Refund Policy

1. Scope

1.1 · What this policy applies to. All paid services on XSci, including AI review reports and human peer review services.

1.2 · What this policy does, and what it does not. This policy states how a refund is claimed and paid. Which events give rise to a refund at all is stated in the Peer Review Policy for human peer review, and in clause 2 below for AI review. Where this policy and the Peer Review Policy differ on whether a ground exists, the Peer Review Policy governs.

1.3 · Depositing is free. Nothing in this policy concerns depositing a manuscript, which costs nothing, is never conditional on a purchase, and is not affected by any refund. A DOI, once assigned, stays resolvable whatever happens to a payment.

2. AI review reports

2.1 Eligible for refund

2.1.1 · Technical failure. The AI system failed to generate a review (for example, due to a processing error or system outage) — full refund.

2.1.2 · Wrong report delivered. You received a review for a different manuscript — full refund.

2.1.3 · Substantially incomplete. The report is missing major sections that were advertised — full refund or re-processing.

2.2 Not eligible for refund

2.2.1 · None of the following is a ground:

(a) you disagree with the AI's assessment or feedback; (b) the review did not meet your subjective expectations; (c) you submitted the wrong file; (d) your paper was subsequently rejected by a journal; (e) the report did not lead to certification, or to the AI-reviewed label.

2.2.2 · On that last point. No AI review certifies anything, and no AI review is capable of doing so — certification is a named human expert's judgement, and nothing else. An AI review report is also not a verification of anything, and is never displayed as though it had established a fact. The AI-reviewed label attaches only once you have deposited a revision following the AI review; AI review run with no revision deposited changes nothing on the record, and that is not a service failure and is not refundable. See the AI and Data Usage Disclosure.

2.3 Third-party AI review providers

2.3.1 · You choose the provider. AI review on XSci is offered from more than one provider. Where you purchased from XSci's own AI review service, this clause 2 applies as written. Where you purchased from a third-party provider on our platform, this clause still governs how you claim from us, and we will handle your claim; the provider's own terms — including their data and model-training policies — may also apply to you, and we link to them at the point of purchase.

2.4 How it works

2.4.1 · Immediate delivery. AI review reports are delivered within minutes of payment. Because the service is delivered digitally and immediately, refunds are available only in the specific circumstances listed in clause 2.1.

3. Human peer review services

3.1 · Two amounts, kept apart. The assessment fee is what you pay XSci for an assessment. The reviewer payment is what XSci pays the reviewer who carries it out. This policy concerns the assessment fee only, and a reviewer's payment never varies with the decision they reached. Whether a reviewer is paid at all is a matter between XSci and that reviewer under the Reviewer Agreement, and it turns on whether the assessment was carried out and reported as required — never on the outcome. It changes nothing about your refund, which is owed by XSci and is paid to you in full either way.

3.2 Eligible for refund

3.2.1 · Two grounds, and no others. An assessment fee is refunded on 3.2.2 and 3.2.3 alone.

3.2.2 · The report was not delivered — full refund. This covers a report not delivered within the stated timeframe; a report never completed at all, for example where a reviewer withdrew and no replacement was found; and an assessment closed before any report is delivered, including one closed following an integrity finding under the Retraction and Correction Policy. In every one of these cases you did not receive what you bought. Where a report is eventually delivered but significantly late, we may offer a partial refund; this is a remedy within this ground and not an additional ground, and it is offered at our discretion or where your statutory rights require it.

3.2.3 · An appeal against the certification decision succeeded — full refund. An appeal carries no fee, lies on the four grounds stated in the Peer Review Policy, and a refund of the assessment fee is the whole of the remedy: the report stands on the record as written, and the decision does not change. Where the successful ground was that a reviewer held an undisclosed interest that barred them, the certification is also revoked under the Retraction and Correction Policy. The refund is still the whole of the remedy: no replacement reviewer is appointed and the version is not assessed again.

3.3 An assessment closed before any report is delivered

3.3.1 · This is non-delivery, and it is refunded in full. Where an integrity matter is raised during an assessment and is made out, the assessment is closed and no report is delivered to you — so the assessment fee is refunded on the ground in 3.2.2, and no separate ground is needed.

