Publication Facilitation Service – Terms & Conditions

Vedant Knowledge Systems Private Limited
Website: https://myvedant.com
Last Updated: 1 May 2026

These Terms & Conditions govern the Publication Facilitation Service provided by Vedant Knowledge Systems Private Limited, hereinafter referred to as “Vedant”, “Team Vedant”, “we”, “us” or “our”.

The individual engaging the service, submitting a manuscript, making payment or communicating instructions to Vedant shall hereinafter be referred to as the “Author”. Where a manuscript has multiple authors, the person engaging Vedant represents that they have the necessary authority to communicate regarding the manuscript and service.

For the purpose of these Terms, the expression “Indexing Database” or “Indexing Service” shall collectively mean any scholarly indexing, abstracting, citation, bibliographic, discovery or research database/service relevant to academic publications. This may include, without limitation, Scopus, Web of Science Core Collection, PubMed, MEDLINE, and any other present or future scholarly indexing or abstracting service supported under Vedant’s Publication Facilitation Service.

The use of the term “indexed publication” throughout these Terms should therefore be understood broadly and does not refer exclusively to any one particular database.

By submitting an enquiry or manuscript, accepting a quotation or service proposal, making any payment, selecting an acceptance checkbox, or instructing Vedant to commence work, the Author confirms that they have read, understood and accepted these Terms & Conditions.

These Terms should be read together with Vedant’s Privacy Policy and any applicable quotation, invoice, proposal, email confirmation, payment milestone or service-specific written communication.

1. Nature of the Service

Vedant provides professional academic publication facilitation and manuscript-support services for authors seeking publication in scholarly journals covered, listed, indexed, abstracted or discoverable through recognised scholarly Indexing Databases or Indexing Services.

Depending upon the service agreed with the Author, the Publication Facilitation Service may include:

  • preliminary manuscript assessment;

  • language and editorial improvements;

  • manuscript structuring;

  • formatting;

  • reference and citation review;

  • similarity or plagiarism review where applicable;

  • journal research and identification;

  • journal recommendations;

  • alignment with journal aims and scope;

  • preparation according to journal author guidelines;

  • submission assistance;

  • manuscript submission where authorised;

  • journal communication support;

  • reviewer and editorial correction support;

  • revision and resubmission assistance;

  • publication-process follow-up; and

  • other publication-related professional services specifically agreed with the Author.

The exact scope of service applicable to an Author shall be determined by the quotation, proposal, invoice, service page, email or other written communication issued by Vedant.

2. Publication Facilitation – Not Sale of Publication

Vedant provides a professional Publication Facilitation Service.

Vedant does not sell or control:

  • journal acceptance;

  • peer-review decisions;

  • editorial decisions;

  • publication approvals;

  • indexing or database inclusion;

  • citation-database coverage;

  • journal quartiles;

  • journal rankings;

  • impact metrics; or

  • any other decision controlled by a journal, publisher, database provider or independent indexing organisation.

Vedant does not claim to have any special or improper influence over journal editors, reviewers, publishers, database providers or Indexing Services.

Vedant does not use improper influence or undisclosed arrangements for obtaining acceptance, publication or indexing.

The final decision regarding editorial screening, peer review, revision, acceptance, rejection, publication, database coverage and indexing remains entirely with the respective journal, editor, publisher, database provider and/or Indexing Service.

3. No Guarantee of Acceptance, Publication or Indexing

Academic publishing is based upon independent editorial assessment, peer review and third-party database policies.

Vedant therefore does not guarantee:

  • manuscript acceptance;

  • publication;

  • acceptance within a fixed period;

  • publication within a fixed period;

  • indexing within a fixed period;

  • acceptance by a particular reviewer or editor;

  • a particular reviewer recommendation;

  • a particular number of revision rounds;

  • publication in a particular issue;

  • permanent indexing;

  • continued database coverage;

  • continued inclusion in any Indexing Service;

  • a particular quartile at a future date;

  • a particular journal ranking at a future date;

  • a particular metric at a future date; or

  • any academic, employment, institutional, promotion or professional benefit resulting from publication.

