Researchgate
- The documents do not say whether your data trains AI.
- The documents do not say whether your data is used for ads.
- Data is shared only with the providers who run the service.
- The documents do not say who can read your content.
These are B2B journal-subscription terms: auto-renew, non-refundable, a broad content license, and they keep extracted article data after you leave.
Agent Trust Hub uses AI and may make mistakes. Review reports and confirm their contents before relying on them.
Collected
For this paid journal service they ask for name, work email, and proof you work for the journal.
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Privacy policy
“To purchase a Subscription, the individual acting on your behalf must provide limited personal data (such as their name, work email, and proof that they are affiliated with the Eligible Journal), which may be shared with you.”
Training
They use your articles to run, improve, and promote the platform, and can extract data from the files.
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Terms of service
“you grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, , and license to use, save, copy, modify, display, transmit, distribute and/or authorize the use of the Content, for the purpose of providing the Journal Subscription Service and operating, maintaining, providing, improving, and promoting the Platform.”
Sharing
Articles you post are public and downloadable by anyone; payments go through a third-party processor.
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Terms of service
“when you make Content available on the Platform, it is available to both logged-in users with RG Accounts and logged-out visitors of the Platform, and Article Files are downloadable by anyone.”
Kept
After you leave they can still keep and show data pulled from your article files.
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Terms of service
“Any Article Files you uploaded or directed RG to upload will be removed. However, we are entitled to retain and continue to use and display any data extracted from your Article Files including and relating to citations, topics, publication metadata, abstracts, authorship, keywords, and license information”
Controls
You can cancel in Admin Space 14 days before renewal and remove content you added.
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Terms of service
“You can cancel your Subscription up to 14 calendar days before the current Subscription Period ends via your Admin Space.”
Fine print
It auto-renews yearly, payments are non-refundable, and you must cover them if your content is accused of infringement.
Read the exact line
Terms of service
“To the extent permitted by applicable law, all payments are non-refundable.”
Expand “Read the exact line” to see the source alongside the explanation.
What you can turn off
The controls and opt-outs their own documents describe, and where they say to find them.
Cancel at least 14 days before renewal
Admin Space
Remove content you added
Platform / Admin Space (you can remove Content you added at any time)
Object to new terms in writing and cancel
Notify them in writing before changes take effect, then cancel the Subscription
Update billing and contact details
Admin Space
If a switch is not where they say, the deletion request above still applies.
Line by line
The lines that matter most, worst first.
They get a broad right to copy, show, and your journal files to run and promote the site.
Read the exact line
Terms of service
“you grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, , and license to use, save, copy, modify, display, transmit, distribute and/or authorize the use of the Content, for the purpose of providing the Journal Subscription Service and operating, maintaining, providing, improving, and promoting the Platform.”
For example, they can keep showing and sharing your paper’s text and branding even as they market ResearchGate.
Even after you cancel and files are removed, they can keep extracted pieces of those papers.
Read the exact line
Terms of service
“we are entitled to retain and continue to use and display any data extracted from your Article Files including and relating to citations, topics, publication metadata, abstracts, authorship, keywords, and license information, to continue to operate, provide, and improve the Platform.”
For example, your abstract and keywords can stay on ResearchGate after the subscription ends.
If someone sues them over your content, you may have to pay their legal costs.
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Terms of service
“You (the “ Party”) shall , defend, and hold RG (the “ Party”) and our officers, directors, agents, and employees harmless from and against any loss, cost, expense, claim, injury, or damage”
For example, if an author claims a PDF you uploaded was unauthorized, you could have to cover ResearchGate’s lawyers.
Once they charge you, they generally will not give the money back.
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Terms of service
“To the extent permitted by applicable law, all payments are non-refundable.”
For example, if you cancel mid-year you still lose the rest of that year’s fee.
The paid year rolls over by itself unless you cancel in time.
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Terms of service
“The Subscription will automatically renew for a subsequent one-year term for each year thereafter, unless canceled by either party in accordance with this Section 4 (Term and termination).”
For example, if you forget to cancel 14 days early, they charge another full year.
They can end the deal for listed “good cause” reasons and keep the money.
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Terms of service
“If we terminate for good cause, your Subscription will automatically be canceled with no refunds granted.”
For example, if they decide your journal harms their reputation, access can stop and you get no refund.
They do not promise the service will work well or be error-free.
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Terms of service
“The Journal Subscription Service is provided on an “as is” basis, of any kind, including, without limitation, of , , or non-infringement.”
For example, if insights or uploads fail, they are not guaranteeing a fix beyond limited remedies.
Posted full texts are public, not just for logged-in members.
