Terms of Service

Last updated: March 1, 2026

1. Acceptance of Terms

By accessing or using discuria ("the Service"), you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service ("Terms"). If you do not agree to these Terms, you may not use the Service.

2. Description of Service

discuria is a platform for discovering, reading, annotating, and discussing academic papers. The Service provides:

  • Search across multiple academic databases (arXiv, Semantic Scholar, OpenAlex, CrossRef, PubMed)
  • A PDF viewer with annotation capabilities
  • Threaded discussion for collaborative commentary on research papers
  • The ability to upload PDF documents for viewing and discussion

3. User Accounts

To use certain features of the Service, you must create an account. You agree to:

  • Provide accurate and complete information when creating your account
  • Keep your login credentials secure and confidential
  • Be responsible for all activity that occurs under your account
  • Notify us immediately of any unauthorized use of your account

4. User-Uploaded Content

When uploading PDF files to discuria, you represent and warrant that:

  • You have the legal right to share and distribute the uploaded file
  • The file does not infringe on any third party's intellectual property rights, including copyrights held by publishers
  • You are the author of the work, have obtained permission from the copyright holder, or the work is available under an open access license that permits redistribution
  • You understand that improperly sharing copyrighted material may result in removal of the content and suspension of your account

discuria does not claim ownership of user-uploaded content. However, by uploading content, you grant discuria a non-exclusive, worldwide license to store, display, and make available the uploaded file through the Service for the purpose of enabling reading, annotation, and discussion.

5. Copyright & Intellectual Property

discuria respects the intellectual property rights of others. We index metadata from publicly available academic databases but do not host or redistribute copyrighted PDFs without authorization.

If you believe content hosted on discuria infringes your copyright, please see our DMCA & Takedown Policy for instructions on submitting a removal request.

6. Acceptable Use

You agree not to use the Service to:

  • Upload, share, or distribute content you do not have the right to share
  • Harass, abuse, or threaten other users in annotations or discussions
  • Post spam, advertisements, or off-topic content
  • Attempt to reverse-engineer, exploit, or disrupt the Service
  • Scrape or mass-download content from the Service
  • Violate any applicable laws or regulations

7. Content Moderation

discuria reserves the right to remove any content that violates these Terms, including user-uploaded PDFs, annotations, and comments. We may suspend or terminate accounts that repeatedly violate these Terms.

User-uploaded PDFs that receive 5 or more reports from different users are automatically removed from the platform. The paper record and any associated discussions will remain, but the PDF will no longer be available for viewing. Users may re-upload a correct PDF after a takedown.

8. Repeat Infringer Policy

In accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and other applicable laws, discuria maintains a policy of terminating, in appropriate circumstances, the accounts of users who are repeat infringers of intellectual property rights.

Specifically:

  • Users who receive one valid DMCA takedown notice will receive a formal warning and the infringing content will be removed.
  • Users who receive two valid DMCA takedown notices will have their upload privileges suspended for 90 days.
  • Users who receive three or more valid DMCA takedown notices will have their accounts permanently terminated.

discuria reserves the right to terminate any account at any time if we believe, in our sole discretion, that the user has engaged in willful or egregious copyright infringement, even on a first offense.

For more information on our takedown procedures, see our DMCA & Takedown Policy.

9. Third-Party Services & Data

The Service integrates with third-party academic databases and APIs. We do not control and are not responsible for the availability, accuracy, or content provided by these external services. Paper metadata displayed on discuria is sourced from these databases and is subject to their respective terms of use.

10. Disclaimer of Warranties

The Service is provided "AS IS" and "AS AVAILABLE" without warranties of any kind, either express or implied. discuria does not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free, or free of harmful components.

11. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, discuria shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or any loss of profits or revenues, arising out of or related to your use of the Service.

12. Changes to Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. We will notify users of material changes by posting a notice on the Service. Continued use of the Service after changes become effective constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.

13. Contact

If you have questions about these Terms, please contact us at [email protected].