Vedant’s responsibility is to professionally facilitate, support and improve the manuscript and publication process within the agreed scope of service.

4. Publication Timelines Are Tentative

All timelines communicated by Vedant are average, estimated and tentative timelines.

A timeline provided by Vedant shall not be treated as a guaranteed publication, acceptance, review or indexing date.

Actual timelines may vary depending upon:

  • manuscript quality;

  • subject area;

  • research methodology;

  • journal scope;

  • editorial workload;

  • reviewer availability;

  • peer-review duration;

  • revision requirements;

  • number of review rounds;

  • Author response time;

  • publisher processing;

  • journal backlog;

  • database processing;

  • indexing processing;

  • technical issues;

  • holidays;

  • journal policy changes;

  • Indexing Service policy changes; and

  • other circumstances outside Vedant’s control.

Where there is any difference between an estimated timeline provided by Vedant and the actual status communicated by a journal, publisher or Indexing Service, the actual journal, publisher or database status shall be considered authoritative and shall prevail over the estimated timeline provided by Vedant.

A delay by a journal, editor, reviewer, publisher, database provider or Indexing Service shall not by itself constitute delay, negligence or deficiency in service by Vedant.

5. Journal and Database Status Takes Priority

During an active publication process, the actual status displayed or communicated by the journal, publisher, submission system or relevant Indexing Service shall be considered the authoritative status of the manuscript or publication.

Statuses may include, for example:

  • submitted;

  • with editor;

  • editorial assessment;

  • under review;

  • reviews completed;

  • revision required;

  • major revision;

  • minor revision;

  • decision pending;

  • accepted;

  • rejected;

  • production;

  • published;

  • awaiting database processing;

  • covered;

  • listed; or

  • indexed.

Vedant may explain or interpret such statuses to the Author, but Vedant does not control how quickly a journal, publisher or Indexing Service moves from one status to another.

6. Journal Identification and Recommendation

Vedant may recommend one or more journals after considering factors such as:

  • manuscript subject;

  • manuscript quality;

  • research methodology;

  • journal aims and scope;

  • preferred Indexing Service;

  • publication model;

  • journal requirements; and

  • information reasonably available at the time.

A journal recommendation does not constitute a guarantee of acceptance, publication or indexing.

Vedant may recommend changing the intended journal if:

  • the manuscript is rejected;

  • journal requirements change;

  • the journal is no longer suitable;

  • database coverage changes;

  • the journal’s indexing status changes;

  • journal processing becomes unreasonable;

  • the manuscript falls outside the journal’s scope; or

  • Vedant considers another journal more appropriate.

The Author agrees to reasonably consider alternative journal recommendations where required for continuing the publication process.

7. Indexing Databases, Coverage, Quartiles and Rankings

Journal indexing, database coverage and ranking are controlled by independent third-party organisations.

Vedant does not control any Indexing Service, database provider, journal publisher or ranking organisation, including services such as Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, MEDLINE or any other current or future scholarly database.

Depending upon the applicable database, a journal or article’s:

  • indexing status;

  • listing status;

  • coverage;

  • coverage period;

  • database inclusion;

  • category;

  • quartile;

  • citation metrics;

  • impact metrics;

  • ranking;

  • publisher;

  • title;

  • publication model;

  • publication frequency; or

  • discoverability

may change from time to time.

Any indexing, database, coverage, quartile or ranking information communicated by Vedant relates to information reasonably available and verified at or around the relevant time.

Vedant cannot guarantee that a journal or article will maintain the same:

  • indexing status;

  • database coverage;

  • quartile;

  • category;

  • ranking;

  • metric; or

  • listing status

until acceptance, publication, indexing or any future date.

Different Indexing Services also follow different policies and terminology. Inclusion, coverage or discoverability in one database does not automatically mean that the same journal or article will be included in another database.

