Terms of Use

Effective date: 12/06/2025

Publisher: Latent Scholar LLC (the “journal,” “we,” “us,” or “our”), a Washington State limited liability company.

These Terms of Use (the “Terms”) govern your access to and use of our website(s), submission and review systems, and related services (collectively, the “Services”). By accessing or using the Services, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Services.

1. Changes and Order of Precedence

1.1 Changes to These Terms

We reserve the right to modify or update these Terms at any time.

(a) Material Changes: For material changes that significantly affect your rights or obligations (including changes to limitation of liability, indemnification, dispute resolution, or intellectual property provisions), we will:

Provide at least 30 days’ advance notice via email (if you have an account) or prominent website posting;
Allow you to opt out by discontinuing use before the effective date;
If you continue using the Services after the effective date, you accept the modified Terms.

(b) Non-Material Changes: For minor, administrative, or clarifying changes, modifications will be effective immediately upon posting. We will update the “Effective Date” at the top of this document.

(c) Your Responsibility: You are responsible for reviewing these Terms periodically. Continued use after changes constitutes acceptance.

(d) Rejection of Changes: If you do not agree to modified Terms, your sole remedy is to discontinue using the Services. However, your prior submissions and licenses granted under Sections 3.3 and 3.4 remain in effect even if you stop using the Services.

1.2 Other Policies and Order of Precedence

Your use of the Services is also subject to our Privacy Policy (the “Policy”). If these Terms conflict with the Policy, these Terms control unless the Policy expressly states that it shall control over these Terms for a specific subject (e.g., how your Personally Identifiable Information is processed).

2. Acceptable Use and Accounts

2.1. Eligibility

By accessing or using the Services, you represent and warrant that you are at least 18 years of age (or the age of majority in your jurisdiction) and have the legal capacity to enter into these Terms. If you are under 18, you are not permitted to use the Services.

2.2 Acceptable Use

You agree not to:

Violate any law or third-party rights (IP, privacy, publicity, export, or sanctions laws).
Upload, post, or transmit unlawful, defamatory, infringing, obscene, deceptive, or harmful content (including malware).
Access or attempt to access accounts, systems, data, or areas not intended for you; interfere with or disrupt the Services.
Use scraping, crawling, automated means, or rate-limiting circumvention without our prior written consent.
Misrepresent your identity, authorship, authors’ contributions, or the role of AI tools in generating content.
Submit any reviews, ideas, titles, topics, descriptions (short or long), intended audience, keywords, or any other content that infringes on the intellectual property or confidentiality rights of others.
Use the Services to generate content that violates any third-party LLM provider’s terms of service or usage policies (see Section 3.6).
Attempt to use the Services to reverse-engineer, benchmark, or evaluate third-party LLM capabilities without authorization.
Submit idea inputs—such as titles, descriptions, or keywords— designed to “jailbreak,” manipulate, or circumvent safety mechanisms of LLMs.
Use the Services to generate large volumes of content for purposes unrelated to scholarly evaluation (e.g., SEO spam, bulk content generation).
Submit idea inputs—such as titles, descriptions, or keywords— containing personally identifiable information (PII), trade secrets, classified information, or confidential data without authorization.
Use AI-generated content for high-stakes decisions (medical diagnosis, legal advice, financial trading, safety-critical systems) without independent human verification.
Misrepresent AI-generated content as human-authored in external publications or submissions.
Submit idea inputs—such as titles, descriptions, or keywords— that request the LLM to claim human authorship or identity.

2.3 Accounts & Security

You are responsible for the activity that occurs under your account and for keeping credentials secure. Notify us promptly of any actual or suspected unauthorized access.

3. Intellectual Property, Copyright, and Content Licensing

3.1 Ownership of Site Content

All content on the website, including text, graphics, logos, reviews, articles (including AI-generated content modified by humans), and software, is our property or that of our licensors and is protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. This includes the proprietary prompt templates, system instructions, and “mega-prompts” generated by our tools, exclusive of the specific user inputs.

