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Elsevier
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Elsevier terms and conditions of sale for ScienceDirect AI

Last updated: 20 May 2025

These Elsevier Terms and Conditions of Sale form an integral part of the contract relating to ScienceDirect AI between a subscribing organization (“you” or “your”) and Elsevier B.V., or its affiliated companies (“we” or “us”), as reflected in an executed online Order Form. The General Terms and Conditions and the Order Form are jointly referred to below as “Agreement”.

1 Subscription

1.1 ScienceDirect AI

We hereby grant to you the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and use ScienceDirect AI, as identified in the Order Form, including any changes made thereto by us and provide ScienceDirect AI to your Authorized Users subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement.

1.2 Authorized Uses

Each Authorized User may:

  • access, search, browse and view ScienceDirect AI;

  • print, download and store a reasonable portion of individual items from ScienceDirect AI for the exclusive use of such Authorized User;

  • incorporate links to ScienceDirect AI on their intranet and internet websites and, if you are an academic or government organization, in electronic coursepacks, reserves and course management systems and instructor websites, provided that the appearance of such links and/or statements accompanying such links will be changed as reasonably requested by us;

  • If you are an academic or government organization,provide print or electronic copies of individual items from ScienceDirect AI to other Authorized Users and to a limited number of third-party colleagues, inclusive of colleagues who are part of an invitation only work group on non-commercial platforms or tools, for their personal scholarly or research use; and

  • generate a response for the internal use of such Authorized User.

1.3 Restrictions on Use of ScienceDirect AI

Except as expressly stated in this Agreement or otherwise permitted in writing by us, you and your Authorized Users may not:

  • abridge, modify, translate or create any derivative work and/or service (including resulting from the use of artificial intelligence tools), based on ScienceDirect AI, except to the extent necessary to make it perceptible on a computer screen to Authorized Users;

  • remove, obscure or modify in any way any copyright notices, other notices or disclaimers as they appear in ScienceDirect AI;

  • use any robots, spiders, crawlers or other automated downloading programs, tools, or devices to search, scrape, extract, deep link, index and/or disrupt the working of ScienceDirect AI;

  • use ScienceDirect AI in combination with an artificial intelligence tool (including to train an algorithm, test, process, analyze, generate output and/or develop any form of artificial intelligence tool);

  • post abstracts from ScienceDirect AI on social networking sites; or

  • substantially or systematically reproduce, retain, store locally, redistribute or disseminate ScienceDirect AI (including generated responses) or any part thereof, any derivative work and/or service (including resulting from the use of artificial intelligence tools).

Authorized Users who are individuals who are independent contractors or are employed by independent contractors may use ScienceDirect AI only for the purposes of your contracted research work.

1.4 Intellectual Property Ownership

You acknowledge that all right, title and interest in and to ScienceDirect AI remains with us and our suppliers, except as expressly set forth in this Agreement, and that the unauthorized redistribution or dissemination online of ScienceDirect AI could materially and irreparably harm us and our suppliers.

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Agreement, more extensive usage terms might be permitted for open access content in ScienceDirect AI as identified in the individual journal article as stated in the applicable user (e.g. CC) license.

2 Our performance obligations

2.1 Access to Subscribed Products

We will make ScienceDirect AI accessible to you and your Authorized Users from the internet address set forth on Schedule 1 or as may be otherwise set forth herein, upon our receipt of this Agreement document in the territory of The Netherlands, as duly signed by you, which acceptance will be evidenced and timestamped by one of our authorized representatives in the Netherlands.

2.2 Quality of Service

We will use reasonable efforts to provide ScienceDirect AI with a quality of service consistent with industry standards, specifically, to provide continuous service with an average of 98% up-time per year, with the 2% down-time including scheduled maintenance and repairs performed at a time to minimize inconvenience to you and your Authorized Users, and to restore service as soon as possible in the event of an interruption or suspension of service.

2.3 Withdrawal of Content

We reserve the right to withdraw from ScienceDirect AI content that we no longer retain the right to provide or that it has reasonable grounds to believe is unlawful, harmful, false or infringing.

2.4 Usage Data Reports

We will provide usage data reports on your usage activity by email upon request on a monthly basis which will be provided to your librarians/administrators for internal use only. Such reports may be accessed by vendors or other third parties retained by you only with our express written permission and for the purpose of your usage analysis only.

3 Your performance obligations

3.1 Authentication

Access to ScienceDirect AI will be authenticated by the use of Internet Protocol (“IP”) address(es) and/or usernames and passwords and/or a delegated authentication mechanism requiring at least two different credentials, as identified on Schedule 2.

