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TermsPrivacyIntellectual PropertyCommunityStrikesUnsolicited IdeasArchiveUpdates




TERMS OF SERVICE

LAST UPDATED: FEBRUARY 20, 2024

DOWNLOAD TEXT AS PDF

To help make these terms easy to navigate, the text is broken down into sections
covering different topics. You can find an overview of all the sections in the
contents. When you visit each section, you’ll find a summary of what it contains
and a list of subsections. To read a section in full, click “Read more” or
download the PDF.


INTRODUCTION

 * If you live outside of the United States, sections 1 to 8 of these Terms of
   Service (“Terms”) apply to you. 
 * If you live in the United States, in addition to sections 1 to 8, section 9
   of these Terms applies to you. Section 9 contains additional terms of service
   for United States residents (“Additional U.S. Terms”), INCLUDING A MANDATORY
   ARBITRATION CLAUSE IN SECTION 9.2.
 * These Terms incorporate the following additional policies (“Policies”):
   
   ‍Community Guidelines
   ‍‍Strikes Policy
   Appeals Policy
   Intellectual Property Policy
   Unsolicited Ideas Policy


DEFINITIONS

 * "Member" (also referred to as "you" and "your") - a User who successfully
   registers for an account on the Service.
 * "Member Submission" - any content, article, data, text, image, post, profile
   information, or other information that a Member adds, creates, uploads,
   submits, distributes, transmits, sends, shares, or posts, whether privately
   or publicly, on or to the Service.
 * "ResearchGate" (also referred to as "we" and us") - ResearchGate GmbH,
   a German limited liability company.
 * "Service" - the services made available at www.researchgate.net and all other
   websites and properties operated by ResearchGate and all associated
   applications, including our iOS and Android apps.
 * "User" (also referred to as "you" and "your") - anyone who, as a recipient of
   the Service, accesses or uses the Service for any purpose.
 * "Visitor" (also referred to as "you" and "your") - an unregistered User of
   the Service.


CONTENTS

1. Agreement2. Our Service3. Content on the Service4. Your conduct5. Community
Guidelines and Strikes Policy6. Termination of this agreement7. Changes to this
agreement8. Important legal terms9. Additional terms for United States residents


1. AGREEMENT

Our Service is available to you provided that you agree to these Terms and our
Policies. Additionally, you can only access the Service and create an account if
you meet our eligibility criteria.


1.1 WHAT TERMS APPLY

Read more

We provide the Service as an information society service in the meaning of
Article 1(b) of Directive (EU) 2015/1535. Your use of the Service is subject to
these Terms, which include the Policies. The Terms become binding on Members
once we accept your offer to enter into a binding agreement with us, for
example, once you have completed the registration process and we have made your
account accessible by you. Visitors may also be asked to agree to these Terms to
use certain features. If you do not understand or accept any part of these
Terms, you must not use the Service.


1.2 WHO CAN USE THE SERVICE

Read more

The Service is only available to individual natural persons acting in their
professional capacity who are at least 18 years old. You cannot use the Service
if you are on a sanctions-related list of designated persons maintained by the
United Nations Security Council, European Union, or any governmental authority
of the United States of America, or are prohibited from receiving the Service
under laws applicable to you.

To register for an account, you must meet our registration criteria, which
require you to either register using an email address with a domain of a
research institution recognized by us or submit acceptable proof of otherwise
being an active researcher. If you don’t meet our registration criteria at the
time of registration, we may reject your registration or terminate your
membership if we later learn that you successfully registered without meeting
our criteria. If you have previously had your membership terminated by us, you
may not register for the Service again.


2. OUR SERVICE

ResearchGate’s mission is to connect the world of science and make research open
to all. To achieve this, the Service facilitates discovery, connection, and
collaboration, and lets you showcase your research, ideas, and experience.


2.1 DISCOVER AND CONNECT WITH RELEVANT PEOPLE, ENTITIES, AND INFORMATION

Read more

You can use the Service to discover research, discussions, journals, products,
services, and collaboration, publishing, learning, development, and career
opportunities. As a Member, you can connect and collaborate with other
individuals, recruiters, and entities, build a network, exchange knowledge and
insights, and engage and interact with the ResearchGate community.  

To be as helpful as possible, the Service takes into account information about
you, including information about your career, skills, experience, affiliations,
disciplines, location, research output, network, connections, and your and
others’ activities on the Service, to personalize your experience and recommend
content, people, entities, opportunities, and information that may be relevant
and useful to you. We also gather information from external sources, to improve
these suggestions and disseminate as much relevant scientific content as
possible to drive science forward. 

Keeping your profile information accurate and up-to-date helps us to make these
recommendations more relevant and useful. For more details about how we make
these recommendations and how you can influence your experience, see our Help
Center. For more information about our processing of personal data, see our
Privacy Policy.


