Terms and Conditions
A. Online Platform and Owner
The following Terms and Conditions ("T&C") apply to the use of the Online Platform at www.gathacognition.com ("Online Platform") and the Online Shop at the Online Platform ("Online Shop"), to all publications at the Online Platform, to all submissions at the Manuscript Portal® of the Online Platform, to all purchase contracts processed at the Online Shop, and to all related services provided by GATHA COGNITION® ("GATHA COGNITION®").
The Online Platform is owned and operated by GATHA COGNITION® ("We" or "Us"), whose registered office is at Shivajinagar, Dhumalwadi Road, At/Post/Tal.: Akole, District: Ahilyanagar - 422601, Maharashtra, India.
GATHA COGNITION® is a registered firm (UAN: MH01D0000834 and MH01D0000933) under the "Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act, 2006" in India.
The term "Customer" shall refer to users of the Online Platform, users of the Manuscript Portal®, users of the Online Shop, and buyers and users of digital products available at the Online Shop.
Any T&C laid down by a customer which differ from these T&C will not apply to any transactions on or through the Online Platform, in place of the written contract with us.
B. Content and Access
The content at the Online Platform is available to the customer as Premium Access Content, Free Access Content, and Open Access Content under the Creative Commons Attribution license: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). This includes: 1) BY – Credit must be given to the creator; 2) NC – Only noncommercial uses of the work are permitted; and 3) ND – No derivatives or adaptations of the work are permitted.
a. Premium Access Content
The Customer can purchase access to the Premium Access Content ("PAC") through the 'Online Shop' for a lifetime or for a limited period. The prices of specific items or subscriptions are stated along with the access details provided in each case on the Online Platform.
b. Free Access Content
GATHA COGNITION® makes Free Access Content ("FAC") available to the customer free of charge. This includes: i) free access content available on the Online Platform for a limited period or for a lifetime, and ii) limited-period offers to an individual or institute through an access token (one-time use).
c. Open Access Content
Open Access Content includes content published as Open Access under the 'Open Access Policies' published on the Online Platform. The 'Open Access Charges' ("OAC")/Article Processing Charges ("APC") are stated in the policy documents available for each case on the Online Platform.
Author(s), research institute(s), and funding agencies can make content Open Access (OA) upon payment of Article Processing Charges ("APC") through the author's account at the Manuscript Portal®.
Copyrights of 'Open Access' content are with the author(s), representative(s) of his/her institute(s), funding agencies, etc. The author(s), representative(s) of his/her institute(s), funding agencies, etc. can use this 'Open Access' content with proper citation of the source. We have adopted the Creative Commons Attribution license: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
After successfully placing the order and completing payment, the customer can view, download, and store the PAC in PDF format.
Published electronic content is available in the form of 'Portable Document Format' ("PDF"), which can be viewed, downloaded, printed, and stored on hard drives.
C. Intellectual Property Rights
GATHA COGNITION® is the owner of all copyrights, trademarks, design rights, database rights, and other intellectual property rights.
GATHA COGNITION® is the copyright holder of all published content on the Online Platform, including Online Articles, Online Journals, Online Book Chapters, Online Books, Online Theses, Online Dissertations, Online Project Reports, etc.
The original author(s) transfer all copyrights as the owner(s) of the copyrights and/or as representative(s) of his/her institute(s), funding agencies, etc.
Original Author(s) ("Original Author") is/are the person(s) who prepare(s) the manuscript and submit(s) it through the Manuscript Portal® for publication on the Online Platform.
Manuscript means the draft of the content, including text, diagrams, images, photographs, charts, figures, tables, captions, citations, references, and any other relevant information, prepared for submission for publication on the Online Platform and submitted through the Manuscript Portal® for review, assessment, restructuring, formatting, design, and publishing on the Online Platform.
Manuscript Portal® is a web-based 'Editorial System' designed and developed by GATHA COGNITION® and linked to the Online Platform for manuscript submission, review, and editorial processes required for content publication.