Except as expressly permitted, you may not reproduce, distribute, transmit, modify, create derivative works from, or commercially exploit any content from the site without our prior written permission.

3.2 AI-Generated Content: Copyright, Ownership, and Liability

(a) No Copyright in Pure AI Output: Content generated solely by Large Language Models (LLMs), without substantial human creative contribution, is not eligible for copyright protection under current U.S. law. Contributors acknowledge that AI-generated articles published on this platform may exist in the public domain.

(b) Human Contributions May Be Copyrightable: Copyright protection may attach only to original human-authored elements, including:

Prompt design involving substantial creative choices and expression;
Significant human editing, restructuring, or rewriting of AI output;
Original figures, diagrams, commentary, or analysis added by humans;
Selection, arrangement, and coordination of content (if sufficiently creative).

Minimal or routine prompt inputs (e.g., “write an article about X”) do not constitute copyrightable authorship.

(c) Risk of Reproducing Copyrighted Material: LLMs may inadvertently generate content substantially similar to copyrighted works in their training data. CONTRIBUTORS EXPRESSLY ACKNOWLEDGE AND ACCEPT THIS RISK. Latent Scholar LLC makes no representations or warranties that AI-generated content is original, non-infringing, or free from third-party claims.

(d) No Warranty of Originality: Latent Scholar LLC does not and cannot verify that AI-generated content is free from copyright infringement, plagiarism, or substantial similarity to existing works. CONTRIBUTORS AND USERS ASSUME ALL RISKS related to the use, reproduction, or distribution of AI-generated content.

(e) Third-Party Copyright Claims

If any third party asserts that AI-generated content published on this platform infringes their copyright:

Immediate Removal: Latent Scholar LLC may remove or disable access to the disputed content at any time and without prior notice.
Contributor Responsibility: Contributors who submitted the idea that led to the creation of such content (including but not limited to the title/topic, short description, or optional keywords) agree to indemnify the Publisher pursuant to Section 5.1.
No Publisher Liability: The Publisher assumes no responsibility or liability for such claims and has no obligation to defend, dispute, or otherwise respond to them.

(f) No Implied License or Ownership: By using the Services, you do not acquire ownership, copyright, or any intellectual property rights in AI-generated output beyond the license granted in Section 3.3. Publisher makes no representation that you may freely use or commercialize AI-generated content outside this platform.

(g) Attribution and Licensing Uncertainty: Due to the uncertain copyright status of AI-generated content, Contributors acknowledge that:

Third parties may independently generate identical or substantially similar content;
Multiple parties may claim rights to similar AI outputs;
Content may be used, reproduced, or modified by others without permission or attribution;
Standard copyright enforcement mechanisms may not be available.

3.3 Submissions — Contributor License Grant

When you submit any material, including the Idea Submission parameters (public and private), associated metadata, and correspondence (a “Submission”), you (“Contributor”) grant Publisher a perpetual, worldwide, transferable, royalty-free license (the “Publisher License”) to use, reproduce, modify, display, publish, distribute, adapt, archive, and commercially exploit the Submission and any resulting AI output in any form or medium, and to sublicense such rights. This license includes the right to assign or transfer these rights in connection with sale or transfer of the Journal or its assets.

You represent and warrant that you have all rights necessary to make the Submission and that no third-party rights are infringed. You further acknowledge and agree that the ‘Title / Topic,’ ‘Short Description,’ and ‘Type of Expected Output’ fields of your Idea Submission will be publicly published.

3.4 Reviewers — Copyright Assignment and Liability

The following provisions apply to all reviewers. Reviewers who have entered into a separate Reviewer Agreement are also subject to the terms therein; in case of conflict, the Reviewer Agreement controls.