3.3.2 · You do not need to request it. The closure is our act and not yours, so we issue the refund ourselves, and no time limit in clause 4 applies.

3.3.3 · It does not depend on which way the integrity finding went. The refund reflects the fact that the service was not supplied. It is neither a penalty nor a concession on the merits of the finding, and accepting it concedes nothing.

3.3.4 · While an integrity matter is open, the assessment simply shows as in progress with no public reason given, and no notice identifies your manuscript as the subject of an enquiry. Where the matter is not made out, the assessment resumes and concludes normally, no record of the enquiry appears on the public record, and no refund question arises.

3.4 Not eligible for refund

3.4.1 · None of the following is a ground:

(a) you disagree with the reviewer's assessment; (b) the review is negative or recommends rejection; (c) you no longer need the review; (d) the version was not certified; (e) the manuscript was sound but was judged not to reach the target journals you named; (f) you disagree with the reviewer's judgement on fit, or think the reviewer set the bar too high; (g) your paper was subsequently rejected by a journal; (h) you changed your mind about whether the report should be published.

3.4.2 · A refusal to certify is a completed service. You bought an expert assessment of a version against a published standard, and a refusal delivered in full is that assessment — not a failure of it. Disagreement with a reviewer's judgement is not an appeal ground and is not a refund ground. What an appeal is for is the quality and conduct of the assessment: that the procedure was not followed, that a reviewer had an interest that barred them, that the report contains an error of fact about the manuscript, or that the report falls below the standard of detail required.

3.4.3 · Opening a privately bought report is free at any time and gives rise to no refund, and there is no closing date on that election.

3.4.4 · Withdrawing disclosure of a report bought at the discounted price costs the difference between the two prices, is charged once only per assessment, and is not refundable once the report is private.

3.5 An appeal against a revocation

3.5.1 · No fee and no refund. An appeal against a decision to revoke a certification is decided differently from an appeal against a certification decision — against the COPE, ICMJE and Crossref standards named in the Retraction and Correction Policy. The remedy is that the revocation is set aside and the certification restored to the record, or that it stands.

4. How to request a refund

4.1 · Where to write. Email support@xsci.com. Include your account email and the transaction ID.

4.2 · Time limits.

(a) AI review: within 14 days of purchase. (b) Human peer review, non-delivery: within 14 days of the date the report was due, rather than the date of purchase. (c) Human peer review, successful appeal: no request is needed. Where your appeal succeeds, we issue the refund ourselves, and no time limit applies to it. An appeal is decided after a report has been delivered, so a window running from your purchase could not reach it. (d) Human peer review, an assessment closed before any report is delivered: no request is needed, and no time limit applies. The closure is our act, so we issue the refund ourselves. See clause 3.3.

4.3 · Missed windows. Where you have missed a window in 4.2 but the circumstances warrant it, write to us anyway (support@xsci.com).

4.4 · Timing of our response. We respond to refund requests within 5 business days. Approved refunds are issued to the original payment method and are processed by our payment provider, which typically takes a further 5–10 business days.

5. UK consumer rights

5.1 · Your statutory rights. Where you purchase as a consumer, you have statutory rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, including that a service be supplied with reasonable care and skill, within a reasonable time where no time is fixed, and as described. Nothing in this policy or in any other XSci document reduces those rights, and where any provision is inconsistent with them your statutory rights prevail.

5.2 · What we describe the service as, for these purposes, is set out in the Peer Review Policy and the Certification Standard: an assessment by a qualified independent expert against a published standard, delivered in full whatever the outcome. It is not described as, and must not be understood as, a route to certification or a guarantee of any outcome.

6. Chargebacks

6.1 · Contact us first. If you believe a charge is incorrect, contact us before initiating a chargeback with your bank or card issuer. We will investigate and, where a refund is due under this policy, issue it directly. Initiating a chargeback while a request under clause 4 is open may delay its resolution.

7. Changes to this policy

7.1 · Versioning. XSci may update this policy from time to time. Each version carries the date it was uploaded, in the header above, and a purchase is governed by the version in force on the date you bought it, so a later change to this policy never reaches back into an assessment already bought.

8. Contact

8.1 · Questions about this policy, or about a refund: support@xsci.com