Terms of Use

These Terms of Use ("Terms") govern all access to and use of the websites, online services, digital publications, tools, and related resources (collectively, the "Platform") operated by NexQ Research Consortium ("we," "us," "our"). By accessing, browsing, searching, downloading, or otherwise engaging with any part of the Platform, you ("User," "you," "your") agree to be bound by these Terms in full. If you do not accept these Terms, you must immediately discontinue all use of the Platform. These Terms should be read alongside our Terms & Conditions, Privacy Policy, and Disclaimer, all of which form part of the legal framework governing your use of this Platform.

These Terms of Use constitute a legally binding agreement between you and NexQ Research Consortium. They apply to all users of the Platform, including visitors, registered users, authors, reviewers, editors, institutional representatives, and any automated system acting on behalf of a user.

These Terms apply to:

• All pages, subdomains, and microsites operated by or on behalf of NexQ Research Consortium.
• All digital publications, datasets, supplementary materials, and media files hosted on the Platform.
• All APIs, RSS feeds, widgets, and programmatic access tools provided by the Platform.
• All mobile applications, browser extensions, or other software clients offered by NexQ Research Consortium.
• Any future services or features added to the Platform, which will be subject to these Terms unless separate terms are expressly stated.

For the purposes of these Terms, the following definitions apply:

• "Platform" — the NexQ Research Consortium website(s), online services, APIs, and all associated digital infrastructure and content.
• "Content" — all text, articles, research papers, datasets, figures, tables, images, code, software, audio, video, metadata, and any other material made available on or through the Platform.
• "Published Content" — peer-reviewed or editorially processed material formally published by NexQ Research Consortium in a journal, book, or proceedings series.
• "Platform Content" — all content created by or belonging to NexQ Research Consortium, including website design, branding, editorial interfaces, and non-authored material.
• "User Content" — any content submitted, uploaded, or otherwise contributed to the Platform by a user, including manuscripts, comments, reviewer reports, and profile information.
• "Services" — all features, tools, and functions made available through the Platform, including submission systems, author dashboards, search tools, and APIs.
• "Open Access Content" — Published Content made freely available to all users under an open access licence such as CC BY 4.0.

Access to the Platform is available to all individuals and organisations worldwide, subject to these Terms. However, by using the Platform you represent and warrant that:

• You are at least 18 years of age, or have the consent of a parent or legal guardian where applicable law requires.
• You have the legal capacity to enter into a binding agreement under the laws of your jurisdiction.
• Your use of the Platform does not violate any applicable laws, regulations, or export controls in your jurisdiction.
• You are not subject to any sanctions, embargoes, or trade restrictions that would prohibit your use of this Platform.
• If you are accessing the Platform on behalf of an organisation, you have full authority to bind that organisation to these Terms.

NexQ Research Consortium reserves the right to restrict, suspend, or terminate access to the Platform for any user at any time and without prior notice, at its sole discretion, including for violation of these Terms.

All Published Content hosted on this Platform is made available on an Open Access basis, free of charge to all users worldwide. Unless otherwise expressly stated on a specific publication page, all Published Content is distributed under the following licence:

Under the CC BY 4.0 licence, you are free to:

• Share — copy and redistribute Published Content in any medium or format.
• Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon Published Content for any purpose, including commercial use.

These freedoms are subject to the following conditions:

• Attribution — you must give appropriate credit to the original authors, provide a link to the licence, and indicate if any changes were made. Attribution must not suggest that the authors or NexQ Research Consortium endorses your use.
• No additional restrictions — you may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the licence permits.

Where Published Content is released under an alternative licence (such as CC BY-NC 4.0, CC BY-ND 4.0, or a custom licence), the applicable licence is clearly indicated on the relevant publication page and its terms take precedence.

Subject to these Terms, NexQ Research Consortium grants you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to access and use the Platform for the following purposes:

• Searching, browsing, reading, and downloading Open Access Content for personal, academic, educational, or non-commercial research purposes.
• Sharing links to published articles and journal pages on social media, academic networks, and institutional repositories.
• Citing and referencing Published Content in academic works, research papers, theses, and publications, with full and proper attribution.
• Self-archiving of your own published articles in institutional or subject repositories, in accordance with the applicable licence terms.
• Using the Platform's APIs and programmatic tools for non-commercial academic research purposes, subject to applicable API usage guidelines and rate limits.
• Registering and maintaining a user account for the purpose of submitting manuscripts, conducting peer review, or managing editorial responsibilities.

