Terms and Conditions

Last updated May 26, 2026

Agreement to Our Legal Terms

We are Lucas Flinders, doing business as ZeroCite ("Company," "we," "us," "our"), operating in Ohio, United States, at 2293 Neil Ave, Columbus, OH 43201.

We operate the website https://zerocite.com (the "Site"), as well as any other related products and services that refer or link to these legal terms (the "Legal Terms") (collectively, the "Services").

ZeroCite is a web-based citation tool that helps writers find peer-reviewed academic sources for their work. Users mark claims in their drafts with a [src] tag, and ZeroCite uses AI to search academic databases (including PubMed, arXiv, Semantic Scholar, OpenAlex, and CrossRef) and recommend candidate citations. Users review and approve the suggested sources, which are then formatted in their chosen citation style (APA, MLA, Chicago, or IEEE). ZeroCite is offered as a free tier (limited number of scans) and a paid subscription tier with unlimited scans.

You can contact us by email at support@zerocite.com or by mail at 2293 Neil Ave, Columbus, OH 43201, United States.

These Legal Terms constitute a legally binding agreement made between you, whether personally or on behalf of an entity ("you"), and Lucas Flinders, concerning your access to and use of the Services. You agree that by accessing the Services, you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by all of these Legal Terms. If you do not agree with all of these Legal Terms, then you are expressly prohibited from using the Services and you must discontinue use immediately.

We may update these Legal Terms from time to time. The current version is always available at this URL with an updated "Last updated" date at the top. For minor updates (such as typo corrections or clarifications that don't affect user rights), continued use of the Services after the posting date constitutes acceptance. For material changes (such as changes to fees, user rights, or how disputes are resolved), we will provide additional notice by displaying an in-app notice when you next access the Services and/or by sending an email to the address associated with your account, before the changes take effect.

All users who are minors in the jurisdiction in which they reside (generally under the age of 18) must have the permission of, and be directly supervised by, their parent or guardian to use the Services. If you are a minor, you must have your parent or guardian read and agree to these Legal Terms prior to you using the Services.

We recommend that you print a copy of these Legal Terms for your records.

1. Our Services

The information provided when using the Services is not intended for distribution to or use by any person or entity in any jurisdiction or country where such distribution or use would be contrary to law or regulation or which would subject us to any registration requirement within such jurisdiction or country. Accordingly, those persons who choose to access the Services from other locations do so on their own initiative and are solely responsible for compliance with local laws, if and to the extent local laws are applicable.

The Services are not tailored to comply with industry-specific regulations (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA), etc.), so if your interactions would be subjected to such laws, you may not use the Services. You may not use the Services in a way that would violate the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA).

2. Intellectual Property Rights

Our intellectual property

We are the owner or the licensee of all intellectual property rights in our Services, including all source code, databases, functionality, software, website designs, audio, video, text, photographs, and graphics in the Services (collectively, the "Content"), as well as the trademarks, service marks, and logos contained therein (the "Marks").

Our Content and Marks are protected by copyright and trademark laws (and various other intellectual property rights and unfair competition laws) and treaties in the United States and around the world.

The Content and Marks are provided in or through the Services "AS IS" for your personal, non-commercial use or internal business purpose only.

Your use of our Services

Subject to your compliance with these Legal Terms, including the Prohibited Activities section below, we grant you a non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to:

solely for your personal, non-commercial use or internal business purpose.

Except as set out in this section or elsewhere in our Legal Terms, no part of the Services and no Content or Marks may be copied, reproduced, aggregated, republished, uploaded, posted, publicly displayed, encoded, translated, transmitted, distributed, sold, licensed, or otherwise exploited for any commercial purpose whatsoever, without our express prior written permission.

If you wish to make any use of the Services, Content, or Marks other than as set out in this section or elsewhere in our Legal Terms, please address your request to support@zerocite.com.

We reserve all rights not expressly granted to you in and to the Services, Content, and Marks. Any breach of these Intellectual Property Rights will constitute a material breach of our Legal Terms and your right to use our Services will terminate immediately.

Your submissions

By directly sending us any question, comment, suggestion, idea, feedback, or other information about the Services ("Submissions"), you agree to assign to us all intellectual property rights in such Submission. You agree that we shall own this Submission and be entitled to its unrestricted use and dissemination for any lawful purpose, commercial or otherwise, without acknowledgment or compensation to you. This applies only to feedback and suggestions about the product itself, not to the text, references, or drafts you submit to ZeroCite for citation matching — that material is governed by Section 8 (User Submitted Content) and Section 9 (Content License) below, and remains your property.

