Terms of service
Last updated July 7, 2026
1. Who can use Synapse
You must be at least 13 years old to create an account. If your jurisdiction sets a higher minimum age for consenting to online services, that age applies instead. Reading requires no account and no minimum age.
One person, one account. The email on your account must be real and reachable: it is how we contact you about your account and how you recover it. Everything done while signed in to your account is your responsibility, so keep your password private and tell us promptly if you believe your account was compromised.
2. Your content and your license grant
You own what you publish. By publishing you grant Synapse a non-exclusive, worldwide right to host, display, and distribute your work under the open license you selected. This grant exists so we can run the platform, and it adds nothing beyond what your chosen license already gives the public.
By publishing you confirm three things: the work is yours to publish, publishing it does not infringe anyone else's rights, and any co-authors and institutions involved have agreed to open publication. Republished work must respect the license of the original.
You may unpublish a paper at any time, but you cannot revoke its open license from readers who already received a copy. That is how open licenses work, not a Synapse rule.
3. Acceptable use
Synapse is for research. What is not allowed:
- Plagiarism and publishing others' work as your own
- Fabricated or manipulated data presented as real findings
- Personal data of others published without consent
- Impersonating another person or misrepresenting your credentials
- Spam, scaled abuse, and content unrelated to research
- Harassment in comments and discussions
- Attempts to disrupt, overload, or gain unauthorized access to the service
Honest mistakes are not violations. A retracted claim, a failed replication, or an error you correct openly is normal science. Deception is the line.
4. Moderation
We remove content that violates these terms or the law, and we suspend accounts that repeatedly or egregiously violate them. Reports and takedown requests go through the contact page; takedowns need the paper link and the basis for the claim.
If your content is removed, you will be told why, and you can appeal through the same channel. Scientific disagreement is never a moderation reason: we do not remove work for being wrong, unpopular, or critical of anyone, including us.
5. The service
Synapse is provided as is, without warranty of availability or fitness for a particular purpose. We may add, change, or remove features as the platform evolves. The commitments in the open access policy survive any such change.
We may terminate accounts that violate these terms. If we ever discontinue the service, we will honor the permanence commitments in the open access policy, including advance notice and time to export your work.
6. Liability and disputes
To the extent the law allows, Synapse is not liable for indirect or consequential damages arising from use of the service, and our total liability is limited to the amount you paid us, which for the core platform is nothing. You agree to indemnify us against claims arising from content you published in breach of section 2.
Governing law and the dispute procedure are placeholders pending legal review.
7. Changes to these terms
We may update these terms as the platform grows. Material changes are announced at least 14 days before they take effect, by email to account holders and by a notice on this page. Continued use after the effective date means you accept the new terms. Prior versions remain available on request.