Terms of Service — Authors

Version 1 | Effective: April 2026 | Governed by German law

These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your use of the PeerDesk platform as an author submitting manuscripts for peer review. PeerDesk is operated by Lennart Sieden & Stefan Bechtel GbR ("PeerDesk", "we", "us"), Heuspachstr. 79, 72644 Oberboihingen, Germany. By registering as an author, you enter into a contract with us on the basis of these Terms.

§ 1 — Scope and Subject Matter

1.1 PeerDesk is a digital platform that enables authors to submit manuscripts to participating academic journals for peer review. PeerDesk facilitates the submission and review workflow on behalf of journals; we do not publish manuscripts and do not make editorial decisions.

1.2 No submission fees. PeerDesk charges no fees to authors for submitting manuscripts or using the platform. If a journal charges Article Processing Charges (APCs) or submission fees, this is the journal's decision and is entirely independent of PeerDesk's services.

1.3 Editorial decisions — including acceptance, rejection, and revision requests — are made exclusively by the journal's editors. PeerDesk has no authority over such decisions.

§ 2 — Registration and Account

2.1 You must provide accurate, complete, and up-to-date information during registration and keep your account information current thereafter.

2.2 You are responsible for keeping your login credentials confidential. Notify us immediately at [E-Mail — JavaScript erforderlich] if you suspect unauthorized access to your account.

2.3 Each person must maintain only one author account. Accounts must not be shared between individuals.

2.4 Connecting an ORCID iD is optional but recommended. If you connect an ORCID iD, you warrant that it is your own identifier.

§ 3 — Submission Warranties

By submitting a manuscript through PeerDesk, you warrant to PeerDesk and to the receiving journal that:

  1. You are the corresponding author and are authorized to submit the manuscript on behalf of all named co-authors.
  2. All listed co-authors have been informed of and have consented to the submission to this journal at this time.
  3. The manuscript is original work and has not been published elsewhere in substantially the same form, whether in English or another language.
  4. The manuscript is not under simultaneous consideration by another journal or conference proceeding at the time of submission.
  5. The manuscript does not contain plagiarized content; all third-party material is properly attributed or used with permission.
  6. The research described in the manuscript has been conducted in accordance with applicable ethical guidelines and, where required, has received appropriate ethics board approval.
  7. No data has been fabricated, falsified, or selectively reported in a misleading manner.
  8. All authors have made substantial intellectual contributions to the work as described.

A breach of any of the above warranties constitutes a material breach of these Terms and may result in account suspension and notification to the journal and, where applicable, to relevant professional bodies.

§ 4 — Manuscript Confidentiality During Review

4.1 All submitted manuscripts are treated as strictly confidential by PeerDesk. Access is restricted to: the handling editor(s) of the receiving journal; peer reviewers assigned to the manuscript; and PeerDesk staff to the extent required for platform operation and support.

4.2 Reviewers assigned to your manuscript are contractually bound to confidentiality under their reviewer terms of service. They may not use your manuscript's unpublished content for their own research prior to publication.

4.3 The journal's blinding policy (single-blind, double-blind, or open) governs which information is disclosed to reviewers. You will be informed of the applicable blinding policy at the time of submission.

4.4 You will receive reviewer feedback in anonymized form (where the journal operates under a single-blind or double-blind model). You will not receive reviewer identity information unless the journal explicitly operates an open review model.

§ 5 — Withdrawal Rights (Widerrufsrecht)

Cancellation Policy for Consumers

If you are acting as a consumer (Verbraucher) within the meaning of § 13 BGB (i.e., for purposes outside your trade, business, or profession), you have the following statutory right to withdraw from the contract for PeerDesk's platform services:

Right of withdrawal (Widerrufsrecht): You may withdraw from the contract within 14 days of registration without giving reasons. To exercise the right of withdrawal, you must inform us by means of a clear statement (e.g., a letter sent by post or an email) to: Lennart Sieden & Stefan Bechtel GbR, Heuspachstr. 79, 72644 Oberboihingen, Germany; [E-Mail — JavaScript erforderlich]. You may use the model withdrawal form below, but this is not mandatory.

To meet the withdrawal deadline, it is sufficient for you to send your communication exercising the right of withdrawal before the withdrawal period has expired.

Consequences of withdrawal: If you withdraw from this contract, we shall reimburse to you all payments received from you (note: PeerDesk charges no fees to authors, so no reimbursement will typically apply). Reimbursement will be made using the same means of payment as you used for the initial transaction.

Model withdrawal form (complete and return only if you wish to withdraw from the contract):

To: Lennart Sieden & Stefan Bechtel GbR, Heuspachstr. 79, 72644 Oberboihingen, Germany; mail@peerdesk.org

I/We hereby give notice that I/we withdraw from my/our contract for the provision of the following service: PeerDesk author account / platform access.

Ordered on: ______________ / Received on: ______________
Name of consumer(s): ______________
Address of consumer(s): ______________
Signature of consumer(s) (only if this form is notified on paper): ______________
Date: ______________

Note regarding manuscript submissions: The statutory withdrawal right applies to the platform service contract. Withdrawal of a specific manuscript submission after the peer review process has commenced is governed by the receiving journal's editorial policies, not by this withdrawal right.

§ 6 — Intellectual Property

6.1 You retain full copyright in your manuscript at all times. Submitting a manuscript via PeerDesk does not transfer any intellectual property rights to PeerDesk or to the journal.

6.2 PeerDesk receives only a limited, non-exclusive license to store, transmit, and display your manuscript content to authorized parties (editors, reviewers) strictly for the purpose of facilitating the peer review workflow.

6.3 Any publication rights, copyright transfer, or licensing agreement between you and the journal are governed solely by the journal's own author agreement, which is entirely separate from and not administered by PeerDesk.

§ 7 — Platform Liability

7.1 PeerDesk is liable for damages caused by gross negligence or willful misconduct without limitation.

7.2 For slight negligence, PeerDesk is only liable for breaches of cardinal obligations (Kardinalpflichten), limited to foreseeable, typical damages.

7.3 PeerDesk is not liable for: (a) editorial decisions made by journals (acceptance, rejection, revision outcomes); (b) the quality of peer review reports; (c) delays in the review process caused by journals or reviewers; (d) publication outcomes.

7.4 As PeerDesk charges no fees to authors, the cap on our aggregate liability to you in any 12-month period is EUR 100, except for claims based on gross negligence, willful misconduct, injury to life, body, or health, or statutory liability that cannot be limited.

§ 8 — Data Protection

The processing of your personal data by PeerDesk is governed by our Privacy Policy, which forms an integral part of these Terms. The journal to which you submit a manuscript acts as a data controller for the personal data in your submission. Please review the journal's own privacy policy for information about how they process your data.

§ 9 — Final Provisions

9.1 Governing law. These Terms are governed by German law. For consumers, mandatory statutory provisions of the consumer's country of habitual residence remain unaffected.

9.2 Jurisdiction. For disputes with consumers, the place of jurisdiction is the consumer's place of domicile or Stuttgart, Germany, at the consumer's choice. For B2B disputes, exclusive jurisdiction is Stuttgart.

9.3 Changes to these Terms. We will notify you of material changes by email at least 30 days before they take effect. Continued use constitutes acceptance; you may terminate before the effective date if you do not accept.

9.4 Severability. If any provision of these Terms is invalid, the remaining provisions remain in full force.

9.5 Entire agreement. These Terms and the Privacy Policy constitute the entire agreement between PeerDesk and you regarding platform access as an author.

Version: 1 | Effective: April 2026 | Lennart Sieden & Stefan Bechtel GbR — moreNetwork / PeerDesk