Terms of Service

In short: you can use CiteArk to host, parse, reproduce, and verify paper research; you are responsible for the content you submit and your account activity; we only stand behind whether a specific experiment actually occurred, and we do not endorse paper conclusions.

These Terms of Service ("Terms") form a binding agreement between you and Hangzhou Ligu Network Technology Co., Ltd. ("CiteArk", "we") governing your use of the CiteArk website, APIs, and related services (the "Service"). By accessing or using the Service, you agree to these Terms; if you do not agree, please do not use the Service.

Definitions

• Account: an account registered by you, or by an organization you represent, to use the Service.
• Content: any material uploaded, published, generated, or obtained through the Service, including paper PDFs, code, data, text, figures, run records, and signature information.
• Research repository: a workspace on the Service that hosts a paper together with its structured parsing, Claims, experiments, and verification records; it may be public or private.
• Organization: a collaborative space representing a team or entity; one account may belong to multiple organizations.
• API Key: a credential issued to an account for programmatic access to the Service.
• Verification / Verified: means that a specific experiment produced a result under clearly documented environment, code, and input conditions; see "What verification results mean".

The Service

CiteArk provides hosting, structured parsing, experiment reproduction, and verification records for paper research repositories. Content marked as "Agent-compiled" on the platform is generated by automated systems and does not represent confirmation by the paper's authors.

The Service is currently operated by the CiteArk project team as a limited preview. Examples, automatically compiled content, and controlled-validator results shown on public pages are clearly labeled with their source and verification boundaries. We may modify, suspend, or discontinue all or part of the Service at any time and will make reasonable efforts to notify you in advance.

Accounts, organizations, and API Keys

• You must provide truthful and accurate registration information and keep your sign-in methods and API Keys secure; you are responsible for all actions taken through your account or Keys.
• If you discover that your account or a Key has been compromised or leaked, notify us immediately through the contact page.
• Organization owners and administrators are responsible for member invitations, permissions, and organization resources; you must not impersonate another person or institution.
• We may rate-limit, revoke, or suspend accounts, sessions, and API Keys involved in anomalous sign-ins, abuse, excessive compute usage, or violations of these Terms.

Content you submit

• You must ensure that you have the right to submit paper PDFs and related materials, and that submitting them does not infringe any third-party rights.
• You retain your original rights in the content you submit; you also grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to store, parse, execute, and display it solely for the purpose of providing the Service.
• When you set a research repository to public, you agree that other users may view its content; when set to private, we will take reasonable measures to restrict access to you and authorized members only.
• Where content carries its own license notice (such as an open-source license), that license remains in effect during further distribution, and no party may remove its notices.
• Do not submit content that is unlawful, malicious, or contains personal data you are not authorized to share. We may remove content where concerns arise.

Acceptable use

• You must not use the platform to run malicious code, attack others' systems, or bypass access controls.
• You must not scrape or abuse the APIs beyond a reasonable scope.
• You must not forge execution records, signatures, or verification status.
• You must not share, sell, or publicly expose API Keys that can perform write operations on behalf of an account.
• You must not use the Service in a way that infringes others' intellectual property, privacy, or applicable law.

Compute quotas and private resources

Reproduction tasks are subject to account quotas and rate limits. Private repositories are accessible only to owners and authorized organization members, but you should still avoid uploading material that legal, contractual, or security requirements prohibit from being processed by cloud services.

What verification results mean

"Verified" only means that a specific experiment produced a result consistent with the paper under clearly documented environment, code, and input conditions. It does not constitute an endorsement of the paper's overall correctness, nor any form of investment, medical, legal, or other professional advice. You bear sole responsibility for judgments made using platform data.

Fees and payment

Some core features may be used free of charge. Reproduction compute may be limited and settled using credits. Before a reproduction starts, we show an estimated credit amount and a maximum reservation; compute starts only when the balance is sufficient. Final settlement uses recorded model tokens, agent cost, compute cost, and run data, and unused reserved credits are released. An estimate is not a final-price promise, but the deduction will not exceed the maximum clearly shown and reserved for that run.

