Terms of service

1. Who we are

Pensul (“we”) operates pensul.com, a platform for publishing and discovering peer-reviewed scientific research. Using the platform means accepting these terms.

2. Accounts

Accounts are created and accessed by emailed sign-in link. You are responsible for the security of your email account, since anyone with access to it can sign in as you. Give us accurate information, because royalty payments depend on it.

3. Submitting work

By submitting a manuscript you confirm that the work is original, that it is not under consideration elsewhere, that every listed author has approved the submission, and that you have the rights to everything included in it. You retain copyright. At publication you choose the licence under which readers may use the work.

We charge no submission fee and no article processing charge. We may decline any manuscript at our discretion, and we will tell you why.

4. Peer review

Reviewers agree to keep manuscripts confidential, to declare competing interests, and to decline where they cannot review impartially. Reports are the property of the reviewer, licensed to us for the purposes of the editorial process and, where the reviewer signs, public attribution.

5. Royalties

On publication, revenue from each article is divided: 40% to its authors, 20% to the reviewers who filed reports on it, and 40% to Pensul. Author and reviewer pools are divided equally among the members of each pool unless agreed otherwise in writing before publication.

Royalties accrue on each paid download. Subscription revenue is pooled monthly and apportioned across articles in proportion to subscriber downloads in that period, then split on the same basis. Contributor shares apply for the lifetime of the article. We may change prices and the subscription fee, but not the split percentages for articles already published.

Balances may be withdrawn once they exceed $50.00. Withdrawals are reviewed before release and normally paid within three business days. Refunded purchases are reversed in the ledger.

6. Reader access

Purchasing an article grants you a permanent, personal, non-transferable right to read and download it. A subscription grants the same rights for the duration of the subscription. Neither permits systematic downloading, redistribution, or use to train machine learning systems without written permission.

7. Corrections and retraction

We investigate credible allegations of misconduct or error. Where an article is retracted, it remains available with a retraction notice, because the scientific record is better served by a visible correction than by a deletion. Sales stop on retraction; royalties already credited are not reclaimed.

8. Liability

The platform is provided as is. Published content reflects the views of its authors. To the extent permitted by law, our liability to you is limited to the amounts you have paid us in the twelve months before the claim.

9. Changes

We may update these terms. Material changes are announced on the platform and by email to affected users. Continuing to use Pensul after a change means accepting it.

10. Contact

Questions about these terms: hello@pensul.com.