Terms and Conditions

Version 1.0 | Effective Date: 08 June 2026

1. Introduction

These Terms and Conditions govern the access, participation, use, engagement, submissions, publications, interactions, collaborations, and associated activities conducted through GR Journals.

By accessing or using any part of the platform, users, researchers, mentors, contributors, authors, reviewers, editors, institutions, organizations, participants, or visitors acknowledge that they have read, understood, and agreed to comply with these Terms and Conditions.

Definitions

Platform: GR Journals.
Organization: GR Journals, an entity of GR Scholastic LLP.
User: Any individual or entity accessing the platform.
Contributor: Anyone who submits academic or research content.
Work: Any submitted manuscript, article, abstract, or research material.
Content: All materials available through the platform.

2. Purpose of the Platform

GR Journals is established to promote ethical, responsible, inclusive, sustainable, and globally collaborative scholarly communication and research dissemination.

The platform exists primarily for academic, educational, informational, publishing, and research-oriented purposes. Any editorial content, publications, analyses, recommendations, metrics, insights, journal information, indexing details, or scholarly communications provided through the platform are intended solely for knowledge dissemination and academic advancement.

Such content shall not be interpreted as legally binding, governmental, regulatory, statutory, accreditation-based, ranking-based, or officially enforceable declarations.

3. User Responsibilities

Users agree to use the platform ethically, responsibly, and lawfully.

Users shall not upload, distribute, publish, share, transmit, or otherwise engage in activities involving:

Misleading, fraudulent, unlawful, defamatory, harmful, or abusive content.
Copyright infringement or unauthorized use of proprietary materials.
Plagiarism, data theft, impersonation, or academic misconduct.
Undisclosed use of Generative AI models such as ChatGPT, Gemini, or other LLMs.
Unauthorized access to systems, databases, user accounts, or confidential information.
Any activity that may disrupt, damage, misuse, manipulate, or compromise platform integrity.

The organization reserves the right to suspend, restrict, remove, or terminate access to users violating these Terms or engaging in activities considered harmful to the platform or community.

4. Intellectual Property Rights

All content, materials, research frameworks, branding, platform structures, designs, databases, publications, graphics, logos, editorial systems, documents, digital assets, methodologies, development models, and other associated intellectual property displayed on or generated through the platform shall remain the exclusive property of the organization or respective rights holders unless otherwise stated.

GR Journals publishes under an open access model. Accepted articles are freely available to all readers at no charge. Authors retain full copyright in their original scholarly works. The specific open access license applicable to each published article (Creative Commons CC BY-NC 4.0) will be clearly indicated on the article page and in the submission agreement.

No person or entity may copy, reproduce, republish, distribute, modify, scrape, commercially exploit, store, extract, reverse engineer, or misuse any platform material without prior written authorization.

The content on the platform cannot be used for training artificial intelligence, machine learning models, or text-and-data mining (TDM).

Nothing in these Terms shall be interpreted as transferring ownership of authors' original scholarly works to the organization except where expressly agreed through a separate publishing agreement.

Unauthorized use, theft, duplication, manipulation, redistribution, or commercial exploitation of platform content, research models, or proprietary information may lead to legal action under applicable laws.

5. Research Ratings, Reviews & Developmental Assessments

Any ratings, developmental indicators, institutional showcases, assessments, analytical representations, research reviews, or evaluation-based content presented through the platform are based solely on internal research methodologies, publicly available information, voluntary submissions, developmental interpretations, or platform-specific evaluation frameworks.

Methodologies and evaluation frameworks may evolve over time, and the organization reserves the right to modify assessment criteria without prior notice.

Such representations:

Do not constitute governmental certification, accreditation, legal endorsement, or statutory validation.
May not represent the complete standing, recognition, operational quality, or legal status of any entity.
Are intended only for informational, developmental, academic, research, or showcase purposes.

The organization shall not be liable for any decision, interpretation, institutional implication, financial consequence, reputational impact, or third-party action arising from such content.

6. GR Connect Mentorship & Expert Disclaimer

GR Connect functions solely as a facilitation and networking platform intended to enable interaction, mentorship, collaboration, guidance, discussions, presentations, and knowledge exchange among researchers, institutions, professionals, experts, mentors, speakers, contributors, and seekers.

The views, opinions, statements, presentations, recommendations, interpretations, and advice expressed by mentors, experts, contributors, reviewers, speakers, institutions, or participants are entirely their own.

Does not directly or indirectly endorse opinions or guidance.
Shall not be responsible for validating the accuracy, applicability, legality, or outcomes of such guidance.
Shall have no liability arising from academic, professional, institutional, financial, personal, or operational decisions made based on such interactions.

Participation in mentorships, collaborations, discussions, or acceptance of any advice shall remain solely at the discretion and responsibility of the participant or seeker.

