Last updated: 2026-07-05. This document describes RefScout as it currently operates during its friendly pilot phase and will be updated as features change.
Introduction
RefScout ("the Service") is operated by Insectivora Oy (Business ID 3482079-5, Tampere, Finland) ("we", "our"). By creating an account or using RefScout, you agree to these Terms of Service. If you do not agree, please do not use the Service.
RefScout is an academic source-discovery tool. It helps researchers find and cite real academic papers and check their references. We do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any particular purpose of the information it provides.
What the Service does
During the pilot, RefScout offers these tools:
- Scout — search for real academic sources.
- Cite — detect citation-worthy claims in text you paste and suggest real sources for them.
- BibCheck — check a BibTeX bibliography for problems.
- PreSubmit — check a manuscript against venue-readiness criteria.
- A personal Library to save and export papers.
Other tools may appear as they are developed. Features can be added, changed, or removed during the pilot.
Accounts
You can sign in with an email address and password, or with Google, GitHub, or ORCID. You must provide accurate information and keep your sign-in secure.
One account per person. Creating multiple accounts to get around fair-use limits is not allowed and may lead to suspension.
No account sharing. Your credentials are personal; you are responsible for activity under your account.
Acceptable use
You agree not to:
- Use the Service for any unlawful purpose or to infringe others' rights;
- Abuse or attempt to circumvent fair-use rate limits, or overload the Service or the third-party APIs it relies on (e.g. Anthropic, Semantic Scholar, OpenAlex, CrossRef, DBLP, Europe PMC, Unpaywall, arXiv);
- Use bots, scrapers, or other automated access without our written permission;
- Attempt to gain unauthorized access to, reverse-engineer, or disrupt the Service or its infrastructure.
We may suspend or terminate access for violations, at our discretion.
Your content and ownership
You retain all rights to the text and files you submit and to the papers you save. We process your content only to provide the Service (see the Privacy Policy), and we do not use it to train AI models. We claim no ownership over your content.
No guarantee of correctness
RefScout's checks and suggestions are writing aids, not guarantees. It draws on third-party databases and automated analysis, which can be incomplete or wrong. In particular, a suggested source may be a real paper that does not actually support your specific claim, and a "valid DOI" indicator only means the source resolves — not that it supports your point.
RefScout does not guarantee academic correctness or that a manuscript will be accepted by any venue. You remain responsible for independently verifying every citation, check, and suggestion before relying on it in your work.
Pricing
RefScout is currently free during the pilot phase. Pricing will be announced before any charges begin, and no payment method is required to use the Service today.
Termination and account deletion
You may stop using RefScout at any time. To delete your account and associated data, email roman.v.glazkov@gmail.com (interim contact until privacy@refscout.app goes live) from your account email; deletion requests are handled manually and completed within 30 days. We may suspend or terminate accounts that violate these Terms.
Disclaimers and limitation of liability
No warranties. The Service is provided "as is" and "as available", without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement.
Limitation of liability. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, Insectivora Oy shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, or consequential damages arising from your use of, or inability to use, the Service. Nothing in these Terms limits liability that cannot be limited under applicable law.
(Note: this limitation-of-liability language is standard boilerplate and should be reviewed by a qualified lawyer before any public, non-pilot launch.)
Governing law
These Terms are governed by the laws of Finland, and any disputes are subject to the jurisdiction of the Finnish courts, without prejudice to any mandatory consumer-protection rights you may have where you live.
Contact
- Contact: roman.v.glazkov@gmail.com
(Interim contact address. It will change to support@refscout.app / privacy@refscout.app once the refscout.app domain cutover completes.)
We may update these Terms as the Service changes. Continued use after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.