Terms & Conditions

Website Terms of Use

Date of version: 23 OCT 2022

Thank you for visiting this website.

These website terms of use, which incorporate the applicable Additional Terms (as defined below) (together “Terms“) apply to your use of this website and any and all other websites operated by Springer Nature Limited (each a “Site“). Please note that these Terms apply, regardless of the means of delivery of any Site to you.

By using any Site, you indicate that you have read and accept these Terms, including the applicable Additional Terms and agree to abide by and be bound by all such Terms (as modified from time to time). If you do not accept all applicable Terms, please refrain from using any Site.

Please note that we may change these Terms from time to time without notice so you should review them each time that you visit any Site.

We draw your attention to the limitations on liability contained in clause 11 below and to the consents to data transfer and processing contained in clause 9 below.

In addition to these Terms each Site may have supplementary terms and conditions which apply to the Site(s) on which they appear or the services available on the Site (“Additional Terms“). Please ensure that you read any Additional Terms and the Privacy Policy as they form part of these Terms in respect of the Site(s) to which they relate. To the extent that the Additional Terms conflict with these Terms, the Additional Terms shall prevail (including, without limitation, any liability limitations or exclusions in the Additional Terms), but only in respect of the Site(s) on which they appear.

  1. Contacting us
    1. If you suspect misuse of any Site, please refer to the Additional Terms for the relevant Site for information as to the appropriate person to contact.
    2. For general comments on any Site, or to seek permission to do anything prohibited by or not contained in the applicable Terms, or which requires our prior consent or agreement, you can contact us following the instructions found on the ‘Contact’ page on the relevant Site.
    3. We respect the intellectual property rights of others, and we request that our visitors do the same. It is our policy to terminate the accounts of users who repeatedly infringe the rights of others. If you think your work has been copied in a manner that constitutes copyright infringement, you may notify our copyright agent, who can be reached at:
             
