LEGAL + SECURITY
Plain-language terms for a private manuscript-preparation tool. Last updated July 4, 2026.
By creating an account, uploading content, purchasing a plan, or using RefereeBio, you agree to these terms, the pricing shown at checkout, and any written agreement that applies to your account.
If you do not agree, please do not use the service or upload content. We may ask you to accept material updates to these terms.
RefereeBio provides private manuscript-preparation tools, including simulated peer review, journal-fit analysis, revision planning, response-letter drafting, and editing support.
AI output is a helpful starting point, not a fact or professional advice: please check it independently. We do not submit manuscripts, contact journals, make editorial decisions, promise publication, certify statistics, or replace professional review.
Outputs are AI-generated simulations and drafting aids. They may be incomplete, inaccurate, outdated, overly cautious, too severe, too lenient, or inconsistent with a real journal's editorial process. Users must independently review all outputs before relying on them.
Reports are not official journal reviews, publication forecasts, editor decisions, professional statistical certification, legal advice, medical advice, research-integrity clearance, or endorsement by any journal, publisher, editor, reviewer, institution, or society.
Journal, publisher, editor, society, and indexing-service names may appear so authors can reason about submission strategy, venue expectations, and manuscript fit. Those names are used descriptively only.
RefereeBio is independent and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, certified by, or operated by any journal, publisher, editor, reviewer, society, university, funder, or indexing service named in the product.
You keep ownership of your manuscripts and other content. You give us a limited permission to process it to deliver the service, keep your account history, support you, secure the product, and meet legal obligations.
Please upload only content you are authorized to use. Journal and publisher names are used descriptively only; RefereeBio is independent of them.
Manuscripts are treated as confidential user content. RefereeBio does not claim ownership of uploaded manuscripts and does not intentionally use private manuscripts to train public AI models.
When third-party AI providers are configured, manuscript text may be transmitted to those providers solely to generate the requested analysis or editing output, subject to the provider terms, retention rules, and data-processing settings used in the deployed environment. Do not upload content unless you are comfortable with that processing path.
RefereeBio is designed so manuscript analysis runs through the server rather than exposing AI credentials in the browser. Saved uploads are stored in the application upload directory with restricted file permissions where supported, and generated reports are tied to authenticated accounts.
Users can delete uploaded manuscript files at any time while keeping generated reports. Users can also permanently delete an entire review record (file and report together) at any time. Uploaded review manuscripts are automatically removed after 90 days unless the user explicitly extends retention; extended retention can be turned off later. Saved manuscript edit sessions are deleted after 180 days (counted from when each session was created) unless the user keeps their suggestion metadata, but raw edit-session manuscript text is wiped after 180 days regardless; the 180-day window is paused for as long as the user holds an active subscription, and users can delete an edit session or its manuscript content at any time from My Papers. Temporary parsed-source files and exports are cleaned up on a shorter schedule.
Only the authenticated account owner can access their manuscripts and reports through the product interface. The site operator has database-level access as part of server administration, which is standard for any web service. RefereeBio does not submit manuscripts to journals, does not publish uploads, does not intentionally use private manuscripts to train public models, and does not sell manuscript content. No system is risk-free, so only upload manuscripts you are authorized to process.
RefereeBio may collect account information, uploaded or pasted manuscript content, reviewer comments, generated reports, usage events, device or IP-derived security signals, payment status from the payment provider, and support messages you send.
This information is used to provide requested features, authenticate users, save history, enforce usage limits, process payments, troubleshoot errors, improve product quality, prevent abuse, comply with law, and respond to support or privacy requests. RefereeBio does not sell manuscript content.
We collect the information needed to run and protect the service: account details, content and reports, usage and security signals, payment status, and messages you send us. We use it to provide features, authenticate accounts, process payments, prevent abuse, improve the product, and comply with law.
We do not sell manuscript content or intentionally use private manuscripts to train public AI models. EU/EEA and California users may have rights to access, correct, delete, export, or limit certain processing—contact us to exercise them.
RefereeBio uses a session cookie (referee_sid) to authenticate your account after sign-in. This cookie is HttpOnly, SameSite=Lax, and expires when you sign out or the session times out. This cookie is strictly necessary for authentication and is always set when you are signed in.
Optional analytics cookies: With your consent, RefereeBio loads Google Analytics (Google LLC) to collect anonymous usage statistics such as page views and session duration. No manuscript content, account email, or identifiable personal data is sent to Google Analytics. Analytics cookies are not set unless you click "Accept analytics" in the consent banner. You can change your choice at any time by clearing localStorage in your browser settings (key: analytics_consent) and reloading the page.
The application uses browser localStorage to preserve ephemeral UI state (such as the active journal tab or review tab position) within a single session, and to store your analytics consent preference. No personal data or manuscript content is persisted in localStorage. You can clear this data at any time through your browser's storage settings without affecting your account or saved reports.
RefereeBio is intended for users who are at least 18 years old. If you are under 18, you may only use the service with the involvement and consent of a parent or legal guardian. RefereeBio does not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we learn that we have collected personal information from a child under 13, we will delete it promptly. If you believe a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, please contact us at the address below.
Unless RefereeBio signs a separate written agreement specifically covering regulated data, do not upload protected health information, patient-identifiable data, HIPAA-covered data, FERPA-covered student records, classified information, export-controlled technical data, government-restricted data, or other content subject to special legal or contractual handling requirements.
RefereeBio is not a HIPAA business associate by default and the service is not intended to store or process protected health information. De-identify manuscripts and remove patient identifiers, private subject data, confidential sponsor information, and restricted data before upload.