(a) Copyright Assignment: By submitting a review, the Reviewer irrevocably assigns and transfers to Latent Scholar LLC all worldwide copyright and related rights in that review, in perpetuity, including rights to reproduce, modify, distribute, publicly display, and create derivative works.

(b) Reviewer Standards and Liability: Reviewers represent and warrant that their reviews:

Are their own original work or properly attributed;
Do not defame, harass, or make false statements about any person or entity;
Do not violate any third-party intellectual property, privacy, or other rights;
Are based on good-faith evaluation of the AI-generated content;
Comply with academic and professional ethical standards.

(c) Indemnification: The Reviewer agrees to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Latent Scholar LLC, its officers, directors, employees, and agents from and against any and all claims, damages, liabilities, losses, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising from:

Content of their review, including but not limited to defamation, libel, slander, disparagement;
Intellectual property infringement claims;
Privacy or publicity rights violations;
Breach of confidentiality or non-disclosure obligations;
Tortious interference, fraud, or other wrongful conduct;
Violation of professional or academic ethical standards.

(d) No Editorial Liability: Latent Scholar LLC acts solely as a platform and does not endorse, verify, or take responsibility for reviewer statements. Reviewers are solely responsible for the content and accuracy of their reviews.

(e) Attribution Rights: The Reviewer retains the right to be credited as the author of the review if they elect attribution, or may opt to remain anonymous. Publisher may require proof of credentials or affiliation before publishing attributed reviews.

(f) Removal Rights: Publisher reserves the right to remove, edit, or refuse to publish any review that violates these Terms, applicable law, or professional standards, without notice or liability.

3.5 Intellectual Property Complaints

If you believe content infringes your rights, email info@latentscholar.org with a DMCA-style notice containing: (i) identification of the copyrighted work; (ii) identification of allegedly infringing material and its location; (iii) contact details; (iv) a statement of good-faith belief; (v) a statement under penalty of perjury of accuracy and authority; and (vi) a physical or electronic signature.

For trademark or other intellectual property concerns (other than copyright), please contact info@latentscholar.org with: (i) identification of the trademark or IP right; (ii) proof of ownership; (iii) description of the alleged infringement; (iv) your contact information; and (v) a statement of good faith belief.

3.6 Third-Party LLM Provider Terms and Compliance

(a) Incorporation of Third-Party Terms: By submitting content to the Services, you acknowledge and agree to comply with the Terms of Service, Usage Policies, and Acceptable Use Policies of all third-party LLM providers we utilize, including but not limited to:

OpenAI Terms of Use: https://openai.com/policies/terms-of-use
OpenAI Usage Policies: https://openai.com/policies/usage-policies
Google Cloud AI Terms: https://cloud.google.com/terms
Anthropic Commercial Terms: https://www.anthropic.com/legal/commercial-terms
Anthropic Usage Policy: https://www.anthropic.com/legal/aup

You are responsible for reviewing these terms before submitting content. These third-party terms are incorporated by reference into these Terms of Use.

(b) Prohibited Content: Without limitation, you agree NOT to submit content that:

Violates any third-party LLM provider’s usage policies;
Attempts to generate illegal, harmful, abusive, or sexually explicit content;
Seeks to create malware, exploits, or security vulnerabilities;
Involves impersonation, fraud, or deceptive practices;
Infringes on third-party intellectual property, privacy, or other rights;
Attempts to reverse-engineer, jailbreak, or circumvent LLM safety measures;
Generates content for political campaigning or lobbying (if prohibited by provider);
Creates spam, misinformation, or content designed to manipulate or deceive.

(c) Enforcement and Termination: If we determine, in our sole discretion, that your submission violates third-party LLM provider terms:

We may immediately reject, remove, or refuse to process your submission;
You remain liable for any damages, claims, or penalties asserted by third-party providers.

(d) Provider Terms May Change: Third-party LLM providers may modify their terms at any time. You are responsible for staying informed of such changes. Continued use of the Services after provider terms change constitutes acceptance of modified terms.