Manuscript submission means the draft of content uploaded by the Original Author to the Manuscript Portal® for access and processing by The Editorial Office, The Editor(s), and The Reviewer(s), with copyrights transferred to GATHA COGNITION® for publication of the content, if the manuscript is accepted for publication.
Editorial process means the processes adopted and described in the policy document named 'Editorial Policies', uploaded on the Online Platform.
Manuscript review means the rigorous assessment and checking of the manuscript by the reviewer(s) for quality, originality, language, innovation, and other criteria required for publication of the content.
Reviewer means the expert(s) appointed by the Editor(s) and the Editorial Office for the assessment and checking of the manuscript.
The Editor means the person appointed by The Editorial Office to look after the entire editorial process of the manuscript.
The Editorial Office means the office owned and operated by GATHA COGNITION® that looks after all processes required for publication of content, including manuscript receipt, manuscript processing, uploading of finalized content to the Online Platform, and distribution of published content, etc.
Publication means the display of the finalized copy of content on the Online Platform, available for customers to use, after rigorous editorial assessment, checking, and layout design of the Journal or book, and after copyright has been transferred by the author to GATHA COGNITION®.
Manuscript accepted for publication means the Editor-in-Chief or The Editor(s) who looks after the entire editorial process has decided to accept the manuscript for publication after editorial assessment and checking in review(s). Refer to the policy document 'Editorial Policies' for more information about editorial decisions.
Here, institute means the organization where the author is/was working and/or where the research reported in the content was conducted.
Funding agency means the institute or organization that provided funds for the research reported in the content, and may also include funding for publication.
All content, including online articles, book chapters, books, notes, diagrams, photographs, etc. provided on the Online Platform, is protected under intellectual property rights.
We reserve all rights of use, reuse, translation, reproduction, etc. of content on the Online Platform.
Rights of access to and use of content are strictly confined to the user agreement. Making unauthorized additional copies, providing third-party access, misuse, and reproduction of content, as well as making it available to the public, are strictly prohibited.
D. Accessing the Online Platform
Registration is required to access content on and modules of the Online Platform.
Use of this Online Platform is restricted to those aged 18 years or above. Anyone under 18 years may use this platform if accompanied by an adult.
The Online Platform is normally available 24 hours a day. Access is provided on a temporary basis, and we reserve all rights to withdraw the services provided without any prior notice. We will not be liable for any unavailability of the Online Platform at any time or for any period.
We will update the Online Platform at any time without prior notice, including changes in content, type of access and subscriptions, T&C, and any other aspects and parameters of the Online Platform.
We may suspend or close a customer's access to the Online Platform at any time, if the need arises.
The Customer is responsible for making arrangements to access the content, whether premium, free, or open access content, provided on the Online Platform, including the required hardware, software, equipment, internet connection, etc.
The Customer is responsible for informing readers about the content, type of access, T&C, etc., including what they are not permitted to do with it. [ADJUSTED — read this against Section C's restriction on unauthorized copying/redistribution: the Customer (e.g. an institutional subscriber) must pass on to their own readers not just the content but also what's off-limits under these T&C. If that's not the intended meaning, let me know and I'll revise.]
E. Viruses, Hacking and Misuse of the Online Platform
All users must not misuse this Online Platform by knowingly introducing viruses, Trojans, worms, logic bombs, and other technologically harmful material.
A violator of these T&C would be committing a criminal offence under the law. GATHA COGNITION® will immediately report such violations to the concerned law authorities and disclose the violator's identity to them.
GATHA COGNITION® will not be liable for any losses or damages caused by distributed viruses, Trojans, worms, logic bombs, infected computer equipment, computer programmes, data, or any other technologically harmful material due to use of this Online Platform, downloading content from it, or links to and from this Online Platform.
We reserve the right to withdraw linking permissions without prior notice.
