscriptions are billed monthly through Stripe. You may cancel at any time via the billing settings page or the Stripe Customer Portal. Cancellation takes effect at the end of your current billing period — you retain Pro access until then.

4. Refunds

Because Scholise provides immediate access to premium features upon payment, we generally do not offer refunds. However, if you believe you were charged in error or experience a significant service issue, contact us at support@scholise.com within 14 days of the charge and we will review your request on a case-by-case basis.

5. Acceptable use

You agree not to:

• Use the Service for any unlawful purpose.
• Scrape, crawl, or programmatically extract data from the Service beyond normal use.
• Attempt to gain unauthorised access to other users' accounts or data.
• Interfere with or disrupt the Service or its infrastructure.
• Upload malicious content, spam, or content that infringes others' intellectual property.

6. Academic honesty

Scholise is designed to support your research process, not replace it. You are solely responsible for how you use the sources, summaries, and Outlines (Beta) generated by the Service. Always verify sources independently, follow your institution's academic integrity policies, and properly cite all references in your work.

7. Citation accuracy

Scholise retrieves bibliographic metadata from third-party databases (OpenAlex, Crossref, Semantic Scholar) and AI-powered web search. Free PDF links are provided via Unpaywall when available. While we strive for accuracy, metadata may contain errors originating from the upstream source or from AI extraction. Always verify citations against the original publication before submitting academic work. Sources found via AI web search should be independently confirmed using DOI links or publisher pages.

8. No guarantee of peer-review correctness

Our "peer-reviewed focus" feature uses heuristic signals (publisher type, ISSN, source metadata) to prioritise sources that are likely peer-reviewed. This is not a guarantee. We cannot certify the peer-review status of any individual source. If peer-review status is critical for your work, verify it directly with the publisher.

9. Not professional advice

The Service is a research tool, not a substitute for professional judgement. Do not use Scholise outputs as medical, legal, financial, or other professional advice. Consult qualified professionals for decisions in those domains.

10. Intellectual property

You retain ownership of any original content you create using the Service (e.g. notes, project structures). The Service itself, including its design, code, and branding, is owned by Scholise and protected by applicable intellectual property laws.

11. Limitation of liability

The Service is provided "as is" and "as available" without warranties of any kind, express or implied. To the fullest extent permitted by law, Scholise shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, including loss of data, profits, or academic outcomes, arising from your use of the Service.

Our total liability for any claim related to the Service is limited to the amount you paid us in the 12 months preceding the claim.

12. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Scholise, its officers, and affiliates from any claims, damages, or expenses arising from your use of the Service, your violation of these Terms, or your infringement of any third-party rights.

13. Termination

You may delete your account at any time. We may suspend or terminate your access if you violate these Terms or engage in conduct that we reasonably believe is harmful to the Service or other users. Upon termination, your project data will be deleted in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

14. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. If we make material changes, we will notify you via email or an in-app notice. Your continued use after changes take effect constitutes acceptance.

15. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of Australia. Any disputes arising under these Terms shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Australia.

16. Contact

Questions about these Terms? Email us at support@scholise.com.