2.2 SHARE YOUR RESEARCH, IDEAS, AND EXPERIENCE

Read more

The Service enables Members to share their own research-related work, knowledge,
professional insights, and ideas by sharing their Member Submissions. Members
can also use the Service to showcase their professional identity, including
their education, work experience, credentials, skills, journal roles, expertise,
and affiliations.

While we endeavor to make the Service available as constantly as possible, there
may be disruptions or temporary suspension of the Service due to maintenance,
security, capacity, or events beyond our control.


3. CONTENT ON THE SERVICE

When using the Service, you may see the content of others or share content of
your own. Both of these are subject to a few conditions.


3.1 THIRD-PARTY CONTENT

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As a User of the Service, you may access third-party content made available on
the Service. Third-party content may include Member Submissions, content
licensed to us by publishers, or scientific metadata, bibliographic information,
or other content that we have sourced from publicly available sources. 

The source of third-party content may be identified next to or in connection
with the content. You can use third-party content available on the Service in
accordance with applicable laws, in particular copyright laws (including any
applicable exceptions or limitations), or otherwise in compliance with any
applicable license terms. Trademarks and logos displayed on the Service belong
to their respective owners. 

We do not represent that third-party content made available on the Service is
appropriate or available for use in any particular location. If you choose to
access or use the Service, you do so of your own volition and at your own risk.
You are responsible for compliance with all applicable local laws, including, if
you are in the United States, any applicable export control or foreign assets
control regulations, and are solely responsible for any damage or loss to any
party resulting from your access to or use of the content. 

All content publicly posted or privately transmitted through the Service is the
sole responsibility of the person by whom such content was submitted. We do not
endorse and have no control over third-party content made available on the
Service. We do not generally monitor content made available on the Service for
violations of law or ResearchGate’s policies. We may use automated systems to
analyze Member Submissions in order to detect potential copyright infringement
based on information and instructions provided to us by rightsholders.
Otherwise, we do not manually or automatically preview, review, or filter
content, or use algorithmic decision-making for the purpose of content
moderation. Therefore, we do not and cannot, unless notified, have knowledge of
possible infringements, inappropriate or inaccurate content, or violations of
law caused by Member Submissions. We are not liable for such information
(Digital Millennium Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. section 512; Article 6 of
Regulation (EU) 2022/2065). 

We will, upon obtaining knowledge about or becoming aware of illegal content,
act expeditiously to remove or disable access to such content. To the extent
that content collected from third-party sources, including personal data, is
made available by ResearchGate on the Service, we are unable to control the
legitimacy or accuracy of such content. However, we will review any issues that
are reported to us.

Our Help Center provides information about how to report inappropriate,
inaccurate, or illegal content, including alleged intellectual property
infringements. Section 5 of these Terms describes how we deal with such reports.


3.2 YOUR CONTENT

Read more

If you are a Member, you can add Member Submissions to the Service. You retain
all ownership rights in your Member Submissions. However, you grant us a
worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sub-licensable license to use your
Member Submissions (including to host, reproduce, distribute, modify, copy,
publicly perform or display, translate, and create derivative works of your
Member Submissions for the sole purpose of making available and improving our
Service. You also grant Users a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free,
non-transferable and non-sublicensable license to access your Member Submissions
through the Service and use the Member Submissions solely in connection with
using the Service. 

Your Member Submissions may be displayed next to or in connection with sponsored
or commercial content on the Service. For example, your profile information may
be displayed in connection with such content if you take an action in relation
to that content, such as registering your interest in or recommending it.

To the extent that you do not have the legal rights to grant these licenses in
relation to any Member Submissions, you agree not to upload those Member
Submissions. You are responsible for ensuring that the use of your Member
Submissions as contemplated by these Terms does not infringe or violate the
rights of any third party, including any privacy rights, publicity rights,
patent, copyrights, contract rights, or any other intellectual property or
proprietary rights. Where your Member Submissions contain personal data, you
must have a legal basis to share that personal data. Except where legal
exceptions or limitations apply, you represent and warrant that you own or
otherwise control any and all rights or licenses required in order to submit or
share all content in your Member Submissions on the Service. 

You can end these licenses for a specific Member Submission by deleting that
Member Submission from the Service where possible, or generally by closing your
account. You may delete your Member Submissions at any time, with some limited
exceptions. For example, you may be unable to delete a question if it has been
answered, because this content may be valuable for others and its deletion may
result in deletion of others’ Member Submissions. Please be aware that we may
continue to display some Member Submissions after you close your account,
including metadata and abstracts on publication pages you created, labs you
created, and posts that form part of a discussion thread. If you sent any
private messages, the recipients will still have access to the message content. 