F. Our Liabilities
GATHA COGNITION®, as the copyright holder, and/or other parties related to this publication, provide content on an "as is" basis without warranty of accuracy or completeness. We exclude liability for the content on the Online Platform with respect to accuracy, negligence, exaggeration, fitness for a particular purpose, satisfactory quality, etc.
No representations or warranties are given as to the accuracy or completeness of the information published on the Online Platform or linked to this Online Platform.
We exclude liability for any losses, wasted expenses, data corruption, etc. at the customer's end.
G. Registered User and Passwords
Only registered users can access content on the Online Platform, except for public documents. A Customer can register his/her account using the forms available on the Online Platform.
We provide a unique user ID and confidential key to the customer for access to his/her account.
We exclude liability for any losses and misuse of the confidential key provided to the customer. Customers are fully responsible for the security and proper use of their confidential key, as well as for any losses and all charges incurred through its misuse.
A registered user must immediately inform GATHA COGNITION® of any suspicious activity and/or misuse of their confidential key by an unauthorised user.
We exclude liability for information provided by the customer for his/her/their registration.
GATHA COGNITION® reserves all rights to disable a user account, change information, etc. without any prior notice.
H. Prices and Payments
Prices of Premium Access Content are stated with the access options given on the Online Platform.
Prices of items are liable to change from time to time, provided that confirmed access will not be affected by such changes.
GATHA COGNITION® receives all payments through 'Online Payment Gateways' (PayPal, www.paypal.com and Avenues India Pvt. Ltd., www.ccavenue.com).
'Online Payment Gateway' is a web-based system for payment transfer from the customer's account in his/her/their bank to the account of GATHA COGNITION® at the State Bank of India.
PayPal and Avenues India Pvt. Ltd. are service providers, and GATHA COGNITION® has made provisions to receive payments from the different accounts of different customers in different banks through the 'Online Payment Gateways' of these service providers.
All payments for orders are processed through 'Online Payment Gateways', and orders can be confirmed only after confirmation of payment received in the bank account (State Bank of India) of GATHA COGNITION®.
The Customer receives a key to access the ordered items (in electronic format, PDF files) only upon confirmation of the order and payment.
GATHA COGNITION® excludes liability for any delay, losses, etc. during transactions processed through 'Online Payment Gateways' and banking.
The Customer shall be responsible for incorrect information filled in at the time of registration, e.g. name, email, contact details, etc., and any resulting losses.
Customers cannot cancel their orders once they have received the access key.
I. Contract Documents
GATHA COGNITION® processes all transactions through the Online Platform and has no provision for any other means of documenting contracts with customers; therefore, documents are not stored anywhere other than on the Online Platform. The Customer can access his/her/their contract information by accessing their account on the Online Platform.
J. Data Protection
GATHA COGNITION® protects all information supplied by the customer at the time of registration and transactions, and keeps the customer informed of updates.
K. Privacy Policies
The customer confirms that they have read and accepted the privacy policies of this Online Platform.
L. Advertisement
GATHA COGNITION® excludes responsibility of any kind for the content appearing in, and sponsorships for, advertisements. These responsibilities lie fully with the advertiser and/or sponsor.
M. Funding Agencies
GATHA COGNITION® receives funds from various individuals, institutes, agencies, etc. against the 'Open Access Charges' for published content, i.e. online articles, book chapters, books, etc., to make such content open access for users. This does not mean that GATHA COGNITION® has adopted the policies, rules, activities, etc. of the funding agencies. We reserve all rights to disclaim and/or deny any such association.
N. Changes in Terms and Conditions
GATHA COGNITION® reserves all rights to change these 'Terms and Conditions' at any time by uploading the updated version to the Online Platform.
O. Law and Jurisdiction
Indian law applicable at the place of jurisdiction of Ahilyanagar, Maharashtra, India shall apply to all transactions between the Customer and GATHA COGNITION®, and the courts at Ahilyanagar shall have exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute arising from these T&C.
GATHA COGNITION®
Akole, India, April 2016