8. Target Indexing Requirement

The Author may communicate a preferred Indexing Service or publication requirement when engaging Vedant.

Vedant may assess whether the manuscript appears suitable for journals associated with the requested Indexing Service.

Vedant may recommend a different indexing category, journal or publication strategy if, based upon professional assessment, the manuscript is not reasonably suitable for the Author’s originally requested target.

The Author remains responsible for confirming whether a particular Indexing Service, journal or publication satisfies the requirements of their university, employer, regulatory body or institution.

9. Author’s Responsibility for Research

The Author and all co-authors remain responsible for the scholarly content of the manuscript.

This includes responsibility for:

  • originality;

  • authenticity of research;

  • accuracy of data;

  • methodology;

  • research findings;

  • calculations;

  • statistics;

  • conclusions;

  • tables;

  • figures;

  • photographs;

  • research instruments;

  • citations;

  • references;

  • copyright permissions;

  • ethical approvals;

  • institutional permissions;

  • informed consent;

  • clinical registrations;

  • human or animal research approvals;

  • conflicts of interest;

  • funding disclosures;

  • authorship;

  • affiliations; and

  • compliance with applicable institutional and legal requirements.

Vedant may review, edit, format, recommend or assist with these matters, but the ultimate responsibility for the research and its accuracy remains with the Author and co-authors.

10. Information Supplied by the Author

By engaging Vedant, the Author confirms that:

  • information supplied to Vedant is accurate to the best of their knowledge;

  • the Author is entitled to submit the manuscript;

  • all co-authors have been appropriately informed where required;

  • authorship has been properly assigned;

  • research data has not been knowingly fabricated or falsified;

  • necessary ethical and institutional approvals have been obtained where applicable;

  • necessary permissions have been obtained;

  • the manuscript does not knowingly infringe third-party intellectual-property rights;

  • relevant conflicts of interest have been disclosed; and

  • Vedant has been informed of any prior submission, concurrent submission, prior publication, preprint or related manuscript where relevant.

The Author must immediately inform Vedant if any information previously supplied becomes inaccurate or incomplete.

11. Duplicate and Concurrent Submission

The Author must inform Vedant if the manuscript:

  • is currently submitted to another journal;

  • is already under peer review;

  • has previously been accepted;

  • has already been published;

  • substantially overlaps another submitted or published work; or

  • has previously been withdrawn from another journal.

Unless permitted under the applicable journal’s policy, Vedant will not knowingly facilitate simultaneous submission of the same manuscript to multiple journals.

Any consequences arising from undisclosed duplicate or concurrent submission shall remain the responsibility of the Author.

12. Ethical Editorial Assistance

Vedant may legitimately assist with:

  • language improvement;

  • grammatical correction;

  • readability;

  • formatting;

  • manuscript organisation;

  • structural recommendations;

  • reference correction;

  • journal formatting;

  • clarification;

  • response-to-reviewer preparation; and

  • other appropriate editorial improvements.

Vedant will not knowingly fabricate:

  • research data;

  • experiments;

  • survey responses;

  • participant information;

  • results;

  • ethical approvals;

  • institutional approvals;

  • citations;

  • authors;

  • affiliations; or

  • evidence that does not exist.

Where a correction or reviewer comment requires information that only the Author can legitimately provide, Vedant will communicate the requirement to the Author.

The Author shall be responsible for supplying such information.

13. Publication Ethics

Vedant seeks to provide its Publication Facilitation Service consistently with recognised scholarly publishing standards, applicable journal and publisher policies, and relevant publication-ethics principles, including relevant principles published by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Reference to COPE does not mean that Vedant is endorsed, certified, authorised by or affiliated with COPE.

Vedant may refuse, pause or terminate any activity which it reasonably believes would involve:

  • fabrication;

  • falsification;

  • plagiarism;

  • inappropriate authorship;

  • deceptive publication practices;

  • misrepresentation;

  • research misconduct; or

  • violation of applicable law or journal policy.