You understand that, subject to your Privacy Settings, your profile information,
account activity, and Member Submissions may be visible to and shared with third
parties, including other Members (including recruiters) and/or Visitors, and
that we cannot and do not control any such third parties. For information about
what personal data we process and how we use the data, please see our Privacy
Policy. 

Any idea, information, or feedback you submit to us without our specific request
is subject to our Unsolicited Ideas Policy.


4. YOUR CONDUCT

To make sure ResearchGate is a constructive and civil space dedicated to
research, you agree to follow some basic rules.


4.1 INTEGRITY AND AUTHENTICITY

Read more

As we strive to connect the world of science and make research open to all, we
think it’s critical that our Members stay accountable for their opinions and
actions. For this reason you agree to:

 * Identify yourself using only your real name and, if you choose to use a
   profile photo, only use a real photo of you and you alone.
 * Keep your personal data accurate and up-to-date. Do not accept, adopt, or
   post any content that falsely or misleadingly implies incorrect or inaccurate
   information about you, including your roles, authorship, biographical facts,
   research, qualifications, credentials, work experience, achievements, or the
   like.
 * Only affiliate yourself with institutions that you have an affiliation with,
   and keep your current affiliation on your profile up-to-date.
 * Only register for one account for yourself. Do not register for or operate an
   account after you have had an account restricted, suspended, or terminated,
   register for or operate an account for a third party or on behalf of an
   entity, or circumvent our registration criteria or assist a third party to do
   so. 
 * Use a strong password and keep it confidential. Do not give others access to
   your account or transfer your account to anyone else.
 * Only connect your account with email addresses that belong to you as an
   individual. Do not use a non-personal email address, such as a generic
   company email address.


4.2 SAFETY AND SECURITY

Read more

We want people to always feel safe and secure while they use ResearchGate. With
that in mind, you agree not to: 

 * Annoy, harass, abuse, troll, degrade, disparage, shame, insult, bully,
   intimidate, threaten, attack, stalk, exploit, or send unwelcome
   communications to others (including ResearchGate), including unwanted
   romantic advances.
 * Share private communications, personal data of minors, or personal or
   sensitive data of any other person without a legal basis to do so. This
   includes sharing someone’s private information online without their
   permission, sometimes called doxing.
 * Share confidential or proprietary information, trade secrets, or any
   information you do not have a right to share.
 * Share files, programs, or software that contain viruses, worms, or harmful
   code, or otherwise pose a risk of compromising others’ online data or
   security, including through malicious software or websites, browser
   extensions, or mobile applications.
 * Employ any mechanisms, devices, software, scripts, robots, or any other means
   or processes (including crawlers, browser plugins, add-ons, or any other
   technology) when using the Service, or use any such means to access, scrape
   or copy content, data, or profiles on or from the Service. 
 * Access, process, harvest, store, or otherwise use any other person's personal
   data for any purpose other than the natural purpose of such data being made
   available within the Service.
 * Access content or data on the Service at an unusually high rate or attempt to
   access any content or data you do not have permission or eligibility to
   access.


4.3 INAPPROPRIATE, HARMFUL, OR DANGEROUS CONTENT

Read more

We want to cultivate a professional, collaborative, and respectful community
environment, where every researcher is empowered to do their best work. You
therefore agree not to: 

 * Post anything explicit, derogatory, discriminatory, shocking, graphic,
   objectionable, offensive, sexually suggestive, immoral, potentially harmful,
   or potentially dangerous, including demonstrably false claims,
   disinformation, misinformation, or harmful health claims.
 * Disseminate content that poses a risk of intimidating groups of a population,
   destabilizing political or social structures, or leading to a threat to
   public security or public health.
 * Engage in hateful conduct or share hate speech, including any content that
   attacks, denigrates, or promotes violence against people, a group, or class
   based on their actual or perceived race, color, ethnicity, national origin,
   political or religious affiliation, sexual orientation, sex, gender, gender
   identity, gender expression, age, immigration status, disabilities, or
   diseases.
 * Post content containing nudity, or share any pornographic or sexually
   explicit, suggestive, or inappropriate materials, or content that sexually
   exploits or endangers children or otherwise violates any applicable
   legislation for the protection of minors. Content containing nudity may be
   permissible where the primary purpose is scientific and the content isn’t
   gratuitous.
 * Share any content that glorifies, incites, or calls for harm or violence of
   any kind, or praises, supports, legitimizes, or downplays violence, violent
   actors, or violent events.
 * Post or share anything that encourages, threatens, or amounts to commission
   of a crime, condones, denies, or trivializes crimes of genocide, crimes
   against humanity, war crimes, or crimes against peace, or that represents,
   praises, supports, or legitimizes ideologies, organizations, or individuals
   that engage in or promote violence, organized crime, extremism, hate, or
   terrorism, including any unconstitutional, terrorist, or former National
   Socialist (i.e. Nazi) organizations.
 * Post or share anything that otherwise does not comply with any applicable
   laws, regulations, or other legally binding obligations, promotes illegal
   activity, or infringes the legal rights of others.


