Gatha Cognition

A. Online Platform and owner

The Online Platform is owned and operated by GATHA COGNITION^® (“we”, “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, India.

“Customer” means any user of the Online Platform, the Manuscript Portal^® or the Online Shop, and any buyer or user of products sold in the Online Shop.

Terms set by a customer that differ from these T&C do not apply to any transaction on or through the Online Platform, unless agreed in a written contract with us.

B. Content and access

Content on the Online Platform is offered as Premium Access Content, Free Access Content or Open Access Content.

a. Premium Access Content

Customers can buy access to Premium Access Content (“PAC”) in the Online Shop, for a lifetime or for a limited period. The price and access details of each item or subscription are shown with it on the Online Platform. After the order is placed and paid, the customer can view, download and store the PAC in PDF format.

b. Free Access Content

Free Access Content (“FAC”) is free of charge. It includes content made free for a limited period or for a lifetime, and limited-period offers to a person or institute through a one-time access token.

c. Open Access Content

Open Access Content is published under our Open Access policies and the Creative Commons licence CC BY-NC-ND 4.0:

• BY: credit must be given to the creator.
• NC: only non-commercial uses are allowed.
• ND: no derivatives or adaptations are allowed.

Authors, their institutes and funding agencies can make content Open Access by paying the Article Processing Charge (“APC”, also called Open Access Charge, “OAC”) through the author’s account on the Manuscript Portal^®. Charges are listed on our Journal Fees page and in each journal’s Open Access Policy. Journals hosted for other institutions may set their own charges, shown on the journal’s home page.

The copyright of Open Access content stays with the author(s) (or their institutes or funding agencies), who may use it with proper citation of the source.

Published electronic content is provided as PDF files that can be viewed, downloaded, printed and stored. The Online Shop also sells printed books, which are dispatched to the customer.

C. Intellectual property rights

GATHA COGNITION^® owns all copyrights, trademarks, design rights, database rights and other intellectual property rights in the Online Platform.

GATHA COGNITION^® holds the copyright of all content published on the Online Platform (articles, journals, book chapters, books, theses, dissertations, project reports, etc.), except Open Access content, whose copyright stays with the author(s) as set out in Section B(c) and in our Open Access Policy. For other content, the original author(s) transfer the copyright to GATHA COGNITION^® as owners of the copyright and/or on behalf of their institutes or funding agencies, once the manuscript is accepted for publication.

Meaning of terms used here

Original Author

The person(s) who prepare a manuscript and submit it on the Manuscript Portal^® for publication.

Manuscript

The draft of the content — text, diagrams, images, photographs, charts, figures, tables, captions, citations, references and other material — submitted on the Manuscript Portal^® for review, assessment, editing, formatting, design and publication.

Manuscript Portal^®

The online editorial system designed and developed by GATHA COGNITION^® and linked to the Online Platform, for manuscript submission, review and the editorial process.

Manuscript submission

The draft uploaded by the Original Author to the Manuscript Portal^®, to be accessed and processed by the Editorial Office, the Editor(s) and the Reviewer(s).

Editorial process

The process described in the Editorial Policies of each journal or book, linked from its home page.

Manuscript review

The assessment of the manuscript by reviewer(s) for quality, originality, language, innovation and the other criteria needed for publication.

Reviewer

An expert invited by the Editor(s) and the Editorial Office to assess the manuscript.

Editor

The person appointed by the Editorial Office to look after the editorial process of a manuscript.

Editorial Office

The office of GATHA COGNITION^® that handles everything needed for publication: receiving and processing manuscripts, putting the final content on the Online Platform, and distributing it.

Publication

Putting the final version of the content on the Online Platform for customers to use, after editorial assessment, checking and layout, and after the copyright transfer or Open Access agreement.

Accepted for publication

The Editor-in-Chief or the handling Editor has decided, after editorial assessment and review, to accept the manuscript. See the Editorial Policies for more about decisions.

Institute

The organisation where the author works or worked, and/or where the research was carried out.

Funding agency

The institute or organisation that funded the research, and possibly its publication.

All content on the Online Platform — articles, book chapters, books, notes, diagrams, photographs, etc. — is protected by intellectual property rights. We reserve all rights of use, reuse, translation and reproduction of content on the Online Platform, subject to the Open Access licence above.

Access to and use of content are limited to what the user agreement allows. Making unauthorised copies, giving access to third parties, misusing or reproducing content, or making it available to the public are strictly prohibited.