3.2 Protection from unauthorized access and use

You will:

  • take appropriate measures to protect against the misuse or unauthorized access, whether by yourself or any third party, through or to your credentials used to access ScienceDirect AI and ScienceDirect AI and/or information derived therefrom;

  • manage identification, use, access and control of all credentials used to access ScienceDirect AI in an appropriately secure manner, including, but not limited to, by:

    • limiting access to and use of ScienceDirect AI to your Authorized Users and ensuring that your Authorized Users comply with the restrictions set forth in this Agreement;

    • issuing any passwords or credentials used to access ScienceDirect AI only to your Authorized Users, not divulging any passwords or credentials to any third party, and notifying all Authorized Users not to divulge any passwords or credentials to any third party.

  • immediately deactivate any credentials when no longer needed or where access presents a security risk;

  • implement and maintain your own appropriate program for credentials management and ensure access to ScienceDirect AI via such credentials is reviewed on an appropriate basis; and

  • promptly upon your discovery, or being notified by us or a third party, that there has been unauthorized use of ScienceDirect AI or a security issue permitting unauthorized use, we will take appropriate steps to end such activity and to prevent any recurrence, including, but not limited to, implementing required updates and configuration where needed to rectify the issue. When notified by a third party or upon discovering the unauthorized use directly, you must promptly notify us of the unauthorized use. You will cooperate with us and share information, subject to any applicable confidentiality or nondisclosure obligations, concerning the unauthorized use or security issue.

In the event of any unauthorized use of ScienceDirect AI, we may suspend the access and/or require that you suspend the access from where the unauthorized use occurred upon notice to you. You will not be liable for unauthorized use of ScienceDirect AI by any Authorized Users provided that the unauthorized use did not result from your own negligence or willful misconduct and that you did not permit such unauthorized use to continue after having actual notice thereof. You will be responsible for the adherence to the terms and conditions of this Agreement by a third party provider you engage.

3.3 Security Requirements

You agree that you will have in place documented policies and procedures, which will be reviewed by you periodically, and if appropriate, tested and updated, covering the administrative, physical and technical safeguards in place and relevant to the access, use, loss, alteration, disclosure, storage, destruction and control of information. You will promptly notify us if we determine that there has been a failure of such safeguards if such failure results in a compromise of the confidentiality or security of any of Elsevier Content provided hereunder and you will cooperate with our reasonable requests surrounding such failure, including taking appropriate steps to end such activity and to prevent any recurrence. For the purpose of this Section 3.3, “Elsevier Content” means any material or information which we provide or make available to you in connection with the ScienceDirect AI and performance of this Agreement.

4 Termination

Upon termination or expiration of this Agreement, all right to access and use ScienceDirect AI and your right to provide ScienceDirect AI to your Authorized Users, will cease and we will terminate or disable access to ScienceDirect AI.

5 Our warranties and indemnities

5.1 Warranties

We warrant that use of ScienceDirect AI in accordance with the terms and conditions herein will not infringe the intellectual property rights of any third party.

5.2 Indemnities

We will indemnify, defend and hold you and your Authorized Users harmless from and against any loss, damage, costs, liability and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising from or out of any third-party action or claim that use of ScienceDirect AI in accordance with the terms and conditions herein infringes the intellectual property rights of such third party. If any such action or claim is made, you will promptly notify and reasonably cooperate with us. This indemnity obligation will survive the termination of this Agreement.

5.3 Disclaimer

EXCEPT FOR THE EXPRESS WARRANTIES AND INDEMNITIES STATED HEREIN, AND TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, SCIENCEDIRECT AI IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND WE AND OUR SUPPLIERS EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES AND REPRESENTATIONS OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, WITH REGARD TO SCIENCEDIRECT AI, THE USE OF ANY FORM OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, AND ANY OTHER DATA, DOCUMENTATION, TECHNOLOGY OR MATERIALS PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THIS AGREEMENT, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY ERRORS, INACCURACIES, OMISSIONS, OR DEFECTS CONTAINED THEREIN, AND ANY WARRANTY AS TO MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

SCIENCEDIRECT AI DOES NOT PROVIDE MEDICAL OR REGULATORY ADVICE IN CONNECTION WITH ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE GENERATED RESPONSES, WHICH RESPONSES ARE DELIVERED WITHOUT HUMAN REVIEW AND FOR INFORMATION DISCOVERY PURPOSES ONLY. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE GENERATED RESPONSES MAY BE INACCURATE AND SUBJECT TO BIAS. YOU AND YOUR AUTHORIZED USERS MUST EXERCISE THEIR OWN JUDGMENT BEFORE ACTING ON OR APPLYING ANY SUCH RESPONSES. CONTENT IS IN ENGLISH AND WHILE INPUTS AND RESPONSES MAY BE SUPPORTED, TRANSLATIONS ARE NOT VALIDATED.