7. Fees, Payments, and Refunds

Current Fee Structure: As of the effective date of these Terms, G R Scholastic LLP and GR Journals do not charge Article Processing Charges (APCs), submission fees, or processing fees for manuscript submissions. Access to certain platform features, open-access publications, or initial networking tools is provided free of charge.

Future Modifications to Fee Models: The organization explicitly reserves the right to modify its pricing structure, introduce APCs, implement subscription models, or charge fees for digital services, premium features, events, and conference registrations at any time.

User Notification: Any introduction of fees or changes to the current free model will be updated on the respective platform's website or communicated clearly prior to submission or service engagement. Continued use of the platform after pricing updates constitutes acceptance of the new financial terms.

Refund Policy: All financial transactions, payments, subscriptions, event registrations, or future APCs processed through the platform are strictly non-refundable unless explicitly stated otherwise in writing or required by applicable consumer protection laws.

Taxation and Currency: Users are responsible for all applicable local, national, or international taxes, duties, and transaction fees associated with any payments made to the organization.

The organization shall not be responsible for payment failures, delays, processing errors, exchange rate variations, or service interruptions caused by third-party payment processors, banks, or financial institutions.

8. Research Integrity & Publication Ethics

The organization's publication ethics policies align with the Core Practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Editors, reviewers, and authors are expected to follow these guidelines.

GR Journals operates a single-blind / double-blind peer review process. All reviewers are required to maintain strict confidentiality of submitted manuscripts and to declare any conflicts of interest before accepting a review assignment.

Authors are prohibited from engaging in citation manipulation in any form. This includes, but is not limited to:

Self-citation abuse, i.e. excessively citing one’s own prior work where it is not directly relevant.
Citation fabrication, i.e. referencing sources that do not exist or do not support the stated claim.
Manipulating, splicing, duplicating, erasing, or digitally altering experimental images in ways that misrepresent original data.
Presenting AI-generated illustrations or visualizations as if they were photographs or actual experimental results.

All submissions must comply with the organization's Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement. The organization reserves the right to investigate allegations relating to plagiarism, duplicate publication, data fabrication, data falsification, image manipulation, authorship disputes, citation manipulation, peer-review manipulation, or other forms of research misconduct.

Upon receipt of a misconduct allegation, the organization will notify all parties named. The accused will be given a reasonable opportunity to respond in writing before any determination is made. Investigations will be handled confidentially. Outcomes including corrections, retractions, or dismissals will be communicated to all relevant parties in a timely manner.

The organization reserves the right to issue corrections, expressions of concern, or retractions in accordance with COPE guidelines where ethical, legal, or integrity concerns are identified post-publication.

The organization reserves the right to retract, correct, withdraw, or remove published content where ethical concerns, legal violations, copyright disputes, authorship disputes, or research integrity issues are identified.

9. Consent to Publish

By submitting, uploading, presenting, or publishing any manuscript, article, abstract, research material, presentation, image, video, supplementary file, dataset, or other related content through GR Journals, the contributor grants GR Journals a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to review, process, store, reproduce, publish, display, distribute, archive, index, and promote such content through academic, digital, scholarly, and research-related channels.

This license is granted solely for purposes related to editorial evaluation, publication, dissemination, indexing, preservation, archiving, discoverability, and communication of scholarly works. Authors retain ownership of their intellectual property and copyright except where otherwise specified by applicable publishing agreements or licensing terms.

GR Journals shall not use author-submitted works for unrelated commercial advertising, endorsement activities, or third-party promotional campaigns without the author's prior written consent, except where such use is reasonably necessary for the promotion, dissemination, or visibility of the published work, the journal, or the publisher's academic services.

The contributor confirms that:

The submitted work is original or that all necessary permissions for third-party material have been obtained.
The submission does not knowingly infringe any copyright, intellectual property, confidentiality, or legal rights of any third party.
Any use of AI tools in research or writing has been declared in accordance with COPE guidelines and the organization's AI disclosure policy.
All listed authors and contributors have consented to the submission and publication of the work.

The contributor retains ownership and copyright of the original work unless otherwise specified through separate editorial or publication agreements.

The submitting author warrants that all co-authors have reviewed and approved the submitted work and have agreed to its submission and publication.

The organization reserves the right to edit formatting, layout, presentation, metadata, or publication style for editorial, technical, or archival purposes and may accept, reject, suspend, withdraw, or remove submissions in accordance with platform policies, ethical standards, or legal requirements.

Authors may post preprints of their submitted manuscripts on recognized non-commercial preprint servers prior to or during the review process. Upon publication, authors are encouraged to update the preprint record with a link to the final published version and to cite the DOI or journal reference.

10. Data Usage & Platform Security

Users acknowledge that personal and professional information may be collected, stored, processed, or used for operational, administrative, communication, publication, research, networking, platform improvement, or participation-related purposes.