3. User Representations

By using the Services, you represent and warrant that: (1) all registration information you submit will be true, accurate, current, and complete; (2) you will maintain the accuracy of such information and promptly update such registration information as necessary; (3) you have the legal capacity and you agree to comply with these Legal Terms; (4) you are not a minor in the jurisdiction in which you reside, or if a minor, you have received parental permission to use the Services; (5) you will not access the Services through automated or non-human means, whether through a bot, script, or otherwise; (6) you will not use the Services for any illegal or unauthorized purpose; and (7) your use of the Services will not violate any applicable law or regulation.

If you provide any information that is untrue, inaccurate, not current, or incomplete, we have the right to suspend or terminate your account and refuse any and all current or future use of the Services (or any portion thereof).

4. User Registration

You may be required to register to use the Services. You agree to keep your password confidential and will be responsible for all use of your account and password. We reserve the right to remove, reclaim, or change a username you select if we determine, in our sole discretion, that such username is inappropriate, obscene, or otherwise objectionable.

5. Purchases and Payment

We accept the following forms of payment, all processed through our payment processor, Stripe:

You agree to provide current, complete, and accurate purchase and account information for all purchases made via the Services. You further agree to promptly update account and payment information, including email address, payment method, and payment card expiration date, so that we can complete your transactions and contact you as needed. Sales tax will be added to the price of purchases as deemed required by us. We may change prices at any time. All payments shall be in US dollars.

You agree to pay all charges at the prices then in effect for your purchases, and you authorize us to charge your chosen payment provider for any such amounts upon placing your order. We reserve the right to correct any errors or mistakes in pricing, even if we have already requested or received payment.

We reserve the right to refuse any order placed through the Services. We may, in our sole discretion, limit or cancel quantities purchased per person, per household, or per order. These restrictions may include orders placed by or under the same customer account, the same payment method, and/or orders that use the same billing address. We reserve the right to limit or prohibit orders that, in our sole judgment, appear to be placed by dealers, resellers, or distributors.

6. Subscriptions

Billing and renewal

Your subscription will continue and automatically renew unless canceled. You consent to our charging your payment method on a recurring basis without requiring your prior approval for each recurring charge, until such time as you cancel the applicable order. The length of your billing cycle is monthly.

Free trial

We offer a free trial to new users that allows access to a limited number of scans before a subscription is required. No payment information is collected to begin the free trial, and the free trial does not automatically convert into a paid subscription. To continue using the Services after the free trial allotment has been used, you must explicitly choose to subscribe.

Cancellation

All purchases are non-refundable. You can cancel your subscription at any time by emailing us at support@zerocite.com. Your cancellation will take effect at the end of the current paid billing period; you will retain access through that date and will not be charged for subsequent billing periods. We do not provide refunds for partial billing periods, unused scans, or accidental renewals. Nothing in this section limits any statutory refund rights you may have under your local consumer protection laws.

Fee changes

We may, from time to time, make changes to the subscription fee and will communicate any price changes to you in accordance with applicable law.

7. Prohibited Activities

You may not access or use the Services for any purpose other than that for which we make the Services available. The Services may not be used in connection with any commercial endeavors except those that are specifically endorsed or approved by us.

As a user of the Services, you agree not to:

8. User Submitted Content

The Services allow you to submit text, references, drafts, and other content for the purpose of citation matching ("User Content"). User Content is processed by the Services and remains private to your account — other users of the Services cannot see your User Content. We do not display, publish, or distribute your User Content publicly.

You retain all ownership of and intellectual property rights in your User Content. You are solely responsible for your User Content, including its accuracy, legality, and any consequences of submitting it. You represent and warrant that:

As described in Section 28 (Submitted Content and AI Processing), your User Content is transmitted to our AI providers (currently Anthropic and Google) for the purpose of identifying candidate citations. You should not submit confidential, classified, embargoed, or unpublished work you do not want shared with these providers.

We have the right, but not the obligation, to remove or restrict access to User Content that we determine, in our sole discretion, violates these Legal Terms or applicable law. We may also suspend or disable your account if you submit User Content in violation of these Legal Terms.

9. Content License

By submitting User Content to the Services, you grant us a limited, non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license to use, store, process, transmit, and display your User Content solely as necessary to provide the Services to you. This includes transmitting your User Content to our AI providers for citation matching, storing draft documents you create (in your browser's local storage, not on our servers), and processing your User Content to generate citation suggestions.

