1. About these terms

These are the terms on which we offer our services to clients. They form a contract between you and Scholarly-Ink Ltd. If you don't agree with them, please don't use the service. If you're agreeing on behalf of an organisation, you confirm that you have authority to bind that organisation to these terms.

2. Eligibility

Our services are intended for use by individuals aged 18 or above and by organisations acting through authorised representatives. By using the service you confirm that you meet this requirement.

3. Your account

You are responsible for keeping your account credentials secure and for everything that happens under your account. Tell us straight away at support@scholarly-ink.com if you suspect unauthorised access. We may suspend or close accounts that violate these terms, sit dormant for long periods, or appear to be used for fraud or abuse.

4. The services we provide

We provide editorial, research-support, training, and related professional services. Each engagement is defined by its written scope — typically the quote we send you, your brief, and any follow-up agreements. We agree the deliverable, timeline, fee, and revision policy before we start work.

Our editing is editorial: we improve clarity, structure, accuracy, and adherence to your target journal or institution's style. We do not ghost-write, fabricate references, or guarantee that any third party (such as a journal, supervisor, or funder) will accept the work.

5. Fees and payment

Fees are agreed in writing before work begins and are payable in full unless we have agreed otherwise. We use third-party payment providers; by paying, you also accept their terms. Where local taxes apply, we'll show them clearly on your invoice.

6. Cancellation and changes

You can cancel a booked consultation up to twenty-four hours before its start time at no charge. For paid project work, the amount payable on cancellation depends on how much work has already been delivered at the time of cancellation; we describe this in the scope of work and aim to be fair.

7. Intellectual property

The materials you give us remain yours. The editorial work we produce on those materials — tracked-changes manuscripts, annotated analyses, edited drafts — is licensed to you for your own use once paid in full. We retain the right to keep records of the work for our own quality assurance and may, where appropriate, use anonymised excerpts internally for training. We will not publish your work or identify you publicly without your written consent.

8. Confidentiality

We treat your manuscripts, datasets, and instructions as confidential. The editors and specialists who work on your project are bound by written confidentiality terms. We can sign a separate NDA on request.

9. Acceptable use

You agree not to use the service to do anything unlawful, infringing, or harmful, including but not limited to:

• Submitting material you don't have the right to share
• Asking us to fabricate data, references, or authorship attribution
• Misrepresenting our work as having been produced by a third party (such as a journal or examiner)
• Interfering with the security, performance, or availability of the website

10. Liability

We work professionally and to the standards required by your discipline, but we don't promise that any third party will accept the work. To the fullest extent permitted by law, our total liability arising from or in connection with the service is limited to the fees you paid us for the engagement that gave rise to the claim.

Nothing in these terms limits liability for fraud, gross negligence, or anything that cannot lawfully be limited.

11. Suspension and termination

We may suspend or end the service to a user who breaches these terms, fails to pay, or uses the service in a way that risks legal or reputational harm to us or to other clients. You can close your account at any time by writing to support@scholarly-ink.com.

12. Privacy

Our use of personal information is governed by our Privacy Policy, which forms part of these terms.

13. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms from time to time. When the change is material, we'll update the “Last updated” date at the top and, where appropriate, let you know by email. Continued use of the service after the change means you accept the new terms.

14. Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of the jurisdiction in which Scholarly-Ink is registered. Where mandatory consumer protection laws in your country of residence apply, your rights under those laws are not affected.

15. Contact us about these terms

For any question about these terms, write to support@scholarly-ink.com.