We may offer one-time credit packages through Paddle. The final price, currency, applicable taxes, payment seller, and payment methods are shown in Paddle Checkout before purchase. Credits are accounting units usable only for CiteArk services; they are not cash, deposits, or virtual currency, cannot be transferred or redeemed for cash, and do not expire at the daily free-credit reset. They cease to be usable if the associated account is closed or the service lawfully ends. We do not currently offer auto-renewing subscriptions.

Refunds, reversals, and consumer rights are handled under the policy shown at purchase, Paddle's order arrangements, and applicable law. Unless applicable law requires otherwise or the checkout expressly promises it, credits already used for actual model or compute cost are non-refundable. An approved refund, chargeback, or payment dispute reverses the corresponding credits. If those credits were already used, the account may carry a credit debt and new paid reproductions may be paused until the balance is restored or the dispute is resolved. Changes to prices or package sizes do not alter completed purchases.

Intellectual property and feedback

The Service's website, design, code, and trademarks are owned by us and may not be copied or republished without written permission. We may use feedback and suggestions you provide to us without restriction to improve the Service.

Content reporting, takedown, and appeals

Rights holders or affected parties may submit the content URL, the basis of their rights, and contact information through the contact and takedown page. We may temporarily restrict access during verification and notify the repository maintainer to supply licensing or file an appeal. To prevent repeat infringement and preserve the chain of proof, minimal non-public audit records may be retained.

Term and termination

You may stop using the Service or request account closure at any time. In cases of serious illegality, attacks, forged attestations, or persistent abuse, we may suspend your account and write capabilities. After account termination, private data is handled in accordance with the Privacy Policy; execution evidence that has been made public and cited by third parties may be retained after de-identification or access restriction.

Disclaimers

The Service is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis. To the maximum extent permitted by law, we make no warranties, express or implied, including but not limited to merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, or that the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free, or that data will be absolutely accurate. This does not exclude liability that applicable law does not permit to be excluded or limited.

Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, we and our affiliates are not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, punitive, or consequential damages (including loss of profits, data, or goodwill). Our aggregate liability for any claim does not exceed the fees you actually paid for the relevant Service in the 12 months preceding the event giving rise to the claim; for free services, RMB 100. These limitations do not apply to liability caused by willful misconduct or gross negligence, or to liability that applicable law does not permit to be limited.

Indemnification

You shall hold us harmless from claims, losses, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising from your breach of these Terms, your violation of applicable law, or your submitted content infringing third-party rights, except where directly caused by our willful misconduct or gross negligence.

Governing law and dispute resolution

These Terms are governed by the laws of the People's Republic of China (excluding conflict-of-law rules). Disputes arising from these Terms or the Service shall first be resolved through friendly negotiation; if negotiation fails, either party may bring an action before a people's court with jurisdiction at our company's domicile (Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province).

If mandatory consumer protection laws in your jurisdiction grant you rights that cannot be excluded by agreement, these Terms do not affect those rights.

Changes to these Terms

We may revise these Terms from time to time. Material changes will be announced on the website at least 14 days in advance, and the "Last updated" date will be revised; by continuing to use the Service after a change takes effect, you accept the revised Terms. If you do not agree with the revisions, you should stop using the Service and may request account closure.

Miscellaneous

• Severability: if any part of these Terms is found invalid or unenforceable, the remainder continues in effect.
• No waiver: our failure to exercise a right does not constitute a waiver of that right.
• Assignment: you may not assign your rights or obligations under these Terms without our written consent; we may assign them in a merger, reorganization, or asset sale.
• Entire agreement: these Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and other policies published on the website, constitute the entire agreement between the parties and supersede all prior oral or written arrangements.
• Headings: section headings are for convenience only and do not affect interpretation.

Contact us

If you have any questions about these Terms, please reach us through the contact page, email us at support@citeark.com, or write to: Hangzhou Ligu Network Technology Co., Ltd. (Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province).