(e) No Liability for Provider Actions: Latent Scholar LLC is not responsible for:

Third-party providers’ refusal to process content;
Quality, accuracy, bias, or safety issues in LLM outputs;
Changes to provider APIs, capabilities, or availability;
Provider data breaches, service interruptions, or terms violations;
Provider decisions to suspend or terminate service.

3.7 Corrections, Updates, and Retractions

(a) Right to Correct: Publisher reserves the right to correct, update, annotate, or append notices to published content at any time, including but not limited to:

Factual errors or inaccuracies;
Copyright infringement or IP violations;
Ethical concerns or research misconduct;
Technical errors in AI generation.

(b) Retractions: Publisher may retract or remove published content in cases of:

Confirmed copyright infringement;
Court order or legal requirement;
Severe ethical violations;
Violation of third-party LLM provider terms;
Content that poses safety or security risks.

(c) No Obligation: Publisher has no obligation to monitor, update, or correct published content and does so solely at its discretion.

(d) Permanent Record: Even if content is retracted, archival copies, citations, and metadata may persist in the scholarly record, third-party databases, search engines, and the Internet Archive.

(e) No Liability: Publisher is not liable for decisions to correct, update, retract, or not correct published content.

4. Disclaimers and Limitation of Liability

4.1 No Professional Advice; AI Content Risks

General Disclaimer: Content is provided for scholarly discourse and model evaluation purposes only and does not constitute medical, legal, financial, engineering, or other professional advice. Any reliance upon content from the Services is solely at your own risk.

AI-Generated Content Specific Risks: AI-generated content published on this platform carries inherent limitations and risks, including but not limited to:

(a) Hallucinations and Fabrications: LLMs may generate plausible-sounding but entirely false information, including:

Fabricated citations, references, studies, or data;
Non-existent people, organizations, events, or facts;
Incorrect scientific, medical, technical, or legal information;
Misattributed quotes or statements.

(b) Bias and Discrimination: AI outputs may reflect or amplify biases present in training data, including biases related to race, gender, religion, nationality, disability, or other protected characteristics.

(c) Outdated or Incomplete Information: LLMs are trained on historical data and may not reflect current knowledge, recent developments, or emerging consensus in any field.

(d) Lack of Reasoning and Understanding: Despite appearing coherent, LLMs do not truly understand context, cannot reason reliably, and may make logical errors or contradictions.

(e) Potential Copyright Issues: As stated in Section 3.2, AI-generated content may inadvertently reproduce or closely resemble copyrighted works.

(f) Inconsistency: The same or similar prompts may produce significantly different outputs across multiple generations.

(g) Security and Safety: AI-generated content must not be used for safety-critical applications, medical diagnosis or treatment, legal proceedings, financial decisions, or any context where errors could cause harm.

MANDATORY VERIFICATION: Users must independently verify all information before relying on it for any purpose. DO NOT USE AI-GENERATED CONTENT AS A SOLE SOURCE for:

Medical or health-related decisions
Legal matters or proceedings
Financial investments or transactions
Engineering or safety-critical designs
Academic citations without verification
Policy or regulatory compliance

NO REPRESENTATION OF PEER REVIEW: Unless explicitly stated otherwise, AI-generated articles have NOT undergone traditional peer review by qualified human experts. Reviewer comments are evaluative feedback on AI model performance, not endorsements of scientific validity.

4.2 Disclaimer of Warranties

The Services and all content, including articles, datasets, and other materials, are provided “as is” and “as available.” To the maximum extent permitted by law, Latent Scholar LLC disclaims all warranties, express or implied, including but not limited to warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, and non-infringement.

We make no warranty regarding the security or confidentiality of data transferred to third-party Large Language Model (LLM) providers for content generation. We specifically disclaim all warranties related to the accuracy, bias, or completeness of information synthesized by third-party LLM providers.

We do not warrant that the Services or any content will be uninterrupted, secure, error-free, or free from viruses or other harmful components, nor that any defects will be corrected.