D. Using the Online Platform

• Open Access and Free Access content, abstracts and other public pages can be read without an account. Registration is needed to buy content, to read Premium Access Content and to use the Manuscript Portal^®.
• Use of the Online Platform is restricted to those aged 18 or above. A person under 18 may use it if accompanied by an adult.
• The Online Platform is normally available 24 hours a day, but access is provided on a temporary basis. We may withdraw any service without notice and are not liable if the Online Platform is unavailable at any time or for any period.
• We may update the Online Platform at any time without notice, including its content, types of access, subscriptions and these T&C.
• We may suspend or close a customer’s access at any time if the need arises.
• Customers are responsible for their own means of access: hardware, software, equipment and internet connection.
• Customers are responsible for telling their own readers about the content, its type of access and these T&C, including what they may not do with it.

E. Viruses, hacking and misuse

• No one may misuse the Online Platform by knowingly introducing viruses, Trojans, worms, logic bombs or other harmful material.
• Doing so is a criminal offence under the law. GATHA COGNITION^® will report it to the authorities and disclose the person’s identity to them.
• GATHA COGNITION^® is not liable for any loss or damage caused by viruses or other harmful material through use of the Online Platform, downloading content from it, or links to and from it.
• We may withdraw permission to link to the Online Platform without notice.

F. Our liability

• GATHA COGNITION^®, as copyright holder, and other parties related to a publication provide content “as is”, without warranty of accuracy or completeness. We exclude liability for the content with respect to accuracy, negligence, exaggeration, fitness for a particular purpose, satisfactory quality, etc.
• No representation or warranty is given about the accuracy or completeness of information published on, or linked to, the Online Platform.
• We exclude liability for any losses, wasted expenses or data corruption at the customer’s end.

G. Registered users and passwords

• Customers register an account using the forms on the Online Platform and sign in with their User ID or email and their password.
• Customers are fully responsible for keeping their password secure and for its proper use, including any losses and charges from its misuse. We exclude liability for losses from misuse of a password.
• A registered user must tell GATHA COGNITION^® at once of any suspicious activity or misuse of their password by someone else.
• We exclude liability for the information a customer gives when registering.
• GATHA COGNITION^® may disable a user account or change its information without notice.

H. Prices and payments

• Prices of Premium Access Content and books are shown with each item on the Online Platform. Prices may change from time to time, but a confirmed order is not affected.
• Online payments are received through the payment gateways of PayPal (www.paypal.com) and Avenues India Pvt. Ltd. (CCAvenue, www.ccavenue.com), into the account of GATHA COGNITION^® at the State Bank of India. These providers let us receive payments from customers’ banks.
• An order is confirmed only after the payment is confirmed. For digital items (PDF files), the customer then receives the access key; printed books are dispatched to the delivery address.
• GATHA COGNITION^® is not liable for any delay or loss in transactions through the payment gateways and banks.
• The customer is responsible for the information given at registration and checkout (name, email, contact details, address, etc.) and for any losses resulting from wrong information.
• Digital content cannot be cancelled once the access key has been received. Cancellation, returns and refunds of printed books, digital content and APCs follow our Refund, Return & Cancellation Policy.
• Publishing services — book publishing packages, journal hosting and publishing plans, book distribution and the other services on our Pricing pages — are confirmed in a written quote, publishing agreement or Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), and are invoiced and paid by bank transfer, UPI or online payment as stated there. Prices are in Indian Rupees for customers in India and in US Dollars for customers outside India.
• Taxes: no GST is charged on our services at present. If GST becomes applicable under government regulations in future, it will be added at the prevailing rate to invoices raised from that date, and we will tell you before you sign or pay.

I. Contract documents

Orders and transactions are recorded on the Online Platform, and the customer can see their order and contract information in their account. Publishing services are also documented in the written quote, publishing agreement or MOU (Section H).

J. Data protection

GATHA COGNITION^® protects the information customers give at registration and in transactions, as described in our Privacy Policy, and keeps customers informed of updates.

K. Privacy policy

The customer confirms that they have read and accepted the Privacy Policy of the Online Platform.

L. Advertisements

GATHA COGNITION^® accepts no responsibility of any kind for the content of advertisements or sponsorships. That responsibility lies fully with the advertiser or sponsor.

M. Funding agencies

GATHA COGNITION^® receives funds from individuals, institutes, agencies, etc. as Open Access Charges, to make published content (articles, book chapters, books, etc.) open access. This does not mean that GATHA COGNITION^® has adopted the policies, rules or activities of those funders, and we reserve the right to disclaim or deny any such association.

N. Changes to these Terms and Conditions

GATHA COGNITION^® may change these T&C at any time by publishing the updated version on this page, with a new “Last updated” date at the top.

O. Law and jurisdiction

Indian law applies to all transactions between the customer and GATHA COGNITION^®, and the courts at Ahilyanagar, Maharashtra, India have exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute arising from these T&C.