This license does not grant us the right to:

You retain full ownership of all User Content and any intellectual property rights or other proprietary rights associated with it. We do not assert any ownership over your User Content.

10. Third-Party Websites and Content

The Services may contain (or you may be sent via the Site) links to other websites ("Third-Party Websites") as well as articles, photographs, text, graphics, pictures, designs, music, sound, video, information, applications, software, and other content or items belonging to or originating from third parties ("Third-Party Content"). This includes, in particular, links to academic papers, journals, publishers, and citation databases that ZeroCite identifies as candidate sources.

Such Third-Party Websites and Third-Party Content are not investigated, monitored, or checked for accuracy, appropriateness, or completeness by us, and we are not responsible for any Third-Party Websites accessed through the Services or any Third-Party Content posted on, available through, or installed from the Services. Inclusion of, linking to, or permitting the use or installation of any Third-Party Websites or Third-Party Content does not imply approval or endorsement thereof by us. If you decide to leave the Services and access the Third-Party Websites, you do so at your own risk, and these Legal Terms no longer govern. You should review the applicable terms and policies of any website to which you navigate from the Services.

11. Services Management

We reserve the right, but not the obligation, to: (1) monitor the Services for violations of these Legal Terms; (2) take appropriate legal action against anyone who, in our sole discretion, violates the law or these Legal Terms, including reporting such user to law enforcement authorities; (3) in our sole discretion and without limitation, refuse, restrict access to, limit the availability of, or disable any of your User Content or any portion thereof; (4) in our sole discretion and without limitation, notice, or liability, remove from the Services or otherwise disable all files and content that are excessive in size or are in any way burdensome to our systems; and (5) otherwise manage the Services in a manner designed to protect our rights and property and to facilitate the proper functioning of the Services.

12. Privacy Policy

We care about data privacy and security. Please review our Privacy Policy. By using the Services, you agree to be bound by our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated into these Legal Terms. The Services are hosted in the United States. If you access the Services from any other region of the world with laws or other requirements governing personal data collection, use, or disclosure that differ from applicable laws in the United States, then through your continued use of the Services, you are transferring your data to the United States, and you expressly consent to have your data transferred to and processed in the United States.

13. Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) Notice and Policy

Notifications

We respect the intellectual property rights of others. If you believe that any material available on or through the Services infringes upon any copyright you own or control, please immediately notify our Designated Copyright Agent using the contact information provided below (a "Notification"). Please be advised that pursuant to federal law you may be held liable for damages if you make material misrepresentations in a Notification.

All Notifications should meet the requirements of DMCA 17 U.S.C. § 512(c)(3) and include the following information: (1) a physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed; (2) identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed; (3) identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity; (4) information reasonably sufficient to permit us to contact the complaining party; (5) a statement that the complaining party has a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and (6) a statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner.

Counter notification

If you believe your own copyrighted material has been removed from the Services as a result of a mistake or misidentification, you may submit a written counter notification to our Designated Copyright Agent using the contact information below. To be effective, your Counter Notification must include: (1) identification of the material that has been removed; (2) a statement that you consent to the jurisdiction of the Federal District Court in which your address is located, or if your address is outside the United States, for any judicial district in which we are located; (3) a statement that you will accept service of process from the party that filed the Notification; (4) your name, address, and telephone number; (5) a statement under penalty of perjury that you have a good faith belief that the material was removed by mistake; and (6) your physical or electronic signature.

Designated Copyright Agent

Lucas Flinders
Attn: Copyright Agent
2293 Neil Ave
Columbus, OH 43201
United States
support@zerocite.com

14. Term and Termination

These Legal Terms shall remain in full force and effect while you use the Services. WITHOUT LIMITING ANY OTHER PROVISION OF THESE LEGAL TERMS, WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO, IN OUR SOLE DISCRETION AND WITHOUT NOTICE OR LIABILITY, DENY ACCESS TO AND USE OF THE SERVICES (INCLUDING BLOCKING CERTAIN IP ADDRESSES) TO ANY PERSON FOR ANY REASON OR FOR NO REASON, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION FOR BREACH OF ANY REPRESENTATION, WARRANTY, OR COVENANT CONTAINED IN THESE LEGAL TERMS OR OF ANY APPLICABLE LAW OR REGULATION. WE MAY TERMINATE YOUR USE OR PARTICIPATION IN THE SERVICES OR DELETE YOUR ACCOUNT AND ANY CONTENT OR INFORMATION THAT YOU POSTED AT ANY TIME, WITHOUT WARNING, IN OUR SOLE DISCRETION.