14. Changes That Must Be Made by the Author

Certain matters cannot appropriately be created or modified by Vedant on behalf of the Author.

These may include:

  • scientific justification;

  • original research data;

  • participant information;

  • experimental information;

  • ethical approval information;

  • declarations;

  • institutional permissions;

  • funding information;

  • conflicts of interest;

  • authorship confirmations; and

  • factual information known only to the researchers.

In such situations, Vedant may insert comments, provide instructions, request clarification or identify the required change.

The Author shall complete the requested information within the communicated period.

15. Reviewer and Editorial Comments

Journals may request corrections or clarification at any stage.

Depending upon the agreed service scope, Vedant may assist with responding to reviewer and editor comments.

Some comments may require direct input from the Author.

The Author must respond to such requirements within the deadline communicated by Vedant or the journal.

Vedant shall not be responsible for rejection, delay or closure of a submission resulting from the Author’s failure to provide required information within the applicable deadline.

16. Author Cooperation

The Author agrees to reasonably cooperate with Vedant throughout the publication process.

This includes timely provision of:

  • information;

  • manuscript versions;

  • approvals;

  • responses;

  • declarations;

  • corrections;

  • supporting documents;

  • reviewer responses;

  • payments; and

  • confirmations.

Where Vedant is waiting for Author action, the estimated publication timeline shall automatically extend by the period of delay and any additional time reasonably required to restart the work.

17. Prolonged Author Inactivity

If the Author remains inactive for a prolonged period, the manuscript or intended journal may require reassessment.

Where inactivity results in:

  • journal-policy changes;

  • database-coverage changes;

  • indexing changes;

  • manuscript reformatting;

  • repeated editorial work;

  • restarting a submission;

  • journal reselection; or

  • substantial additional work,

additional charges may apply.

Any significant additional professional charge shall ordinarily be communicated before the additional work is performed.

18. Authorisation to Provide the Service

By engaging Vedant, the Author authorises Vedant to undertake the activities reasonably necessary for providing the agreed Publication Facilitation Service.

Depending upon the agreed scope, this may include:

  • accessing the manuscript;

  • editing files;

  • preparing journal-ready versions;

  • communicating with the Author;

  • preparing submission documents;

  • identifying journals;

  • communicating with journals;

  • uploading documents;

  • assisting with submission;

  • responding to administrative journal requirements;

  • facilitating revisions; and

  • following up on the manuscript.

Where scientific, factual, ethical or material research information requires Author confirmation, Vedant may request confirmation before proceeding.

19. Fees

Fees paid to Vedant are professional charges for the Publication Facilitation Service.

They are not payments to purchase acceptance, publication or indexing.

Applicable fees, taxes and payment milestones shall be those communicated through the:

  • website;

  • quotation;

  • proposal;

  • invoice;

  • email;

  • WhatsApp communication; or

  • other written confirmation accepted by the Author.

Vedant may pause work where an agreed payment is overdue.

20. Payment Milestones

Where the service is offered using payment milestones, each milestone becomes payable upon reaching the relevant stage communicated to the Author.

Payment milestones represent stages of professional work and service delivery and do not constitute payments to a journal, publisher or Indexing Service for acceptance, publication or database inclusion.

A journal’s independent decision to request revisions, reject a manuscript or take additional time does not automatically cancel a professional service fee already earned by Vedant.

21. Journal and Third-Party Charges

Unless specifically stated as included in Vedant’s quotation, Vedant’s professional service fee does not automatically include independent third-party costs such as:

  • Article Processing Charges (APCs);

  • open-access fees;

  • publication charges;

  • page charges;

  • colour charges;

  • reprint charges;

  • journal membership fees;

  • translation charges;

  • specialised statistical work;

  • research-related external services; or

  • other charges imposed independently by journals, publishers or third parties.

Any such charge shall remain the Author’s responsibility unless Vedant has expressly confirmed otherwise in writing.