4.3 Limitation of Liability

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, LATENT SCHOLAR LLC AND ITS OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, OR AFFILIATES SHALL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY THIRD PARTY FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUE, DATA, OR BUSINESS, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE SERVICES OR THESE TERMS, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

Our total aggregate liability for all claims shall not exceed the greater of: a. One hundred U.S. dollars ($100), or b. The total amount you paid to us for the Service giving rise to the claim during the twelve (12) months immediately preceding the claim.

This limitation of liability explicitly applies to volunteer-submitted reviews and any claims arising from defamation, copyright infringement, or other legal issues related to Submissions.

5. Indemnification and Termination

5.1 Indemnification

You will indemnify and hold harmless the journal and its officers, directors, employees, agents, and affiliates from any claims, damages, liabilities, losses, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of or related to: (a) your Submissions; (b) your breach of these Terms or the Policy; or (c) your misuse of the Services.

To the extent any limitation on indemnification is required by applicable law, your indemnification obligation shall be limited to the maximum extent permitted. Nothing in this section shall require indemnification for claims arising solely from our gross negligence, willful misconduct, or fraud.

5.2 Suspension and Termination

We may suspend or terminate your access immediately if you breach these Terms or the Policy, if required by law, or to protect the Services or users.

5.3 Effect of Termination; Data Retention

(a) Upon Suspension or Termination of Access: If your ability to access or use the Services is suspended or terminated—whether or not you have an account:

Your ability to access or use the Services ceases immediately;
Any submissions you provided (including ideas, prompts, reviews, or correspondence) remain subject to the licenses granted in Sections 3.3 and 3.4;
Published content that includes your attribution (if you opted to provide one) will remain publicly available unless removed pursuant to Section 3.2(e) or Section 3.4(f);
We may retain submission records, review records, and related logs as described in our Privacy Policy and as required for legal compliance.

(b) Data Retention: As described in our Privacy Policy (Section 7), we retain:

Published content and attribution data indefinitely (permanent scholarly record);
Submission and review metadata for at least 7 years;
Account and correspondence records as required for audit, legal compliance, and defense of claims;
Data transmitted to third-party LLM providers pursuant to their retention policies (beyond our control).

(c) No Refunds: Termination does not entitle you to any refund of fees paid (if applicable).

(d) Survival: Sections 3 (Intellectual Property), 4 (Disclaimers and Limitation of Liability), 5 (Indemnification), and 6 (Governing Law) survive termination.

6. Governing Law and Miscellaneous

6.1 Governing Law; Venue

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Washington, U.S.A.; without regard to conflict-of-law principles. Exclusive venue for disputes is the state or federal courts located in Spokane County, Washington, and you consent to personal jurisdiction there.

Binding Arbitration: Any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms, the Services, or your relationship with Latent Scholar LLC (collectively, “Disputes”) shall be resolved by binding arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) under its Commercial Arbitration Rules.

Arbitration Procedures:

Arbitration will be conducted in Spokane County, Washington, or remotely by mutual agreement;

The arbitration shall be conducted by a single arbitrator;
The arbitrator’s decision shall be final and binding;
Judgment on the arbitration award may be entered in any court of competent jurisdiction;
Each party bears its own attorneys’ fees unless the arbitrator awards fees to the prevailing party;
Discovery shall be limited as determined by the arbitrator.

Exceptions to Arbitration: Either party may:

Seek injunctive or equitable relief in court to protect intellectual property rights;
Pursue claims in small claims court if the claim qualifies;
Report violations to federal, state, or local agencies.

Opt-Out Right: You may opt out of this arbitration agreement by sending written notice to info@latentscholar.org within 30 days of first using the Services. Your notice must include your name, address, email, and a clear statement that you wish to opt out of the arbitration agreement. If you opt out, you retain the right to litigate disputes in court pursuant to Section 6.1, subject to the class action waiver in Section 6.4.