4.4 DECEPTIVE OR COMMERCIAL PRACTICES

Read more

ResearchGate is a home for researchers to share and discover research and build
valuable connections. To help keep a research-focused environment, you agree not
to:  

 * Post or share anything false, inaccurate, dishonest, fraudulent, misleading,
   manipulative, deceptive, defamatory, or libelous.
 * Use the Service to harm others or their careers or business prospects, or to
   air personal or legal grievances or disputes.
 * Misuse the Service or its features, for example by adding inaccurate,
   unrelated, outdated or non-research-related information, creating publication
   pages for research you did not author, or posting content whose primary
   purpose is to drive Users to properties outside of the Service.
 * Act unprofessionally or inappropriately, including by posting broad, vague,
   irrelevant, repetitive, untargeted, off-topic, or non-scientific content.
 * Distribute, send, post, trigger, or promote advertising or commercial,
   promotional, or spam-like content, including incentivized endorsements, job
   offers, business proposals, junk mail, phishing schemes, deceptive or
   excessive messages or notifications, exam dumps, or game hacks.
 * Publish, share, sell, license, commercialize, or make available information
   that is provided within the Service to any third party outside the Service,
   unless such a distribution or disclosure is intended within the scope of and
   in accordance with the Service. Information made available within the Service
   is not to be commercialized by Users in any way. 
 * Commercialize any ResearchGate application or any information or software
   associated with such application.
 * Sell, license, or purchase data obtained from ResearchGate or our Service.
 * Post excessively within a short timeframe, overburden or interfere with the
   working, integrity, or appearance of our Service, or impose an unreasonable
   or disproportionately large load on our infrastructure.
 * Block, overwrite, modify, or copy the Service.
 * Post or fulfill requests for potentially unauthorized copyrighted material or
   pirated or cracked versions of software, or promote any form of hacking or
   cracking.
 * Attempt to manipulate our Service’s algorithms, features, or functionalities
   for unfair advantage, such as to boost content visibility unfairly or game
   the system for recommendations, followings, or the like.
 * Impose an unreasonable or disproportionate administrative burden on
   ResearchGate, including by sending us a disproportionate amount of
   communications or reports.
 * Misuse any reporting, complaint, or appeals process, including by submitting
   manifestly unfounded notices, complaints, or appeals.


5. COMMUNITY GUIDELINES AND STRIKES POLICY

Our Community Guidelines set the tone for what behavior and content is
encouraged on ResearchGate, and what we consider inappropriate. If you violate
the guidelines or these Terms, we may take action on your content or account and
apply a strike under our Strikes Policy.

Read more

Generally, if we receive a report that content or conduct on the Service
violates these Terms, our Community Guidelines, or the law, the reported content
or conduct will be reviewed by a human.  

If, following our review of content or conduct, we consider there are objective
reasons to believe that it violates these Terms, our Community Guidelines, or
the law, or may expose us, a User, or third parties to harm, potential legal
liability, or regulatory impacts, we may take action. The action we take may
include:

 * Disabling public access to, removing, deleting, blocking, modifying,
   demoting, or reformatting content. 
 * Sending a warning to any involved parties or issuing a strike in accordance
   with our Strikes Policy. 
 * Suspending a Member’s account access.
 * Permanently disabling a Member’s access to their account.

In determining whether to take action and when applying our Strikes Policy, we
will take into account the context, nature, and severity of the event, the
rights and legitimate interests of all parties involved, the intent of any
actors where it can be reasonably identified, and any previous relevant events.

If we take action on your content or account, we will notify you what action was
taken and the reason why it was taken. We may not notify you of action taken on
your content or account, or of our decision following a report or appeal, where
we are prohibited from doing so for legal reasons, or it would be unreasonable
to do so, bearing in mind the interests of the parties. 

If we decide to take action on your content or account, or we decide not to
remove content that you reported as being illegal, and you believe our decision
was made in error, you may be able to request an appeal in accordance with our
Appeals Policy. In such a case, we will reassess our original decision and
notify you of the outcome of our review. Our Appeals Policy also describes other
remedies that may be available to you. 

If you frequently submit manifestly unfounded reports or appeals, we may suspend
the processing of your reports and appeals.


6. TERMINATION OF THIS AGREEMENT

You are free to terminate this agreement at any time. We can also terminate this
agreement with notice or without notice for good cause.