22. Withdrawal by the Author

The Author may communicate a decision to discontinue or withdraw the service through:

  • email;

  • WhatsApp; or

  • telephone communication with Vedant.

Where a withdrawal instruction is provided by telephone, Vedant may record the instruction internally and/or confirm the instruction through email or WhatsApp for documentation purposes.

Where Vedant has already commenced professional work, fees received from the Author shall be non-refundable in the event of an Author-initiated withdrawal, to the extent permitted under applicable law.

This includes situations where Vedant has already committed time, personnel or professional resources towards:

  • manuscript assessment;

  • editing;

  • formatting;

  • journal research;

  • journal identification;

  • submission preparation;

  • submission;

  • revision;

  • communication;

  • follow-up; or

  • other agreed professional work.

23. Additional Charges Following Withdrawal

Where the Author withdraws after Vedant has:

  • completed additional authorised work;

  • incurred authorised third-party expenses;

  • completed work beyond amounts already invoiced; or

  • undertaken substantial additional services at the Author’s request,

Vedant may request payment for such work or documented expenses.

Vedant shall not impose arbitrary additional charges merely because the Author has requested withdrawal.

24. Withdrawal of a Submitted Manuscript

Where a manuscript has already been submitted to a journal, withdrawal may be governed by the journal’s own policies.

Some journals may:

  • require written reasons;

  • require approval from all authors;

  • take time to process a withdrawal;

  • impose administrative requirements; or

  • impose charges.

Vedant does not control these policies.

A manuscript should not ordinarily be submitted to another journal until withdrawal from the previous journal has been appropriately confirmed where required.

25. Journal Rejection

Rejection is an ordinary possibility within scholarly publishing.

A journal rejection does not automatically mean that Vedant has failed to provide the agreed Publication Facilitation Service.

Depending upon the applicable service package, Vedant may:

  • review the rejection;

  • assess reviewer or editorial comments;

  • suggest manuscript changes;

  • revise the journal strategy;

  • recommend another suitable journal; and/or

  • facilitate a further submission.

The appropriate course of action will depend upon the manuscript, rejection reason and agreed service scope.

26. Refund Where Specifically Offered

Where Vedant has expressly provided a written refund commitment as part of a specific Publication Facilitation Service package, that commitment shall apply according to the conditions communicated for that package.

Where Vedant itself concludes and communicates to the Author that the manuscript is not suitable for continuing under the agreed service and the applicable service offer provides for a refund in such circumstances, the applicable refund shall be processed according to that commitment.

A refund shall not ordinarily arise merely because:

  • the Author chooses to discontinue;

  • the Author withdraws the manuscript;

  • the Author changes their requirement;

  • the Author fails to cooperate;

  • the Author fails to respond;

  • the Author refuses reasonable corrections;

  • the Author rejects reasonable journal recommendations;

  • the Author provides inaccurate information;

  • an ethical or legal problem is discovered;

  • the Author insists upon a journal contrary to professional advice; or

  • the publication process is affected by circumstances attributable to the Author.

27. Changes in Service Requirement

A quotation or service fee is based upon the manuscript and requirement available at the time the service is accepted.

Additional charges may apply where the Author subsequently requests substantial changes including:

  • substantially changing the manuscript;

  • changing the manuscript type;

  • changing the intended Indexing Service;

  • changing the target publication requirement;

  • undertaking substantial additional research work;

  • restarting a completed process;

  • changing journals repeatedly at the Author’s request; or

  • requesting additional work beyond the agreed scope.

Additional charges for substantial out-of-scope work will ordinarily be communicated before such work is undertaken.

28. Completion of Vedant’s Role

Vedant’s role under the Publication Facilitation Service shall be considered completed when the agreed service outcome has been achieved.

Where the agreed service includes publication and subsequent indexing, coverage, listing or inclusion in a specified Indexing Service, Vedant’s role ordinarily concludes once the published article reaches the agreed database-related outcome, subject to the specific service agreement and the functioning of the applicable Indexing Service.