NO CLASS ARBITRATION: Arbitration must be conducted on an individual basis only, not as a class, consolidated, or representative proceeding. The arbitrator may not consolidate more than one person’s claims or preside over any form of representative or class proceeding.

6.2 International Use and Compliance

You are responsible for compliance with all local laws and export/sanctions regulations.

6.3 Miscellaneous

This document, together with the Policy and any other agreements you enter into with us in connection with the Services, constitutes the entire agreement between you and us regarding the Services.

6.4 Class Action Waiver

You and Latent Scholar LLC agree that any dispute resolution proceedings will be conducted only on an individual basis and not in a class, consolidated, or representative action.

6.5 Export Controls, Sanctions, and Restricted Parties

(a) Compliance with Trade Laws: You represent and warrant that you are not:

Located in, organized under the laws of, or a resident of any country or territory subject to comprehensive U.S. economic sanctions;
Identified on any U.S. government restricted party list (including OFAC SDN List, BIS Denied Persons List, Entity List);
Owned or controlled by, or acting on behalf of, any sanctioned person or entity.

(b) Prohibited End Uses: You agree not to use the Services, any AI-generated content, or insights gained from LLM evaluation:

For development of weapons of mass destruction (nuclear, chemical, biological);
For military or intelligence applications in violation of U.S. export regulations;
For any purpose prohibited by U.S. export control laws (EAR, ITAR, OFAC regulations);
In support of sanctioned entities or countries.

(c) Technology Transfer: By using the Services, you acknowledge that LLM technology and outputs may be subject to U.S. export control laws. You are responsible for compliance with all applicable export regulations.

(d) Immediate Termination: We reserve the right to immediately terminate your access without notice if we believe, in our sole discretion, that your use violates export controls or sanctions laws.

6.6 Force Majeure

Latent Scholar LLC shall not be liable for any failure or delay in performance resulting from causes beyond our reasonable control, including but not limited to: acts of God, natural disasters, pandemics, epidemics, war, terrorism, riots, government actions or orders, labor disputes, power failures, internet or telecommunications failures, third-party service provider outages (including LLM providers), cyberattacks, or other events beyond our reasonable control. During such events, our obligations shall be suspended to the extent affected.

6.7 Severability

If any provision of these Terms is held invalid, illegal, or unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, such invalidity shall not affect the remaining provisions, which shall continue in full force and effect. If the class action waiver in Section 6.4 is found unenforceable as to a particular claim, that claim (and only that claim) shall be severed from arbitration and may proceed in court, while all other claims remain subject to arbitration. The invalid provision shall be modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it valid and enforceable while preserving the parties’ original intent.

6.8 Assignment

You may not assign or transfer these Terms or your rights hereunder without our prior written consent. Latent Scholar LLC may freely assign or transfer these Terms and all rights and obligations hereunder without restriction, including in connection with a merger, acquisition, corporate reorganization, sale of all or substantially all assets, or by operation of law. These Terms shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the parties and their respective successors and permitted assigns.

6.9 Waiver

Our failure to enforce any right or provision of these Terms shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. Any waiver must be in writing and signed by an authorized representative of Latent Scholar LLC to be effective.

6.10 Electronic Acceptance

By accessing or using the Services, clicking ‘I agree,’ or submitting content, you acknowledge and agree that: (a) your electronic acceptance constitutes your signature and consent to be bound by these Terms; (b) electronic records and signatures are valid and enforceable under the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (E-SIGN) and the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA); and (c) you waive any rights or requirements under any laws requiring an original signature or delivery of non-electronic records.

7. Contact Information

If you have any questions about these Terms, please contact us at:

Latent Scholar LLC
522 W Riverside Ave Ste N
Spokane, WA 99201 US

Email: info@latentscholar.org

Response Time: We aim to respond within 5 business days. For urgent legal matters, please mark your email “URGENT – LEGAL.