The following uses of the Platform are expressly prohibited. You must not, directly or indirectly:

• Use the Platform or any of its Content for any unlawful, fraudulent, deceptive, or harmful purpose.
• Reproduce, republish, or commercially exploit Platform Content (as distinct from Open Access Published Content) without prior written authorisation from NexQ Research Consortium.
• Use web scraping, crawling, data mining, or automated extraction tools to systematically harvest Content from the Platform for commercial purposes or in a manner that places unreasonable load on Platform infrastructure.
• Attempt to gain unauthorised access to any part of the Platform, its servers, databases, user accounts, or connected systems.
• Interfere with, disrupt, or impair the security, integrity, or availability of the Platform or its infrastructure, including through denial-of-service attacks, injection attacks, or transmission of malicious code.
• Use the Platform to distribute spam, unsolicited communications, phishing content, or any form of malware.
• Impersonate any person or entity, or misrepresent your identity, affiliation, or credentials in connection with use of the Platform.
• Use the Platform in any way that infringes the intellectual property rights, privacy rights, or other legal rights of any person or entity.
• Remove, obscure, or alter any copyright notices, licence indicators, attribution statements, or other proprietary markings on any Content.
• Resell, sublicence, or commercially exploit access to the Platform or its Services without express written permission.

By submitting, uploading, or otherwise contributing any User Content to the Platform — including manuscripts, data, reviewer reports, comments, or profile information — you:

• Represent and warrant that you own or have all necessary rights, licences, and permissions to submit the User Content and to grant the rights described herein.
• Grant NexQ Research Consortium a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, sublicensable licence to use, process, display, store, archive, and publish the User Content for the purposes of operating the Platform and providing the Services.
• Acknowledge that NexQ Research Consortium does not claim ownership of your User Content, and that your rights in the User Content remain subject to the applicable publishing agreement and open access licence.
• Accept full legal responsibility for all User Content you submit, including compliance with applicable law, third-party rights, research ethics requirements, and publication integrity standards.
• Confirm that you have the consent of all co-authors and named contributors to submit the User Content on their behalf.

NexQ Research Consortium reserves the right to remove, edit, or decline to publish any User Content that violates these Terms, applicable law, or the Platform's publication ethics standards, without prior notice or liability.

All Platform Content — including but not limited to the Platform's design, layout, user interface, graphics, logos, trademarks, trade names, icons, software, source code, databases, editorial management systems, metadata schemas, and all non-authored editorial and marketing content — is the exclusive intellectual property of NexQ Research Consortium or its licensors and is protected by applicable copyright, trademark, database rights, and other intellectual property laws internationally.

• No Platform Content may be reproduced, copied, distributed, modified, publicly displayed, or commercially exploited without prior written authorisation from NexQ Research Consortium.
• The name, logo, and brand identifiers of NexQ Research Consortium are registered or unregistered trademarks and may not be used in any manner — including in metatags, domain names, or advertising — without prior written consent.
• Nothing in these Terms transfers any ownership of Platform Content or Platform intellectual property to you.

You may link to the homepage or to individual published article pages of NexQ Research Consortium for non-commercial academic or informational purposes, provided that:

• The link does not misrepresent your relationship with NexQ Research Consortium or imply endorsement, sponsorship, or affiliation where none exists.
• The link does not frame or embed Platform pages within another website in a manner that could mislead users or obscure the source of the content.
• The linking page does not contain content that is defamatory, unlawful, obscene, offensive, or otherwise harmful.
• The Platform's name, logo, or branding is not used in the link without prior written consent.

NexQ Research Consortium reserves the right to withdraw linking permission at any time and without notice. Deep linking to specific article PDFs or datasets for automated bulk-download purposes is prohibited without prior written agreement.

The Platform may contain hyperlinks, citations, or references to third-party websites, databases, repositories, software tools, data archives, and other external resources. Such links are provided solely for the convenience and information of users and do not constitute an endorsement, recommendation, or approval by NexQ Research Consortium of the linked resource or its operators.

• NexQ Research Consortium has no control over, and assumes no responsibility for, the content, accuracy, privacy practices, availability, or security of any third-party website or resource.
• The inclusion of any link does not imply that NexQ Research Consortium monitors or endorses the linked site or its content.
• Your decision to access any third-party link is entirely voluntary and at your own risk. You should review the terms of use and privacy policy of any third-party site you visit.
• NexQ Research Consortium shall not be liable for any loss, damage, or harm arising from your access to or reliance on any third-party resource linked from the Platform.

NexQ Research Consortium uses cookies and similar tracking technologies (including web beacons, pixel tags, and local storage) to operate the Platform, remember user preferences, analyse usage patterns, and improve the user experience. By using the Platform, you consent to the use of cookies in accordance with these Terms and our Cookie Policy.

Cookie Type	Purpose	Duration	Category
Session cookies	Maintain user login state and session integrity across page requests.	Session (deleted on browser close)	Essential
Preference cookies	Remember user settings such as language, display format, and notification preferences.	Up to 12 months	Functional
Security cookies	Protect against cross-site request forgery (CSRF) and other security threats.	Session	Essential
Analytics cookies	Collect anonymised data on page views, article downloads, and user journeys to improve Platform performance.	Up to 24 months	Analytics
Third-party embed cookies	Set by embedded third-party tools (e.g. video players, social share buttons, citation managers) when present.	Varies by provider	Functional

The collection, use, storage, and transfer of personal data in connection with your use of the Platform are governed by the NexQ Research Consortium Privacy Policy, which is incorporated into these Terms by reference. By using the Platform, you acknowledge and agree to the data practices described in the Privacy Policy.