Where a particular service package requires publication only and does not expressly include database monitoring, Vedant’s role may conclude upon publication.

Vedant does not have a continuing obligation to indefinitely monitor an article, journal, publisher or Indexing Service after completion of the agreed service unless separately agreed in writing.

29. Events After Publication or Indexing

Journals, publishers and Indexing Services operate independently of Vedant.

After publication, indexing, coverage or listing, a journal, publisher or database provider may subsequently:

  • issue a correction;

  • request clarification;

  • publish an expression of concern;

  • retract an article;

  • discontinue a journal;

  • remove a journal from a database;

  • remove or modify database coverage;

  • change coverage dates;

  • change a journal’s quartile;

  • change a journal’s category;

  • change a journal’s ranking;

  • change database-selection policies; or

  • take another editorial or indexing action.

Vedant shall not be responsible for such subsequent independent actions where they arise for reasons outside Vedant’s reasonable control.

No refund shall become due merely because, after completion of Vedant’s agreed service:

  • a journal is discontinued;

  • database coverage changes;

  • an Indexing Service changes its policies;

  • a quartile changes;

  • a journal is removed from a database;

  • an article’s database status changes;

  • an article is subsequently corrected or retracted; or

  • an independent third party changes its evaluation of the journal or article.

This clause does not exclude liability that cannot legally be excluded.

30. Responsibility After Publication

Publication, listing, coverage or indexing does not transfer responsibility for the underlying research to Vedant.

The Author and co-authors remain responsible for:

  • their research;

  • published data;

  • conclusions;

  • ethical compliance;

  • authorship;

  • copyright;

  • permissions;

  • declarations;

  • institutional requirements; and

  • any claims arising from the scholarly content supplied by them.

Vedant shall not be responsible for academic, administrative, legal or institutional consequences arising from inaccurate, unlawful or unethical information supplied by the Author.

31. Institutional Requirements

Different universities, employers, accreditation agencies, government organisations, funding bodies, promotion committees and academic institutions may have different requirements regarding recognised publications and acceptable Indexing Services.

The Author is responsible for confirming whether a journal, publication or Indexing Service satisfies their specific:

  • PhD requirement;

  • promotion requirement;

  • employment requirement;

  • institutional requirement;

  • accreditation requirement;

  • academic requirement; or

  • regulatory requirement.

Vedant may provide information regarding a journal or Indexing Service but cannot guarantee how an independent institution will evaluate a particular publication.

32. Manuscript Ownership

The Author or applicable rights holder continues to own the Author’s original research and manuscript.

The Author grants Vedant limited permission to access, store, copy, edit, format, process and share the manuscript only to the extent reasonably required for providing the Publication Facilitation Service.

Where a manuscript is accepted by a journal, subsequent copyright, licence or open-access arrangements shall be governed by the agreement between the Author and the publisher.

The Author is responsible for reviewing and accepting applicable publisher terms.

33. Confidentiality

Vedant will take reasonable measures to protect unpublished manuscripts and confidential information supplied by Authors.

Access may be provided where reasonably necessary to:

  • authorised Team Vedant personnel;

  • professional editors;

  • subject experts;

  • technical service providers;

  • journals;

  • publishers; or

  • other persons reasonably required for providing the agreed service.

Confidentiality obligations do not prevent disclosure where:

  • authorised by the Author;

  • required for journal submission;

  • reasonably necessary for service delivery;

  • required by law;

  • required to investigate suspected fraud or misconduct; or

  • the information is already lawfully available in the public domain.

34. Similarity and Plagiarism Reports

Where Vedant provides a similarity or plagiarism report, the result generated by the applicable software shall be treated as an analytical indicator.

A similarity percentage does not by itself determine whether plagiarism has occurred.

Different databases, journals and software systems may generate different similarity percentages.

The Author remains responsible for ensuring appropriate originality, quotation, attribution and citation.