If we terminate or suspend your account for any reason, you are prohibited from registering and creating a new account under your name, a fake or borrowed name, or the name of any third party, even if you may be acting on behalf of the third party. In addition to terminating or suspending your account, we reserve the right to take appropriate legal action, including without limitation pursuing civil, criminal, and injunctive redress.

15. Modifications and Interruptions

We reserve the right to change, modify, or remove the contents of the Services at any time or for any reason at our sole discretion without notice. However, we have no obligation to update any information on our Services. We will not be liable to you or any third party for any modification, price change, suspension, or discontinuance of the Services.

We cannot guarantee the Services will be available at all times. We may experience hardware, software, or other problems or need to perform maintenance related to the Services, resulting in interruptions, delays, or errors. We reserve the right to change, revise, update, suspend, discontinue, or otherwise modify the Services at any time or for any reason without notice to you. You agree that we have no liability whatsoever for any loss, damage, or inconvenience caused by your inability to access or use the Services during any downtime or discontinuance of the Services. Nothing in these Legal Terms will be construed to obligate us to maintain and support the Services or to supply any corrections, updates, or releases in connection therewith.

16. Governing Law

These Legal Terms and your use of the Services are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Ohio, applicable to agreements made and to be entirely performed within the State of Ohio, without regard to its conflict of law principles.

17. Dispute Resolution

Informal negotiations

To expedite resolution and control the cost of any dispute, controversy, or claim related to these Legal Terms (each a "Dispute" and collectively, the "Disputes") brought by either you or us (individually, a "Party" and collectively, the "Parties"), the Parties agree to first attempt to negotiate any Dispute (except those Disputes expressly provided below) informally for at least thirty (30) days before initiating arbitration. Such informal negotiations commence upon written notice from one Party to the other Party.

Binding arbitration

If the Parties are unable to resolve a Dispute through informal negotiations, the Dispute (except those Disputes expressly excluded below) will be finally and exclusively resolved by binding arbitration. YOU UNDERSTAND THAT WITHOUT THIS PROVISION, YOU WOULD HAVE THE RIGHT TO SUE IN COURT AND HAVE A JURY TRIAL. The arbitration shall be commenced and conducted under the Commercial Arbitration Rules of the American Arbitration Association ("AAA") and, where appropriate, the AAA's Supplementary Procedures for Consumer Related Disputes ("AAA Consumer Rules"), both of which are available at the American Arbitration Association (AAA) website. Your arbitration fees and your share of arbitrator compensation shall be governed by the AAA Consumer Rules. The arbitration may be conducted in person, through the submission of documents, by phone, or online. The arbitrator will make a decision in writing, but need not provide a statement of reasons unless requested by either Party. The arbitrator must follow applicable law, and any award may be challenged if the arbitrator fails to do so. Except where otherwise required by the applicable AAA rules or applicable law, the arbitration will take place in Fairfield, Ohio. Except as otherwise provided herein, the Parties may litigate in court to compel arbitration, stay proceedings pending arbitration, or to confirm, modify, vacate, or enter judgment on the award entered by the arbitrator.

If for any reason a Dispute proceeds in court rather than arbitration, the Dispute shall be commenced or prosecuted in the state and federal courts located in Fairfield, Ohio, and the Parties hereby consent to, and waive all defenses of lack of personal jurisdiction, and forum non conveniens with respect to venue and jurisdiction in such state and federal courts. Application of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods and the Uniform Computer Information Transaction Act (UCITA) are excluded from these Legal Terms.

In no event shall any Dispute brought by either Party related in any way to the Services be commenced more than one (1) year after the cause of action arose. If this provision is found to be illegal or unenforceable, then neither Party will elect to arbitrate any Dispute falling within that portion of this provision found to be illegal or unenforceable, and such Dispute shall be decided by a court of competent jurisdiction within the courts listed for jurisdiction above, and the Parties agree to submit to the personal jurisdiction of that court.

Restrictions

The Parties agree that any arbitration shall be limited to the Dispute between the Parties individually. To the full extent permitted by law, (a) no arbitration shall be joined with any other proceeding; (b) there is no right or authority for any Dispute to be arbitrated on a class-action basis or to utilize class action procedures; and (c) there is no right or authority for any Dispute to be brought in a purported representative capacity on behalf of the general public or any other persons.