Read more

As a Member, you can terminate this agreement at any time without cause by
deleting your account. If you ask us to delete your account for you, we may
require that you verify your identity before we agree to do so, to protect you
and others from accidental or unauthorized account deletion. 

In the interests of data privacy and security, we may delete your account in
accordance with our Privacy Policy.    

We may terminate this agreement without cause with a notice period of 30 days.
We are also entitled to immediate extraordinary termination for good cause at
any time. Extraordinary termination for good cause is defined as an event that
makes it unacceptable for the terminating party to continue the agreement until
the end of the termination period, taking into account all circumstances of the
individual case and weighing up the interests of both parties. A good cause for
ResearchGate includes, but is not limited to, the following events:

 * You repeatedly or materially fail to comply with any applicable legal
   provision, a contractual obligation of these Terms, or our Community
   Guidelines.
 * Our reputation is substantially impaired by your online presence.
 * You have revoked a consent given under data protection law or objected to
   further processing of your personal data.
 * You expose ResearchGate, yourself, or any third party to potential harm,
   risk, legal liability, or regulatory impacts.
 * A legal requirement or court order requires us to terminate.
 * We have good reason to believe your account is not under the control of the
   person identified in your profile, or is under the control of a person or
   group of persons operating multiple accounts.

In the event of termination by ResearchGate, we may either delete your account
or disable your access to your account. In the event of termination, the
following shall survive:

 1. The ability of ResearchGate and Users to access, use, and share your Member
    Submissions in accordance with these Terms and applicable laws, when
    appropriate.
 2. Our right to retain your account data in accordance with our Privacy Policy,
    for example to defend legal claims.
 3. Your ability to access the Service as a Visitor, in which case these Terms
    will continue to apply to such use, to the extent applicable.
 4. Sections 1 (Agreement), 3 (Content on the Service), 4 (Your conduct), 6
    (Termination of this agreement), 7 (Changes to this agreement), 8 (Important
    legal terms), 9 (Additional terms for United States residents) of these
    Terms.


7. CHANGES TO THIS AGREEMENT

We can change the Service and these Terms in some circumstances.


7.1 CHANGES TO OUR SERVICE

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We can modify the Service, for example:

 * Where it is technically necessary to do so or to adapt to technological
   advancements.
 * To introduce new features that enhance the Service or discontinue existing
   ones.
 * If we are required to comply with applicable law, a legal order, or a
   decision by a government authority.
 * To prevent abuse or harm or mitigate any potential safety or security issues.
 * If the modification is beneficial to Users or is of a purely technical or
   process-related nature without any material impact on Users.

We will only change or stop offering any part of the Service for valid reasons,
taking into account the reasonable expectations of Users as a whole, and any
potential impact on them. We will provide reasonable notice of such changes
where appropriate.


7.2 CHANGES TO THESE TERMS

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We may change these Terms from time to time, for example, to clarify the Terms,
reflect changes in our Service, and/or reflect changes in the law. You will
become subject to the new terms if you explicitly agree to them, or if we
provide you with notice of the changes. We will provide such notice by sending
you an email and/or notifying you on the Service. You are obliged to check your
emails and account regularly for such notice. In the notice, we will inform you
of the new terms and the material changes, your right to object to the changes,
and the deadline to object.

Unless we state otherwise, the changes will become effective thirty days from
the day they are posted. To object to the changes, you must delete your account
and discontinue using the Service before the changes take effect. You can also
notify us that you object before the changes take effect, in which case we may
terminate our agreement with you and delete your account in accordance with
section 6.

In applying this procedure, we will not make any changes that materially affect
the contractual balance between you and ResearchGate.


8. IMPORTANT LEGAL TERMS

As with all contracts, some legal terms are important to highlight. These terms
describe, for example, when we may be liable, when you may need to indemnify us,
and what law applies.


8.1 YOUR INDEMNIFICATION OF US

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You will indemnify and hold ResearchGate (including our affiliates and
subsidiaries, and our and their respective officers, directors, employees, and
agents) harmless from any claim or demand, including reasonable legal fees, made
by any third party due to or arising out of your Member Submissions, breach of
these Terms, improper use of the Service, breach of any law, or violation of the
rights of a third party.


8.2 OUR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

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The software running the Service, site design and content, logos, and other
graphics, as well as the database, are protected by copyright, trademark, and
other intellectual property laws in multiple jurisdictions. We reserve all of
our intellectual property rights in the Service. 

