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Document: Terms of Use (CLS)

Terms of Use

These Terms of Use (“Terms”) govern your access to and use of the websites, journals, and online services operated by CrossLink Studies (CLS), including crosslinkstudies.com and journal sub-sites (collectively, the “Services”). By using the Services, you agree to these Terms.

1) Who we are

CLS is a research-focused publisher and media organization dedicated to disseminating peer-reviewed, open-access scholarship and related author services. Learn more on our About and Editorial Process pages.

2) Scope of these Terms

  • These Terms apply to the Services, including information pages, journal portals, submission/peer-review infrastructure, help desk, and content distribution features.
  • Additional terms may apply to specific journals, article submissions, grants, or services. If there is a conflict, the specific terms prevail for that program or journal.

3) Accounts & submissions

  • You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your credentials and for all activities under your account.
  • When submitting manuscripts or materials, you represent that you have the necessary rights, approvals, and ethical clearances. You agree to comply with journal-specific Instructions for Authors, research ethics policies, and our peer-review process.
  • Plagiarism, data fabrication, manipulation of the review process, and undisclosed conflicts are prohibited.

4) Content, licensing, and reuse

  • Published articles. Journal articles are typically made available under a Creative Commons license indicated on the article page (e.g., CC BY-SA 4.0 for UTJ). Your reuse must follow the specific license terms shown for that item.
  • Site materials outside licensed articles. Logos, trademarks, trade dress, and non-article web assets are proprietary to CLS or its licensors and are not licensed for reuse without written permission.
  • Third-party content. Some content is provided by authors, reviewers, or third-party services; their terms may apply.
Reminder: Always check the license displayed on each article before sharing, adapting, or text-mining it.

5) Acceptable use

  • Do not disrupt or attempt to bypass security, rate limits, or access controls.
  • Do not harvest personal data or scrape at a scale that impairs the Services. Automated access must respect robots.txt and reasonable request rates.
  • Do not upload malicious code or content that infringes rights or violates law.

6) Fees, APCs, and payments

Where article processing charges (APCs) or other fees apply, they will be communicated during submission or service onboarding. You are responsible for any taxes, exchange fees, or bank charges. Refunds, if any, are handled per the governing journal or service policy and applicable law.

7) Privacy

Our Privacy Statement explains how we collect and process personal data (e.g., names, affiliations, ORCID, contact details) in connection with submissions and accounts. Please review it before using the Services.

8) Disclaimers

  • The Services and content are provided “as is” and “as available.” CLS disclaims all warranties to the maximum extent permitted by law.
  • CLS does not guarantee acceptance, indexing, impact metrics, or specific outcomes for any submission or service engagement.
  • Research content reflects the authors’ views; CLS is not responsible for errors or omissions in author-supplied materials.

9) Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, CLS will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or any loss of profits, revenues, data, or goodwill arising from or related to your use of the Services.

10) Indemnity

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless CLS and its editors, staff, and partners from claims arising out of your misuse of the Services, your submissions, or your violation of these Terms or applicable law.

11) Suspension & termination

We may suspend or terminate access if we reasonably believe there is a violation of these Terms, a risk to the Services or users, or if required by law or journal policy.

12) Changes to the Services and to these Terms

We may update the Services and these Terms from time to time. Material changes will be indicated by updating the “Last updated” date. Continued use after changes means you accept the updated Terms.

13) Governing law & disputes

These Terms apply to the maximum extent permitted by the laws that apply to you. If you are a consumer, mandatory consumer protection laws of your country of residence prevail where they conflict with these Terms. We encourage good-faith resolution via our Help Desk before pursuing formal remedies.

14) Contact