5.4 Limitation of liability

Except for the express warranties and indemnities stated herein and to the extent permitted by applicable law, in no event will we or our suppliers be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages including, but not limited to, loss of data, business interruption or loss of profits, arising out of or in connection with this Agreement, nor will our liability and that of our suppliers to you exceed a sum equal to the Fees paid by you hereunder during the twelve (12) month period immediately preceding the date on which the claim arose, even if we or any supplier have been advised of the possibility of such liability or damages.

6 General

6.1 Force Majeure

Neither party’s delay or failure to perform any provision of this Agreement (other than payment obligations) as a result of circumstances beyond its control (including, but not limited to, war, strikes, fires, floods, power failures, telecommunications or internet failures or damage to or destruction of any network facilities or servers) that prevents it from fulfilling its obligations under this Agreement (any such circumstances being “Force Majeure”) will be deemed a breach of this Agreement. For any EU customer, you agree that the departure of one or more members of the Euro zone will not, in and of itself, be a “circumstance beyond its control” and will not have the effect of discharging or excusing performance of (any obligation under) this Agreement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a party’s financial inability to perform its obligations will in no event constitute a Force Majeure.

6.2 Severability

The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of this Agreement will not affect any other provisions of this Agreement.

6.3 Entire agreement

This Agreement contains the entire understanding and agreement of the parties and replaces and supersedes any and all prior and contemporaneous agreements, communications, proposals and purchase orders or your terms, written or oral, between the parties with respect to the subject matter contained herein.

6.4 Modification

No modification, amendment or waiver of any provision of this Agreement will be valid unless in writing and signed by the parties, except for changes reflecting substituted IP addresses, authentication mechanisms, invoicing and contact address details which may be confirmed by us in an email notice sent to you.

6.5 Assignment / Change of control

You will not assign, transfer or license any of your rights or obligations under this Agreement unless you obtain our prior written consent, which consent will not unreasonably be withheld. We may unilaterally terminate this Agreement if a third party acquires the majority of your ownership interest.

6.6 Privacy

To the extent that you or your Authorized Users provide any personal data to us during account registration or otherwise, the parties acknowledge and agree that such information will be processed by us in accordance with our privacy policy at https://www.elsevier.com/legal/privacy-policy and our Data Processing Addendum at https://www.elsevier.com/legal/data-processing-terms (“DPA”). You will comply with your obligations under the Data Protection Laws in providing any personal data to us. Terms used but not defined in this section shall have the meanings ascribed to them in the DPA.

6.7 Notices

All notices given pursuant to this Agreement will be in writing and delivered to the party to whom such notice is directed at the address specified in the Order Form or the electronic mail address you will have designated by notice.

6.8 Publicity

Each party may mention in their marketing materials that they have entered into an agreement for ScienceDirect AI, and may use the other party’s name and associated marks for this purpose. Any other use of the other party’s name or marks in client/contractor references, press releases, or public announcements related to this Agreement requires the other party’s prior written approval, which shall not be unreasonably withheld or delayed.

6.9 Confidentiality

You and your employees, officers, directors and agents will maintain as confidential and not disclose to any non-affiliated third party without our prior written consent the financial terms and commercial conditions of this Agreement and other confidential information including but not limited to components, drawings, data, product plans, programs, (joint) research and development, scientific and technical information. We may only disclose such information (i) to applicable service providers to the extent necessary to perform their functions in support of this Agreement and (ii) where reasonably necessary to address security, safety, fraud or other legal issues.

6.10 Compliance with laws

Each party will comply with all applicable laws and regulations relating to its duties and obligations under this Agreement. We reserve the right to deny access to ScienceDirect AI to any person or entity who is prohibited from receiving such access based on any applicable export control and trade sanctions laws or embargo programs.

6.11 Execution

This Agreement and any amendment thereto may be executed in counterparts, and signatures exchanged by facsimile or other electronic means are effective to the same extent as original signatures.

6.12 Governing law and venue

This Agreement will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of The Netherlands, without regard to conflict of law principles, and the parties irrevocably consent to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of The Netherlands with respect to any action or suit arising out of or pertaining to this Agreement.

For any Australian customers:

6.13 Reformation and severability

In the event you are considered a “consumer” or a “small business” for the purposes of the Australian Consumer Law (Schedule 2 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth)), in case any provision of this Agreement shall be invalid, illegal or unenforceable pursuant to such regulation, it shall, to the extent possible, be modified in such manner as to be valid, legal and enforceable but so as to most nearly retain the intent of the parties, and if such modification is not possible, such provision shall be severed from this Agreement, and in either case the validity, legality and enforceability of the remaining provisions of this Agreement shall not in any way be affected or impaired thereby.