If you download the ResearchGate app, ResearchGate grants you a personal,
worldwide, royalty-free, non-assignable, non-sublicensable, non-transferable,
and non-exclusive license to use the software as part of the Service. This
license is for the sole purpose of enabling you to use and enjoy the benefit of
the Service as provided by ResearchGate, in the manner permitted by these Terms.
You are not allowed to copy, modify, distribute, sell, or lease any part of the
software, or to reverse-engineer or attempt to extract the source code of the
software, unless laws prohibit these restrictions.


8.3 WHEN WE MAY BE LIABLE

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We may be liable without limitation for damages resulting from injury to life,
limb, or health that occur due to a breach of duty by ResearchGate or one of its
legal representatives or vicarious agents. We may also be liable without
limitation for damages owing to a lack of a characteristic warranted by
ResearchGate or due to malicious conduct by ResearchGate. In addition, we may be
liable without limitation for damages due to intent or gross negligence by
ResearchGate or one of its legal representatives or vicarious agents.

Liability under the German Product Liability Act remains unaffected.

Apart from the cases set out above, our liability shall be limited to typical
foreseeable contractual damages in the event of a breach of any of our cardinal
contractual duties due to slight negligence. Cardinal contractual duties are an
abstract description of those obligations whose fulfillment is indispensable for
the proper implementation of an agreement and on whose fulfillment the
contracting parties can usually rely. Any other liability on the part of
ResearchGate is excluded.

We shall not be a contracting party to any agreements entered into by Users with
other Users or any third party via the Service. Users are solely responsible for
the execution and/or fulfillment of agreements they enter into. We shall not be
held liable for breaches of duty in relation to such agreements. If there is a
dispute between you and a third party, you agree that ResearchGate assumes no
responsibility and is under no obligation to become involved.

The Service may contain links to third-party properties that are not owned or
controlled by ResearchGate. We have no control over, and assume no
responsibility for, such properties. We recommend that you proceed with caution
when leaving the Service, and review any applicable terms and privacy policies.


8.4 WHAT LAW APPLIES

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Except as provided below in section 9 with respect to U.S. Users, these Terms
shall be governed by the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany, except for its
conflicts of laws principles and the CISG (United Nations Convention on the
International Sale of Goods).

If you are deemed to be a consumer in the sense of Article 6 of EU Regulation
593/2008 and have your habitual residence outside of Germany, provisions which,
in the absence of choice, would have been applicable and which cannot, by virtue
of law, be derogated from by agreement, shall remain unaffected.


8.5 WHERE DISPUTES WILL BE HANDLED

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Except as provided below in section 9 concerning U.S. Users, the courts of
Berlin, Germany shall have sole jurisdiction over any disputes arising out of or
in connection with these Terms. This does not apply if the User is deemed to be
a consumer in the sense of Article 17 of EU Regulation No. 1215/2012 and is
residing in a Member State of the EU; in this case, the international
jurisdiction is governed by Article 18 of EU Regulation No. 1215/2012.

If the User is a merchant, legal person under public law, or special funds under
public law, and is either a resident of Germany or resides outside of the
European Union (EU), or is resident of another Member State of the EU and is not
a consumer in the sense of Article 17 of EU Regulation No. 1215/2012, or has its
residence outside of the EU, the courts of Berlin, Germany, shall have sole
jurisdiction over any disputes arising out of or in connection with these Terms.

Statutory provisions regarding exclusive jurisdiction shall remain unaffected.

The EU Commission provides an Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) platform for the
out-of-court resolution of disputes concerning contractual obligations with
consumers (as defined in Article 4 of EU Directive No 11/2013). You can find the
link to this platform here. We do not participate in such ODR. 

We do not use alternative dispute resolution (ADR) procedures to resolve
disputes with consumers.


8.6 NO WAIVER

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If ResearchGate does not act to enforce a breach of these Terms, that does not
mean ResearchGate has waived its rights to enforce these Terms.


8.7 ASSIGNMENT

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We may transfer all or part of this agreement to an affiliate or, if
ResearchGate is sold, to a third party.


8.8 SEVERANCE

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If any provision or portion of these Terms is held to be or becomes invalid,
illegal, or unenforceable, the validity, legality, and enforceability of the
remaining provisions shall not in any way be affected or impaired.


8.9 NOTICE

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Any administrative emails from ResearchGate will be sent to your current primary
email address listed for your account. You must keep this email address
up-to-date. In the event this address is not valid, or for any reason not
capable of receiving our email, our dispatch of the email containing any notice
will nonetheless constitute effective notice.


8.10 MISCELLANEOUS

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These Terms are only available and binding in this English-language version.


9. ADDITIONAL TERMS FOR UNITED STATES RESIDENTS

The following Additional U.S. Terms apply only to United States residents and
apply in addition to the Terms set out above. To the extent the Additional U.S.
Terms are inconsistent with any previous Terms, the following Additional U.S
Terms shall prevail.