      Please include all of the following in your notification:
      1. A physical or electronic signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive copyright that is allegedly infringed;
      2. a description of the copyrighted work you claim has been infringed;
      3. a description of where the material you claim is infringing is located on the site;
      4. your address, telephone number, email address and all other information reasonably sufficient to permit us to contact you;
      5. a statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent or the law; and
      6. a statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the above information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.
  2. Using Sites
    1. Access to any Site is permitted on a temporary basis and we reserve the right to withdraw or amend the service we provide on the Site or part of the Site without notice. We will not be liable or responsible if for any reason any or all Site(s) is (are) unavailable at any time or for any period.
    2. We may update any Site from time to time, and may change the content at any time. Please note that any of the content on any Site may be out of date at any time, and we are under no obligation to update it.
    3. The information and materials on any Site are not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely. As such, we disclaim all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on such information and materials by any visitor to the Site, or by any person who may be informed of any of its content.
    4. You may view (and, where applicable, listen to and/or watch) the content and applications available on the Site for your own private non-commercial use. You must not use or allow others to access or use, all or any part of our Site or the contents and/or applications on it for commercial purposes without our permission. Use of all or any part of any Site or the contents and/or applications on it for commercial purposes shall be subject to separate terms and conditions and may be subject to a fee.
    5. You may occasionally print individual pages of any Site for your private non-commercial use, provided that such printing is not substantial or systematic and our trade marks, copyright notices and trade mark notices are not removed.
    6. From time to time we may restrict access to some parts of a Site, or to that entire Site, to users who have registered with us. Registered users may (as detailed in the Additional Terms for that Site) customise some of certain Sites’ features to create personalised areas of the Site for their own private non-commercial use. You must not otherwise alter, adapt or reverse engineer any part of the Site.
    7. You must not (whether directly or indirectly):
      1. distribute, transmit, syndicate, sell or offer to sell or otherwise make available all or any part of any Site or in any way seek to commercialise all or part of the combination of materials which together constitute the Site;
      2. distribute, transmit, syndicate, sell or offer to sell or otherwise make available any content, files, feeds or data from a Site, whether publically available or not, except as specifically permitted by that Site and in compliance with any applicable conditions or restrictions; or
      3. copy, download, or store any content, files, feeds or data from any Site, whether publically available or not, to make or populate a database or publication of any kind whatsoever, provided that for the avoidance of doubt this is not intended to restrict copying of an insubstantial part of any such material where you are able to show ‘fair dealing’ with it, in each case in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
    8. You may only play video or audio files using the media player on any Site or on the website of one of our licensees who is displaying such material with our authorisation. Where any videos or other materials are displayed through a third-party embedding service you must comply with all applicable conditions of that third party.
    9. If you would like to ‘share’ a story, an application, or other content from any Site with somebody, please use the ‘Send to a Friend’ facility or ‘share’ function (or such other similar feature) on the Site, or you may email a link to the Site to your friend or simply ask them to visit the Site. Please ensure that you have their consent before entering their details.
    10. You should be aware that content and resources may be removed from any Site with or without notice at any time and we accept no responsibility or liability for any reliance by you on the continued availability of any content or resources on the Site.
    11. Whether or not you are a registered user, you must not abuse any Site’s ‘Report this Comment’ facility (or any similar feature) (such as, without limitation, by making malicious reports).
    12. You are solely liable and responsible for any third-party charges incurred by you in accessing and using any Site, including in particular any network charges for fixed or mobile internet use.
  3. Linking
    1. You may establish a link to one or more Site(s), provided that:
      1. the link is legal and not detrimental or damaging to and/or does not take unfair advantage of our reputation or business;
      2. such linking is not for advertising or promotional purposes (unless we have expressly agreed to it);
      3. the link is not from any website which promotes any political or religious views, or promotes or depicts intolerance, hatred, discrimination, violence, pornography or illegal activity (websites of any such nature being referred to as an “Unacceptable Forum“);
      4. the link does not falsely or misleadingly imply or suggest that we endorse, approve of or are associated with the linked website, its webpages or any of its contents; and
      5. framing of any Site on any other website is not allowed and you must not provide access to the Site or part of it under any other URL.
    2. We may withdraw your right to link to any Site without notice and at any time (acting in our sole discretion).
    3. Subject to these Terms and to applicable Additional Terms you may only include links on any Site to third party websites or webpages if:
      1. the third party website is not an Unacceptable Forum, and the content of or linking to such third party websites or webpages does not breach any of the provisions set out in clause 6.6;