Types of personal information collected may include:

Identity data: names, professional titles, and institutional affiliations.
Contact data: email addresses, phone numbers, and physical or mailing addresses.
Academic & professional data: research interests, ORCID iDs, CVs, biographies, publications, and expert domains.
Technical & usage data: IP addresses, login data, browser types, and usage patterns.
Communication data: preferences regarding newsletters, promotional updates, and event notifications.

Regulatory Compliance: The organization is committed to processing data legally and transparently. For users residing in India, data processing adheres to the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023. For users residing in the European Economic Area (EEA), data processing complies with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Incorporation of Privacy Policy: Data collection, user consent, data retention, and individual privacy rights are governed comprehensively by our separate Privacy Policy, which is incorporated into these Terms and Conditions by reference.

Security Disclaimer: While reasonable technical and organizational efforts are made to maintain platform security and protect user data, the organization shall not be held responsible for unauthorized third-party access, cyber incidents, technical breaches, data interception, or events beyond its reasonable control.

User Responsibility: Users are strictly responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of their own account credentials, devices, communications, and any information they choose to share publicly on the platform.

Cookies Policy: The platform may use cookies, analytics tools, and similar technologies to improve functionality, security, and user experience. Further details may be provided in a separate Cookie Policy where applicable.

For complete details regarding data collection, processing, retention, user rights, cookies, and privacy practices, please refer to our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated into these Terms and Conditions by reference.

11. Third-Party Content & External Links

The platform may contain references, integrations, external resources, collaborations, or third-party links for informational and networking purposes. The organization does not control or guarantee the accuracy, availability, authenticity, legality, or reliability of third-party content or external platforms.

References to indexing databases, repositories, abstracting services, or external scholarly platforms do not imply endorsement or guarantee continued inclusion by such services.

Accessing third-party resources shall remain entirely at the user's own discretion and risk.

12. Limitation of Liability

The organization, its founders, owners, licensees, successors in business, affiliates, representatives, advisors, employees, editors, reviewers, mentors, volunteers, contributors, and associated entities shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, special, exemplary, reputational, operational, academic, financial, legal, or technical damages arising from:

Use or inability to use the platform, its tools, or its digital services.
Participation in programs, collaborations, networking, or mentorship activities.
Publication, removal, formatting, or interpretation of content and manuscripts.
Technical interruptions, service disruptions, software bugs, server downtimes, or system maintenance.
Third-party conduct, unauthorized access, data breaches, cyber incidents, or misuse of information.
Reliance upon ratings, reviews, showcases, developmental indicators, insights, recommendations, or expert guidance.

The organization shall not be liable for delays, interruptions, or failures caused by events beyond its reasonable control, including natural disasters, pandemics, governmental actions, internet outages, cyberattacks, labor disputes, or other force majeure events.

Users agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless G R Scholastic LLP, its affiliates, officers, employees, editors, reviewers, and representatives from any claims, liabilities, damages, costs, expenses, or legal fees arising from their submissions, conduct, misuse of the platform, violation of these Terms, infringement of intellectual property rights, or breach of applicable laws.

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, all services, content, assessments, and platforms are provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis without warranties of any kind, either express or implied. The total liability of the organization for any claim arising under these terms shall not exceed the amount paid by the user, if any, to access the platform.

13. Governing Law, Venue & Jurisdiction

These Terms and Conditions shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of India.

All matters relating to access to or use of the platform, services, publications, collaborations, programs, and associated activities, including any disputes or claims arising therefrom, shall be subject to and governed exclusively by the applicable laws of India.

In the event of a dispute arising under these Terms, the parties agree to first attempt resolution through good-faith negotiation within 30 days of written notice of the dispute. If the dispute remains unresolved, either party may submit it to mediation before initiating formal legal proceedings.

Any dispute, controversy, or legal proceeding arising directly or indirectly out of or in connection with these Terms and Conditions or the use of the platform shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the competent courts situated within the territorial jurisdiction of the registered office of the organization.

14. Modifications to Terms

The organization reserves the right to modify, update, revise, amend, suspend, or discontinue any part of these Terms and Conditions, platform policies, services, programs, features, or related content at any time.

Material changes, including those affecting fees, intellectual property rights, publication licenses, or user obligations, will be communicated in advance through email and/or platform notifications. Minor editorial, administrative, or formatting updates that do not materially affect user rights or obligations may be made without prior notice.

Continued use of the platform after such modifications shall constitute acceptance of the revised Terms.

15. Acceptance

By accessing, using, participating in, submitting to, publishing through, collaborating with, or engaging with the platform in any capacity, users acknowledge that they have read, understood, and agreed to comply with these Terms and Conditions.

16. Privacy Policy

GR Journals is dedicated to safeguarding privacy and protecting personal information. This Privacy Policy outlines our practices for collecting, using, storing, and securing personal data in alignment with applicable global legal standards.