9.1 NO WARRANTY, RELEASE, AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

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The Service is provided "as is" and we disclaim any and all representations and
warranties, whether express or implied, including, but not limited to, implied
warranties of title, merchantability, fitness for any particular purpose, or
non-infringement. We do not promise any specific results, effects, or outcomes
from the use of the Service. We do not represent or warrant that the Service and
the data and information provided are accurate, up-to-date, complete, or
reliable. 

You acknowledge and agree that you assume full responsibility for your use of
the Service and the data. Recognizing such, you understand and agree that, to
the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, neither we (and our affiliates
and subsidiaries, and our and their respective officers, directors, employees,
and agents) nor any of our suppliers or licensors will be liable to you for any
direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, punitive, exemplary, or
other damages of any kind, including without limitation damages for loss of
profits, goodwill, use, data or other tangible or intangible losses or any other
damages based on contract, tort (including but not limited to negligence),
strict liability, or any other theory (even if we have been advised of the
possibility of such damages), resulting from your use of or inability to use the
Service and/or the data; unauthorized access to or alteration of your
transmissions or data; any actions we take or fail to take as a result of
communications you send us; human errors; viruses; or technical malfunctions.
Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein, our liability to you
for any cause whatsoever and regardless of the form of action, will at all times
be limited to the amount paid, if any, by you to us for use of the Service over
the past twelve (12) months, or one hundred dollars ($100), whichever is
greater. Some laws do not allow the limitation or exclusion of liability, so
these limits may not apply to you. However, if you are a resident of the State
of New Jersey, these limitations and exclusions do apply to you.

If you have a dispute with one or more Users, you release us (and our affiliates
and subsidiaries, and our and their respective officers, directors, employees,
and agents) from claims, demands, and damages (actual and consequential) of
every kind and nature, known and unknown, arising out of or in any way connected
with such disputes. In entering into this release, you expressly waive any
protections (whether statutory or otherwise) that would otherwise limit the
coverage of this release to include only those claims that you may know or
suspect to exist in your favor at the time of agreeing to this release.


9.2 AGREEMENT TO ARBITRATE, CLASS ACTION WAIVER AND RELEASE

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This section only applies to Users in the United States.

PLEASE READ THIS SECTION CAREFULLY – IT MAY SIGNIFICANTLY AFFECT YOUR LEGAL
RIGHTS, INCLUDING YOUR RIGHT TO FILE A LAWSUIT IN COURT AND TO HAVE A JURY HEAR
YOUR CLAIMS. In order to expedite and control the cost of disputes, you and we
agree that any legal or equitable claim arising out of or relating in any way to
your use of the Service or these Terms, and the formation, validity,
enforceability, scope, or applicability of these Terms, including this section
9.2 (referred to as a “Claim”) will be resolved as follows:

INFORMAL RESOLUTION

We will first try to resolve any Claim informally. Accordingly, neither of us
may start a formal proceeding (except for Claims described in the “Exceptions”
section below) for at least 30 days after one of us notifies the other of a
Claim in writing. Notice of the Claim will include a brief written statement
that sets forth the name, address, and contact information of the party giving
it, the facts giving rise to the dispute, claim, or controversy, and the relief
requested. You will send your notice by email to support[at]researchgate.net AND
to this address: ResearchGate GmbH, Chausseestr. 20, 10115 Berlin, Germany. We
will send our notice by email to the email address associated with your account.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the notice and 30-day negotiation period required
by this paragraph shall not apply, however, to disputes, claims, or
controversies concerning patents, copyrights, moral rights, trademarks, and
trade secrets, and claims of piracy or unauthorized use of the Service.

FORMAL RESOLUTION

Except as provided in the “Exceptions” section below, if we cannot resolve a
Claim informally, any Claim either of us asserts will be resolved only by
binding arbitration and not in courts of general jurisdiction. The arbitration
will be conducted under the rules of JAMS that are in effect at the time the
arbitration is initiated (referred to as the “JAMS Rules”) and under the rules
set forth in these Terms. If there is a conflict between JAMS Rules and the
rules set forth in these Terms, the rules set forth in these Terms will govern.
ARBITRATION MEANS THAT YOU WAIVE YOUR RIGHT TO A JURY TRIAL. You may, in
arbitration, seek any and all remedies otherwise available to you pursuant to
your state’s law.