      2. the terms of use of such websites or webpages allows such linking;
      3. links are clearly and visibly marked as such;
      4. the content of any linked website or webpages are relevant and clearly related to the Content to which it is linked; and
      5. the link will not result in any automatic download.
    4. Where any Site and/or applications contain links to other websites, webpages, resources, or mobile services which are proprietary to third parties, other users, advertisers or sponsors, such websites, webpages, resources and mobile services are provided for your information only and you access them at your own risk. We are not liable or responsible for the content or operation of third party websites, webpages, resources or mobile services. You should read any applicable terms and conditions and privacy policies.
  4. Registration
    1. Where you are required to register to use a Site or part of a Site, it is your responsibility to provide accurate and complete registration details and to keep such details up to date. We are entitled to rely on any such registration details you provide to us.
    2. Unless stated otherwise, each registration is for a single user only and not for multiple users. If you choose, or you are provided with, a user identification code, password or any other piece of information as part of our security procedures, you must treat such information as confidential. You must not disclose it to any third party. You are solely responsible for any loss or damage you or we may suffer as a result of your failure to do so.
    3. Your registration with any Site must be in your own, real, name, not under any false or assumed name and not with any other person’s identity. You must not pretend to be a different person. You must provide a valid email address when you register for any Site. If you provide an email address to us then you warrant to us that you are entitled to receive email to such email address. You also acknowledge and agree that we may stop sending emails to you without prior notification.
    4. You are responsible for everything done using your registration details. You must not disclose your login details to any other person. If you think that another person may have access to, or be using, your registration details, you must inform us immediately.
    5. We may suspend, terminate or prevent your account and/or your access to any or all Site(s) at our sole discretion. Where we suspend, terminate or prevent your registration, you must not attempt to re-register or submit any content, material or applications without our prior written consent.
    6. For the avoidance of doubt, where we suspend, terminate or otherwise prevent your account or your access to any Site, we may continue to publish or use your Content (as defined in clause 6) in accordance with the provisions of the applicable Terms.
    7. If you know or suspect that anyone other than you knows your user identification code or password, you must promptly notify us in accordance with clause 2 of these Terms.
  5. Your content
    1. Each Site may, in accordance with its own Additional Terms, offer you the opportunity to submit, post, display, transmit, perform, publish, distribute or broadcast content and materials, including, without limitation, articles, commentaries, photographs, text, music, video, audio recordings, computer graphics, pictures, data, questions, comments, suggestions or personally identifiable information (“Content”). You retain ownership of any intellectual property rights that you hold in the Content.
    2. You grant to us a royalty-free, non-exclusive, perpetual, irrevocable license to use, copy, edit, adapt, publish, reproduce, translate, sub-license, create derivative works from, make available, communicate, display, store and distribute your Content (in whole or part) and/or to incorporate it in other works in any form, format, media, or technology now known or later developed (including without limitation in print, digital and electronic form) throughout the world in accordance with the provisions of these Terms. By submitting your Content, you warrant that you have the right to grant this license. To the extent permitted by law, you waive all moral rights in your Content. To the extent that you are unable to waive any such moral rights, you agree not to assert the same.
    3. It is our sole discretion, subject to any rules and procedures applicable to any Site, whether or not we choose to publish or otherwise make available Content on the Site. We may remove Content at our discretion, subject only to our express obligations in respect of peer-reviewed articles.
    4. For the avoidance of any doubt, you acknowledge and agree that we may:
      1. Continue to publish all or part of Your Content, including applications, your name, town and country, even if you change your mind and want us to remove it and/or you are no longer registered with the Site;
      2. remove your Content at our sole discretion (even if you have not breached these Terms).
      3. use all or part of your Content in promoting our products and services;
      4. reproduce your trade marks, trade names, service marks, logos, domain names or other identifying signs or images;
      5. publish and/or distribute widgets and other applications similar to yours and bearing our or another user’s branding or logo without any liability or responsibility to you;
      6. modify your Content in any way at our sole discretion.
    5. You acknowledge that we are not responsible for checking, monitoring or moderating any Content and you remain solely responsible for all Content that you upload or submit.
    6. By uploading or submitting Content to any Site, you warrant that (subject to the following sentences) you are the sole author of and owner of all proprietary rights in the Content. If the Content includes any material that belongs to a third party, you promise that you have obtained the permission of such third party owners to use their material in accordance with the provisions of these Terms, including its publication on the Site concerned and the right of visitors to the Site to download the Content, including such third-party material. You further warrant that you have attached all third-party copyright or proprietary notices which you are required to attach.