• NexQ Research Consortium collects personal data you provide directly (such as registration details, submission information, and correspondence) and data collected automatically through your use of the Platform (such as IP address, browser type, and usage analytics).
• Personal data is processed for the purposes of providing the Services, operating the Platform, communicating with users, processing submissions, and complying with legal obligations.
• NexQ Research Consortium is committed to compliance with applicable data protection law, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and equivalent national legislation.
• Published Content may include authors' names, institutional affiliations, and email addresses as part of standard academic publishing practice. By submitting content for publication, all listed authors consent to publication of this information.

For any data protection enquiry, including the exercise of your rights of access, rectification, erasure, or portability, please contact our Data Protection Officer at the address provided in Section 20.

NexQ Research Consortium reserves the right to change, add, remove, suspend, or permanently discontinue any part, feature, service, journal, or publication of the Platform at any time and without prior notice. This includes the right to:

• Modify the design, structure, or functionality of the Platform at any time.
• Temporarily suspend access to the Platform for maintenance, security updates, or technical improvements.
• Permanently discontinue any journal, book series, or Service without obligation to continue publication or maintain archived access beyond a reasonable transition period.
• Restrict or terminate your access to the Platform for any reason, including for violation of these Terms.

Where the Platform is discontinued, NexQ Research Consortium will use reasonable efforts to ensure continued access to Published Content through third-party archiving arrangements (such as LOCKSS, CLOCKSS, or Portico) in accordance with its long-term preservation policy.

The Platform and all Content, information, and Services are provided strictly on an "as is" and "as available" basis, without any warranties or representations of any kind, whether express, implied, or statutory. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, NexQ Research Consortium expressly disclaims all warranties, including:

• Implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, and non-infringement.
• Any warranty that the Platform will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, error-free, or free from viruses or other harmful components.
• Any warranty as to the accuracy, completeness, currency, reliability, or suitability of any Content for any particular purpose.
• Any warranty that the Platform will meet your specific requirements or produce any particular result.

The Content on this Platform is intended for informational and academic purposes only and does not constitute professional, medical, legal, financial, or technical advice. Users must exercise independent judgment and, where appropriate, seek qualified professional advice before relying on any Content. For the full scope of our liability exclusions, please refer to our Disclaimer.

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, in no event shall NexQ Research Consortium, its directors, officers, employees, agents, partners, licensors, or affiliates be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, special, exemplary, or punitive damages arising out of or relating to your use of or inability to use the Platform, including but not limited to:

• Loss of data, profits, revenue, goodwill, or business opportunity.
• Any reliance placed on Content available on or through the Platform.
• Unauthorised access to or alteration of your user data or submissions.
• Any interruption, suspension, or termination of Platform access or Services.
• Errors, inaccuracies, or omissions in any Content on the Platform.
• Any conduct or content of third parties on or linked to through the Platform.

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless NexQ Research Consortium and its directors, officers, employees, agents, and affiliates from and against any and all claims, liabilities, losses, damages, costs, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or in connection with:

• Your access to or use of the Platform or any Content thereon.
• Any User Content you submit, post, or transmit through the Platform.
• Your violation of any provision of these Terms or any applicable law or regulation.
• Your infringement of any intellectual property, privacy, or other legal rights of any third party.
• Any misrepresentation made by you in connection with your use of the Platform.

NexQ Research Consortium reserves the right, at its own expense, to assume the exclusive defence and control of any matter otherwise subject to indemnification by you, in which case you agree to cooperate with NexQ Research Consortium's defence of such claim.

These Terms of Use and any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with them (including non-contractual disputes) shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the jurisdiction in which NexQ Research Consortium is registered and operates, without reference to conflict of law principles that would require the application of the laws of another jurisdiction.

• All legal disputes that cannot be resolved through good-faith negotiation between the parties shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the competent courts of the Platform's operating jurisdiction.
• Users accessing the Platform from other jurisdictions do so voluntarily and at their own risk, and are solely responsible for compliance with applicable local laws.
• Nothing in these Terms limits NexQ Research Consortium's right to seek injunctive or other equitable relief in any court of competent jurisdiction where Platform rights are threatened.

If any provision of these Terms is found by a court or competent authority to be invalid, unlawful, or unenforceable in any respect, that provision shall be deemed modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it valid and enforceable, or severed from these Terms if modification is not possible. The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision shall not affect the validity or enforceability of the remaining provisions, which shall continue in full force and effect.

In such a case, the parties agree to negotiate in good faith to replace the invalid or unenforceable provision with a valid and enforceable provision that achieves, as closely as possible, the economic and legal intent of the original provision.

NexQ Research Consortium reserves the right to amend, revise, update, or replace these Terms of Use at any time, at its sole discretion. Amendments will take effect upon publication of the revised Terms on the Platform, with an updated effective date. Where changes are material, NexQ Research Consortium will use reasonable efforts to notify registered users by email or through a prominent on-Platform notice.

If you do not agree to the revised Terms, you must cease all use of the Platform immediately. For registered users, please contact us to close your account.