Exceptions to informal negotiations and arbitration

The Parties agree that the following Disputes are not subject to the above provisions concerning informal negotiations and binding arbitration: (a) any Disputes seeking to enforce or protect, or concerning the validity of, any of the intellectual property rights of a Party; (b) any Dispute related to, or arising from, allegations of theft, piracy, invasion of privacy, or unauthorized use; and (c) any claim for injunctive relief.

18. Corrections

There may be information on the Services that contains typographical errors, inaccuracies, or omissions, including descriptions, pricing, availability, and various other information. We reserve the right to correct any errors, inaccuracies, or omissions and to change or update the information on the Services at any time, without prior notice.

19. Disclaimer

THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED ON AN AS-IS AND AS-AVAILABLE BASIS. YOU AGREE THAT YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES WILL BE AT YOUR SOLE RISK. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, WE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN CONNECTION WITH THE SERVICES AND YOUR USE THEREOF, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. WE MAKE NO WARRANTIES OR REPRESENTATIONS ABOUT THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE SERVICES' CONTENT OR THE CONTENT OF ANY WEBSITES LINKED TO THE SERVICES AND WE WILL ASSUME NO LIABILITY OR RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY (1) ERRORS, MISTAKES, OR INACCURACIES OF CONTENT AND MATERIALS, INCLUDING CITATION SUGGESTIONS GENERATED BY AI, (2) PERSONAL INJURY OR PROPERTY DAMAGE RESULTING FROM YOUR ACCESS TO AND USE OF THE SERVICES, (3) ANY UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO OR USE OF OUR SECURE SERVERS AND/OR ANY AND ALL PERSONAL INFORMATION STORED THEREIN, (4) ANY INTERRUPTION OR CESSATION OF TRANSMISSION TO OR FROM THE SERVICES, (5) ANY BUGS, VIRUSES, TROJAN HORSES, OR THE LIKE WHICH MAY BE TRANSMITTED TO OR THROUGH THE SERVICES BY ANY THIRD PARTY, AND/OR (6) ANY ERRORS OR OMISSIONS IN ANY CONTENT AND MATERIALS OR FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE OF ANY KIND INCURRED AS A RESULT OF THE USE OF ANY CONTENT POSTED, TRANSMITTED, OR OTHERWISE MADE AVAILABLE VIA THE SERVICES. AS WITH THE PURCHASE OF A PRODUCT OR SERVICE THROUGH ANY MEDIUM OR IN ANY ENVIRONMENT, YOU SHOULD USE YOUR BEST JUDGMENT AND EXERCISE CAUTION WHERE APPROPRIATE.

20. Limitations of Liability

IN NO EVENT WILL WE OR OUR DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, OR AGENTS BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY THIRD PARTY FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING LOST PROFIT, LOST REVENUE, LOSS OF DATA, OR OTHER DAMAGES ARISING FROM YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES, EVEN IF WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. NOTWITHSTANDING ANYTHING TO THE CONTRARY CONTAINED HEREIN, OUR LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ANY CAUSE WHATSOEVER AND REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF THE ACTION, WILL AT ALL TIMES BE LIMITED TO THE AMOUNT PAID, IF ANY, BY YOU TO US DURING THE THREE (3) MONTH PERIOD PRIOR TO ANY CAUSE OF ACTION ARISING. CERTAIN US STATE LAWS AND INTERNATIONAL LAWS DO NOT ALLOW LIMITATIONS ON IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF CERTAIN DAMAGES. IF THESE LAWS APPLY TO YOU, SOME OR ALL OF THE ABOVE DISCLAIMERS OR LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU, AND YOU MAY HAVE ADDITIONAL RIGHTS.

21. Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold us harmless, including our subsidiaries, affiliates, and all of our respective officers, agents, partners, and employees, from and against any loss, damage, liability, claim, or demand, including reasonable attorneys' fees and expenses, made by any third party due to or arising out of: (1) your User Content; (2) use of the Services; (3) breach of these Legal Terms; (4) any breach of your representations and warranties set forth in these Legal Terms; (5) your violation of the rights of a third party, including but not limited to intellectual property rights; or (6) any overt harmful act toward any other user of the Services with whom you connected via the Services. Notwithstanding the foregoing, we reserve the right, at your expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter for which you are required to indemnify us, and you agree to cooperate, at your expense, with our defense of such claims. We will use reasonable efforts to notify you of any such claim, action, or proceeding which is subject to this indemnification upon becoming aware of it.