(a) Personal Users‍

If you are a User who uses the Service solely for your own personal,
non-commercial use, and not in a professional capacity and you decide to
initiate arbitration on your own behalf as a living person (“Personal User”), we
agree to reimburse your arbitration initiation fee, and any additional deposit
required by JAMS to initiate your arbitration. We also agree to pay the costs of
the arbitration proceeding. Other fees, such as attorney’s fees and expenses of
travel to the arbitration, will be paid in accordance with JAMS Rules. The
arbitration will be held at a location in your hometown area unless you and we
both agree to another location or telephonic arbitration. To start an
arbitration, you or we must do the following things:

 1. Write a Demand for Arbitration. The demand must include a description of the
    Claim and the amount of damages sought to be recovered. You can find a copy
    of a Demand for Arbitration at www.jamsadr.com.
 2. Send three copies of the Demand for Arbitration, plus the appropriate filing
    fee, to: JAMS, 500 North State College Blvd., Suite 600, Orange, CA 92868
    (1-800-352-5267).
 3. Send one copy of the Demand for Arbitration to us at: ResearchGate GmbH,
    Chausseestr. 20, 10115 Berlin, Germany.

(b) Professional Users‍

If you are a User who uses the Service in a professional capacity in connection
with an educational institution or legal entity (“Professional User”) and you
decide to initiate arbitration associated with your professional use of the
Service, you will be required to pay the arbitration initiation fee as well as
any additional deposit required by JAMS to initiate your arbitration. You also
agree to pay the costs of the arbitration proceeding. Other fees, such as
attorney’s fees and expenses of travel to the arbitration, will be paid in
accordance with JAMS Rules. The arbitration will be held in San Francisco,
California unless you and we both agree to another location or telephonic
arbitration. To start an arbitration, you or we must do the following things:

 1. Write a Demand for Arbitration. The demand must include a description of the
    Claim and the amount of damages sought to be recovered. You can find a copy
    of a Demand for Arbitration at www.jamsadr.com.
 2. Send three copies of the Demand for Arbitration, plus the appropriate filing
    fee, to: JAMS, 500 North State College Blvd., Suite 600, Orange, CA 92868
    (1-800-352-5267).
 3. Send one copy of the Demand for Arbitration to us at ResearchGate GmbH,
    Chausseestr. 20, 10115 Berlin, Germany.

SPECIAL RULES

In the arbitration proceeding, the arbitrator has no authority to make errors of
law and any award may be challenged if the arbitrator does so. Otherwise, the
arbitrator’s decision is final and binding on all parties and may be enforced in
any federal or state court that has jurisdiction. Neither you nor we shall be
entitled to join or consolidate claims in arbitration by or against other
individuals or entities, or arbitrate any claim as a representative member of a
class or in a private attorney general capacity. Accordingly, you and we agree
that the JAMS Class Action Procedures do not apply to our arbitration. A court
may sever any portion of section 9.2 that it finds to be unenforceable, except
for the prohibition on class, representative, and private attorney general
arbitration.

EXCEPTIONS

Notwithstanding the foregoing, disputes, claims, or controversies concerning
patents, copyrights, moral rights, trademarks, and trade secrets and claims of
piracy or unauthorized access of the Service, including disputes involving a
violation of the Communications Act of 1934, 47 U.S.C. § 605, or the Digital
Millennium Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. § 1201, or the Electronic Communications
Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C. §§ 2510-2521, or any other statement or law governing
theft of service, shall not be subject to arbitration as set out in this section
9.2 and may be decided only by a court of competent jurisdiction. Moreover, you
may choose to pursue your claim in small claims court where jurisdiction and
venue over ResearchGate and you otherwise qualify for such small claims court
and where your claim does not include a request for any type of equitable
relief.

PERSONAL USER RIGHT TO OPT OUT

If you are a Personal User, you have the right to opt out and not be bound by
the binding arbitration requirement by sending written notice of your decision
to opt out to the email address support[at]researchgate.net. The notice must be
sent within 30 days of the initial effective date of these Terms for you, or
your first use of the Service, whichever is later. If you opt out of the binding
arbitration requirement, we also will not be bound by the requirement.
Professional Users may not opt out of the binding arbitration requirements.

CHANGES TO THIS SECTION

We will provide 30 days’ notice of any changes to this section. Changes will
become effective on the 30th day, and will apply prospectively only to any
claims arising after the 30th day.


9.3 APPLICABLE US LAW

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The U.S. Federal Arbitration Act (including its procedural provisions) is the
law that will be applied to determine whether section 9.2 can be enforced and
how it should be interpreted. Apart from that, if you are a United States
resident, these Terms and our relationship will be governed by Californian law,
except for its conflicts of laws principles.


9.4 VENUE FOR LEGAL DISPUTES NOT SUBJECT TO ARBITRATION

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If you are a United States resident, judicial proceedings that are excluded from
the Arbitration Agreement in section 9.2 must be brought in state or federal
court in San Francisco, California, unless we both agree to some other location.
You and ResearchGate both consent to venue and personal jurisdiction in San
Francisco, California.



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