AI calls and uploads are handled server-side, saved reports require an account, and payment details are handled by our payment provider. No online service is risk-free; please do not upload protected health information, identifiable patient data, classified, export-controlled, or similarly restricted content without a separate written agreement.
Raw review manuscript files are normally removed after 90 days unless you explicitly extend retention; you may restore the automatic limit or delete the file at any time. Generated reports and manuscript edits are retained for 180 days from when they are produced (30 days on the free tier), after which they are no longer accessible; you can export or delete them sooner at any time. You can export or delete account data in settings; limited payment, backup, and security records may remain where law or operations require.
This retention window applies while RefereeBio is operating. In the unlikely event that RefereeBio discontinues the service, users who purchased reports or credits will be given advance notice through the product or account channel, with at least 180 days from that announcement to access and export their reports before removal, subject to applicable law and circumstances outside our control.
AI calls are made from the backend, uploads are handled server-side, account access is required for saved history, and payment details are handled through the configured payment provider rather than stored directly by RefereeBio.
No web application can promise absolute security. Do not upload material you are not authorized to process, and avoid uploading data subject to unusually strict controls unless your deployment has an appropriate data-processing agreement, access-control policy, and security review.
Use RefereeBio for your own draft evaluation, revision planning, and submission preparation. You remain responsible for research accuracy, ethics, permissions, disclosures, authorship, and journal-policy compliance.
RefereeBio can identify likely reporting gaps and revision priorities, but it does not replace collaborators, statisticians, compliance teams, IRBs, ethics committees, clinical judgment, professional editorial review, journal policy review, conflict-of-interest analysis, authorship analysis, or data-integrity review.
Users remain responsible for research accuracy, ethical approvals, statistical validity, disclosure statements, authorship decisions, human-subjects protections, animal-use approvals, and journal-policy compliance.
Payments are handled through Stripe. Subscriptions renew automatically until cancelled; cancellation stops the next renewal but does not ordinarily refund a completed billing period unless checkout terms or applicable law say otherwise. Taxes, bank fees, and currency conversion may apply.
Plan credits: Credits included with monthly or annual plans are valid for one month after they are issued. Pack credits: credits from a single-manuscript pack do not expire while RefereeBio continues to operate. If we ever plan to discontinue the service or retire unused pack credits, we will give affected users substantial advance notice and a reasonable opportunity to use them, subject to applicable law and circumstances outside our control.
Free accounts may receive a limited trial allowance. Paid tiers unlock continued access after the trial limit is used. RefereeBio may update feature availability, plan names, prices, or usage limits over time, but material changes should be communicated through the product or account channel when practical.
Access can be limited, suspended, or terminated for misuse, security concerns, chargebacks, fraud risk, unlawful use, or violation of these terms.
Cancellation and refund handling depends on the configured payment provider and any written plan terms shown at checkout. Cancellation generally stops future renewal; it may not automatically refund amounts already paid unless the applicable plan terms, payment-provider rules, or law require it.
Billing questions can be sent to the contact address below. Include the account email and the plan involved, but do not send full card numbers.
The service may be modified, interrupted, rate-limited, or discontinued. Features that depend on AI providers, payment providers, file parsing, model availability, or third-party infrastructure may fail or change without notice.
RefereeBio may update this legal page as the product changes. Continued use after an update means you accept the updated terms, subject to any rights you may have under applicable law.
To the fullest extent permitted by law, the service is provided “as is” and “as available,” without a promise of accuracy, uninterrupted availability, or any publication outcome. RefereeBio and its founders, officers, employees, and agents are not responsible for indirect or consequential loss, or for decisions made from AI output.
The total liability of RefereeBio and its founders, officers, employees, and agents for any claim relating to the service is limited to the greater of what you paid us in the six months before the claim or $100. Some places limit these exclusions, so they may not apply in full to you.
The service is provided "as is" and "as available." To the fullest extent permitted by law, RefereeBio and its founders, officers, employees, and agents disclaim all warranties, express or implied, including warranties of accuracy, reliability, availability, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, uninterrupted operation, error-free output, and that any manuscript outcome will improve.
Users are responsible for reviewing, validating, and deciding whether to use any generated text, recommendation, score, checklist, cover letter, response draft, or manuscript edit.
RefereeBio's name, software, design, analysis framework, and other service materials belong to RefereeBio or its licensors. Except for your content and rights expressly granted for your own reports, you may not copy, resell, scrape, reverse engineer, or use them to offer a competing service except where law permits.
You are responsible for your content and use of the service, and agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless RefereeBio and its founders, officers, employees, and agents from reasonable claims arising from your unauthorized content, unlawful use, or breach of these terms.
The RefereeBio name, product design, software, analysis framework, report structure, prompts, text, graphics, trade dress, and other service materials are owned by RefereeBio or its licensors and are protected by copyright, trademark, trade secret, and other laws.
Except for rights expressly granted to users for their own reports and uploaded content, all rights are reserved. You may not copy, reverse engineer, scrape, resell, frame, or offer a competing service using RefereeBio materials except where allowed by law or written permission.
Copyright © 2026 RefereeBio. Third-party names and trademarks belong to their owners and are used descriptively.
If you believe material in the service infringes your rights, email us enough information to identify the material, your claimed rights, and how to reach you.
These terms are governed by Connecticut law. A separate signed agreement controls if it conflicts with this page, and any unenforceable provision will be limited while the rest remains effective.
Please contact us first so we can try to resolve a concern informally. Where a claim must proceed, it must be brought individually in Connecticut's state or federal courts, except where applicable law says otherwise.
Questions about privacy, access, security, billing, responsible use, or account deletion can be sent to [email protected].
Please include your account email, a brief description of the issue, and whether your question concerns privacy, billing, security, responsible use, or product behavior.