22. User Data

We will maintain certain data that you transmit to the Services for the purpose of managing the performance of the Services, as well as data relating to your use of the Services. Although we perform regular routine backups of data, you are solely responsible for all data that you transmit or that relates to any activity you have undertaken using the Services. You agree that we shall have no liability to you for any loss or corruption of any such data, and you hereby waive any right of action against us arising from any such loss or corruption of such data.

23. Electronic Communications, Transactions, and Signatures

Visiting the Services, sending us emails, and completing online forms constitute electronic communications. You consent to receive electronic communications, and you agree that all agreements, notices, disclosures, and other communications we provide to you electronically, via email and on the Services, satisfy any legal requirement that such communication be in writing. YOU HEREBY AGREE TO THE USE OF ELECTRONIC SIGNATURES, CONTRACTS, ORDERS, AND OTHER RECORDS, AND TO ELECTRONIC DELIVERY OF NOTICES, POLICIES, AND RECORDS OF TRANSACTIONS INITIATED OR COMPLETED BY US OR VIA THE SERVICES. You hereby waive any rights or requirements under any statutes, regulations, rules, ordinances, or other laws in any jurisdiction which require an original signature or delivery or retention of non-electronic records, or to payments or the granting of credits by any means other than electronic means.

24. California Users and Residents

If any complaint with us is not satisfactorily resolved, you can contact the Complaint Assistance Unit of the Division of Consumer Services of the California Department of Consumer Affairs in writing at 1625 North Market Blvd., Suite N 112, Sacramento, California 95834 or by telephone at (800) 952-5210 or (916) 445-1254.

25. Miscellaneous

These Legal Terms and any policies or operating rules posted by us on the Services or in respect to the Services constitute the entire agreement and understanding between you and us. Our failure to exercise or enforce any right or provision of these Legal Terms shall not operate as a waiver of such right or provision. These Legal Terms operate to the fullest extent permissible by law. We may assign any or all of our rights and obligations to others at any time. We shall not be responsible or liable for any loss, damage, delay, or failure to act caused by any cause beyond our reasonable control. If any provision or part of a provision of these Legal Terms is determined to be unlawful, void, or unenforceable, that provision or part of the provision is deemed severable from these Legal Terms and does not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions. There is no joint venture, partnership, employment, or agency relationship created between you and us as a result of these Legal Terms or use of the Services. You agree that these Legal Terms will not be construed against us by virtue of having drafted them. You hereby waive any and all defenses you may have based on the electronic form of these Legal Terms and the lack of signing by the parties hereto to execute these Legal Terms.

26. AI-Generated Citation Suggestions

ZeroCite uses third-party AI providers (currently Anthropic and Google) to identify candidate citations for the text you submit. Citation suggestions are generated by AI systems and are provided as recommendations only. You acknowledge and agree that:

27. Academic Integrity and Institutional Policies

ZeroCite is a research and citation tool. Many academic institutions, publishers, and employers have specific policies regarding the use of AI-assisted tools and the proper attribution of sources. You are solely responsible for understanding and complying with all such policies that apply to you, including but not limited to your institution's academic integrity policies, your publisher's submission guidelines, and any rules governing the disclosure of AI assistance. ZeroCite makes no representation that the use of our Services complies with any particular institution's policies, and ZeroCite is not responsible for any academic, professional, or other consequences arising from your use of the Services.

28. Submitted Content and AI Processing

By submitting text, references, or other content to ZeroCite, you acknowledge and consent to that content being transmitted to and processed by our AI providers (currently Anthropic and Google) for the purpose of identifying candidate citations. You should not submit confidential, classified, embargoed, or unpublished work that you do not want shared with these providers. Each AI provider has its own data handling policies — Anthropic does not use API submissions to train its models; Google AI Studio's free tier may use submissions to improve their services. You are responsible for understanding each provider's policies before submitting sensitive content. We may, at our discretion, add, change, or remove AI providers, and will update this notice to reflect the providers we currently use.

29. Contact Us

In order to resolve a complaint regarding the Services or to receive further information regarding use of the Services, please contact us at:

Lucas Flinders
2293 Neil Ave
Columbus, OH 43201
United States
support@zerocite.com