Terms of Service

2. What the Service Provides

When you submit a manuscript and complete payment, EditRefine will:

• Edit your manuscript for language, grammar, spelling, punctuation, consistency, and clarity, returned as a Word document with tracked changes
• Generate a separate recommendations document with higher-level feedback on structure, argumentation, and presentation
• Deliver both documents to you by email, typically within two hours of payment

The Service accepts manuscripts in Microsoft Word format (.docx) only. Manuscripts must be scientific or academic in nature — see Section 8 (Acceptable Use) below.

3. AI Editing — Nature and Limitations

EditRefine is an AI-powered service. All editing and recommendations are generated by large language models, not human editors. While we employ quality-assurance measures — including independent AI cross-checking to verify that scientific meaning is preserved — AI editing has inherent limitations:

• AI models may occasionally make errors, including incorrect word choices, unintended changes in meaning, or inappropriate edits
• Recommendations are suggestions only and may not be correct or applicable to your specific field or journal
• The Service does not verify the scientific accuracy, originality, or validity of your research
• AI-generated output should be reviewed by you before use — you are responsible for accepting or rejecting each tracked change

4. No Guarantee of Acceptance or Publication

EditRefine provides language editing and recommendations only. We do not guarantee that your manuscript will be accepted, published, or positively reviewed by any journal, conference, institution, or peer reviewer.

Journal acceptance depends on many factors beyond language quality, including scientific merit, originality, methodology, reviewer opinions, and journal editorial policies. EditRefine has no relationship with any journal or publisher, and use of our Service does not imply endorsement by any third party.

5. Pricing and Payment

The Service is priced at US$4 per page. Page count is calculated as total word count divided by 500, rounded up. The price is displayed before payment and is based on the manuscript you upload.

Payment is processed securely via Stripe. We accept credit cards, debit cards, and Alipay. Payment must be completed before editing begins.

After editing is complete, you will receive a single-use discount code for 50% off a resubmission of the same manuscript. This discount code is valid for one use only and cannot be combined with other offers or transferred.

Prices are quoted in US dollars. You are responsible for any currency conversion fees, taxes, or charges imposed by your bank or payment provider.

6. Refund Policy

Because editing begins immediately after payment, refunds are generally not available once processing has started. However, we will issue a full refund in the following circumstances:

• Service failure: we fail to deliver your edited documents within 24 hours of payment (barring force majeure)
• Technical failure: the returned documents are corrupted, unreadable, or contain no tracked changes
• Processing error: your manuscript was not processed at all (e.g., due to a system error on our end)
• Duplicate charge: you were charged more than once for the same submission

Refunds are not available for dissatisfaction with the quality, style, or extent of AI-generated edits or recommendations, or because a journal did not accept your manuscript.

To request a refund, contact us at support@editrefine.com within 14 days of your payment. We will respond within 3 business days. Approved refunds are processed back to the original payment method via Stripe.

7. Intellectual Property

You retain all intellectual property rights in your manuscript. Submitting your manuscript to EditRefine does not transfer any ownership, copyright, or other rights to us.

You grant us a limited, temporary licence to process your manuscript solely for the purpose of providing the Service. This licence expires when your documents are deleted (see Section 9).

The edited output (tracked changes and recommendations) is derived from your original work and belongs to you. We claim no rights over the edited documents.

8. Acceptable Use

EditRefine is designed for editing scientific and academic manuscripts — including research articles, reviews, case studies, theses, and similar scholarly documents. You agree that you will not use the Service to:

• Submit content that is illegal, defamatory, or infringes the intellectual property rights of others
• Submit content you do not have the right to share (e.g., manuscripts authored by others without their consent)
• Attempt to reverse-engineer, probe, or exploit the editing system or AI models
• Use the Service for purposes unrelated to academic or scientific manuscript editing
• Circumvent any technical limitations or access controls
• Resell, redistribute, or commercially exploit the Service without our written permission

We reserve the right to refuse service, cancel orders, or suspend access at our sole discretion if we reasonably believe these Terms have been violated.

9. Data Handling and Deletion

Your manuscript and all generated documents (edited manuscript, recommendations) are automatically and permanently deleted 7 days after processing is complete. After deletion, documents cannot be recovered.

Your manuscript is processed by AI models provided by Anthropic. Under our commercial API agreement with Anthropic, your data is not used for model training, and Anthropic does not retain your inputs or outputs beyond a short safety-evaluation window (as specified in Anthropic’s commercial data processing terms).

For full details on what data we collect and how we process it, see our Privacy Policy.

10. Delivery

We aim to deliver your edited documents within two hours of payment. This is a target, not a guarantee. Delivery times may be longer during periods of high demand or if technical issues arise.

Documents are delivered by email to the address you provide at submission, and are also available for download using your unique access key. You are responsible for providing a valid email address and for downloading your documents within the 7-day availability window.

11. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, the Service is provided “as is” and “as available” without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement.

We do not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free, or free of harmful components. We do not warrant the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of any edits or recommendations.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, our total liability for any claim arising from or related to the Service is limited to the amount you paid for the specific submission giving rise to the claim.

We are not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, including but not limited to loss of profits, data, reputation, or publication opportunities, even if we have been advised of the possibility of such damages.

12. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless EditRefine and its operator from any claims, damages, losses, or expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising from your use of the Service, your violation of these Terms, or your submission of content that infringes the rights of any third party.

13. Right to Refuse or Discontinue Service

We reserve the right to refuse, cancel, or discontinue service to any user at our sole discretion, including but not limited to cases where:

• The submitted content violates our Acceptable Use policy
• We detect fraudulent, abusive, or suspicious activity
• The submission places an unreasonable burden on our systems
• We are required to do so by law

If we refuse service after payment has been taken, you will receive a full refund.

14. Governing Law and Disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of South Australia and the Commonwealth of Australia. Any disputes arising from or related to these Terms or the Service shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of South Australia.

Before initiating any formal proceedings, you agree to first contact us at support@editrefine.com to attempt to resolve the dispute informally. We will make a good-faith effort to resolve any concerns within 14 days.

15. General

• Severability. If any provision of these Terms is found to be invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions will continue in full force and effect.
• Entire agreement. These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and EditRefine regarding the Service.
• No waiver. Our failure to enforce any provision of these Terms does not constitute a waiver of that provision.
• Assignment. You may not assign or transfer your rights under these Terms. We may assign our rights and obligations without restriction.