    7. You warrant and represent that your Content, and the content of any website from which you include a link to any Site, or to which you post a link from a Site, will not be inappropriate. Without limitation, Content (and the content of third-party websites) may be considered inappropriate if:
      1. it is misleading in any way, and/or it gives a false impression as to its origins or approvals;
      2. it is defamatory, plagiarised (including plagiarism from your own work), abusive, malicious, threatening, false, misleading, offensive, insulting, discriminatory, profane, harassing, racist, sexist, indecent, obscene, pornographic, hateful or it advocates violence;
      3. it is in breach of confidentiality or another person’s privacy or other rights, or of any duty owed by you;
      4. it prejudices any active or pending legal proceedings of which you are aware;
      5. it contains accusations of impropriety or personal criticism of our personnel, editors or reviewers;
      6. it infringes any intellectual property rights proprietary to us or any third party;
      7. it is technically harmful (including Content containing, without limitation, computer viruses, logic bombs, trojan horses, worms, harmful components, corrupted data or other malicious software, harmful data or conduct and/or contains any other element which is intended to harm us or any third party, or to carry out or facilitate any fraudulent or dishonest transaction);
      8. it advertises or promotes any product or service or makes any requests for donations or financial support;
      9. it is spam or junk content;
      10. it impersonates another person or otherwise misrepresents your identity, affiliation or status;
      11. it would be considered a criminal or statutory offence in any jurisdiction, or gives rise to civil liability, or is otherwise unlawful; and/or
      12. it is in breach of these Terms and/or of any Additional Terms.
    8. You must not attempt to avoid or undermine any protections we put in place for the security and operation of any Site.
    9. You must not attempt to gain unauthorised access to any Site, the server on which any Site is hosted or any server, computer or database connected to any Site or to attack any Site via a denial of service attack or by any means other than through a normal web browser in the generally-accepted manner, and in accordance with these Terms. By breaching the provisions of this clause, you may be committing a criminal offence. We shall report any such breach to the relevant law enforcement authorities and we will co-operate with those authorities by disclosing your identity to them and your right to use the affected Site and any other Site whose use is subject to these Terms shall immediately and automatically cease.
    10. Unless you have our express permission to do so, you must not re-submit any Content or other material or applications which have previously been rejected or removed.
    11. You shall indemnify us on demand and keep us indemnified against all liabilities, losses, damages, costs, claims and expenses (including any professional costs and expenses) suffered or incurred by us arising out of or in connection with any breach or alleged breach by you of this clause 6.
    12. You undertake to defend us from and against any claim or action by a third party that the use or possession of any Content submitted or uploaded to any Site by you infringes the intellectual property of such third party (“IPR Claim“), and shall on demand indemnify us and keep us indemnified against all liabilities, losses, damages, costs, claims and expenses (including any professional costs and expenses) suffered or incurred by us arising out of or in connection with any such IPR Claim.
  6. Third party content
    1. We are not liable or responsible for any third party content on any Site. Third party content includes, for example, comments, blogs and articles posted by any third parties, Content, the content of advertisements, applications posted by other third parties and content accessed through applications.
  7. Intellectual Property Rights
    1. For the avoidance of doubt, we are the owner or the licensee of all intellectual property rights in all Sites. All such rights are reserved. Our status (and that of any identified contributors) as the authors of content on our site must always be acknowledged.
    2. We acknowledge and agree that you (or your licensor) retain(s) ownership in any copyright you may have in the Content you submit or upload to any Site, in accordance with the Terms.
  8. Your personal information
    1. In addition to these Terms and the Additional Terms, please read the Privacy Policy at http://www.nature.com/info/privacy.html carefully as it governs our collection and use of information about you, and states that we may collect your information in the UK and transfer it to companies within our group (including companies based outside of the UK and Europe). By using our Site, you consent to us obtaining, holding, processing and transferring your data as set out in the Privacy Policy.
  9. Interactive services
    1. We may from time to time provide interactive services on any Site, including (without limitation) chat rooms, bulletin boards and other forums (“interactive services“).
    2. Where we do provide any interactive service, we will provide clear information to you about the kind of service offered, whether it is moderated and what form of moderation is used (including whether it is human or technical).
    3. We are under no obligation to oversee, monitor or moderate any interactive service we provide on any Site, and we expressly exclude our liability for any loss or damage arising from the use of any interactive service by a user in contravention of our content standards at clause 6 of these Terms, and as contained in any Additional Terms, whether the service is moderated or not.
    4. The use of our interactive services by a minor is subject to the consent of their parent or guardian. We advise parents who permit their children to use an interactive service that it is important that they communicate with their children about their safety online, as moderation is not foolproof. Minors who are using any interactive service should be made aware of the potential risks to them.
    5. Where we do moderate an interactive service, we will normally provide you with a means of contacting the moderator, should a concern or difficulty arise.