Read the exact line
Terms of service
“when you make Content available on the Platform, it is available to both logged-in users with RG Accounts and logged-out visitors of the Platform, and Article Files are downloadable by anyone.”
For example, anyone on the web can download a PDF you uploaded for the journal.
There is a stated in-product cancel path, but you must do it two weeks before the year ends.
Read the exact line
Terms of service
“You can cancel your Subscription up to 14 calendar days before the current Subscription Period ends via your Admin Space.”
For example, you open Admin Space and cancel at least 14 days before the renewal date.
fights go to German courts in Berlin.
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Terms of service
“All disputes and matters whatsoever arising under, in connection with, or incident to the Agreement will be litigated, if at all, in and before the Courts of Berlin, Germany.”
For example, a journal in another country would have to sue in Berlin, not in a local small-claims court.
They say they use security measures, but they do not list audits or details.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to ensure a level of data security that is appropriate for the risks involved.”
For example, they claim they protect the buyer’s email, without naming encryption or a bug-bounty program.
Words to know
Legal words from the lines above, in plain English.
- personal data
- Any information that is about you or can be linked to you, from your name to your phone's ID. For example, your email, your IP address and the list of apps on your phone are all personal data.
- worldwide license
- You let the company use your content anywhere on earth, usually for free and for as long as it likes. For example, a video you post can be shown in ads in any country without asking you again.
- royalty-free
- The company can use your content without ever paying you for it. For example, your photo can appear in the app's ads and you get nothing.
- sublicensable
- The company can pass its rights over your content on to other companies without asking you. For example, an app can let an advertiser or a partner reuse your video under the licence you gave.
- indemnify
- You promise to pay the company's legal costs and losses if your use of the service gets it sued. For example, if you post a song you do not own and the label sues the app, you owe the app's lawyer bills.
- auto-renewal
- Your subscription keeps charging you at the end of each period until you cancel it. For example, a free trial turns into a paid monthly plan unless you cancel before it ends.
- as is
- You get the service in whatever state it is in, with no promise that it works or will keep working. For example, if the app deletes your photos by mistake, it is not promising to fix that or pay you back.
- warranty
- A promise that a product will work as described; most apps say they make no such promise at all. For example, if a paid feature never works on your phone, a no-warranty clause says that is your problem.
- venue
- The specific court or city where any lawsuit must be filed, which may be far from where you live. For example, a user in Florida may have to travel to a court in San Francisco to sue.
How we got here · grade D · score 36/100 · 14 of 15 policy answers backed by a verified quote · 5 not stated
What does the app collect beyond what it needs to work?
These pages only say the buyer must give limited personal data such as name, work email, and proof of journal affiliation. Other account data is pointed to a Privacy Policy that is not in these documents.
Does it record your voice, face or body, and what happens to that?
These terms do not describe recording voice, face, or body data.
Are your chats and uploads used to train AI models, and is that off by default?
Not stated in the documents.
Can employees or contractors read your conversations, and when?
Not stated in the documents.
Are you profiled or tracked for advertising?
Not stated in the documents.
Do they sell or share your data, and can you opt out?
Buyer contact details may be shared with the journal organization, and payments are processed by a third-party provider. They do not describe selling personal data.
What rights do they take over what you type and what the AI makes?
You keep ownership, but you grant a worldwide, royalty-free, sublicensable license to use content to run, improve, and promote the platform, and they keep extracted data after termination.
How long do they keep your data after you delete it, and can you delete it in the app?
You can remove content you added, but after termination they may keep and display data extracted from article files, and independently obtained public files.
Does it build a lasting memory or profile of you, and can you see, edit or turn it off?
Not stated in the documents.
Do they commit to basic security, and have they leaked data?
They say they use technical and organizational measures suited to the risk. No audit or leak history is described here.
Is there a real age gate, and are teens protected?
Not stated in the documents.
Will they tell you when the rules change, and is the policy specific?
The terms are dated August 21, 2025. They give at least 28 days’ written notice of term changes; this document is not a detailed consumer privacy policy.
Can they close your account without warning, and can you get your data out first?
They may cancel with 14 days’ notice, but for “good cause” they can terminate, sometimes without prior notice, with no refunds.
If something goes wrong, who pays?
The service is “as is,” liability is capped in many cases, and you must indemnify them for claims that your content infringes others’ rights.
Do subscriptions renew on their own, and can you get a refund?
The subscription auto-renews yearly. You can cancel in Admin Space 14 days before the period ends. Payments are non-refundable; price changes get 28 days’ notice.
The privacy policy is 3,588 words at a professional or legal expert level (Flesch reading ease 18.7); the terms are 3,588 words at a professional or legal expert level.