35. Personal Information and Website Tracking

When an Author visits Vedant’s website, submits an enquiry, completes a form or engages the Publication Facilitation Service, Vedant may collect information reasonably required for providing, administering, securing and improving the service.

This may include:

  • name;

  • email address;

  • telephone or WhatsApp number;

  • designation;

  • institution information;

  • manuscript title;

  • manuscript files;

  • preferred Indexing Service or publication requirement;

  • enquiry details;

  • payment information;

  • communication records;

  • submission records;

  • IP address;

  • browser information;

  • device information;

  • operating-system information;

  • landing-page information;

  • referring page or referring website;

  • UTM Source;

  • UTM Medium;

  • UTM Campaign;

  • UTM Content;

  • date and time information; and

  • approximate country, state or city information derived from an IP address where technically available.

IP-derived location information is intended to identify approximate geographic information and is not intended to determine the Author’s precise physical address.

Such information may be used for:

  • responding to enquiries;

  • providing the requested service;

  • maintaining service records;

  • understanding enquiry sources;

  • measuring marketing campaigns;

  • preventing misuse;

  • detecting fraud;

  • website security;

  • analytics;

  • improving services; and

  • complying with legal, accounting and administrative requirements.

Personal information shall be handled in accordance with Vedant’s applicable Privacy Policy.

36. Communication Through Email, Telephone and WhatsApp

By submitting an enquiry or engaging Vedant, the Author authorises Vedant to communicate regarding the enquiry or active service through contact details provided by the Author.

Communications may include:

  • manuscript requirements;

  • evaluation;

  • journal recommendations;

  • quotations;

  • payment reminders;

  • correction requests;

  • reviewer comments;

  • journal status;

  • database or indexing status;

  • publication updates;

  • service information; and

  • other communications reasonably connected with the requested service.

Service-related communication may continue for the duration of an active service even where the Author chooses not to receive unrelated promotional communication.

37. Service Providers and Third-Party Systems

Vedant may use third-party systems reasonably required for providing and administering the service, including:

  • website hosting providers;

  • Google Workspace;

  • cloud-storage providers;

  • email providers;

  • WhatsApp or communication providers;

  • payment providers;

  • analytics systems;

  • manuscript-checking tools;

  • journal submission portals;

  • publishers;

  • Indexing Services;

  • scholarly databases; and

  • other business technology providers.

Vedant is not responsible for outages, technical failures, security incidents, processing delays or policy changes occurring entirely within an independent third-party system and outside Vedant’s reasonable control.

38. Record Retention

Vedant may retain relevant records concerning an enquiry or service where reasonably required for:

  • ongoing service delivery;

  • publication follow-up;

  • indexing or database follow-up where included;

  • payment and accounting;

  • tax compliance;

  • communication history;

  • dispute resolution;

  • legal requirements;

  • fraud prevention;

  • internal documentation; and

  • protection of legitimate business interests.

Records may include manuscripts, manuscript versions, communications, payment records, journal details, reviewer comments, submission information, indexing information and related documentation.

Retention and deletion of personal information shall also be subject to Vedant’s Privacy Policy and applicable law.

39. Data Security

Vedant will take reasonable organisational and technical measures intended to protect information and unpublished manuscripts against unauthorised access, misuse or disclosure.

However, no electronic storage, email, internet communication or third-party system can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

Authors should not provide passwords, unnecessary banking credentials or unrelated sensitive information to Vedant.

40. Suspension or Termination by Vedant

Vedant may suspend or terminate the Publication Facilitation Service where:

  • agreed payments remain unpaid;

  • the Author repeatedly fails to respond;

  • materially false information is supplied;

  • misconduct is suspected;

  • the requested work is unethical;

  • the requested work may violate journal policies;

  • abusive or unlawful conduct occurs;

  • continuing the service may expose Vedant to legal or ethical risk; or

  • circumstances make continued performance unreasonable or impossible.

Where termination arises from the Author’s breach, misconduct or failure to cooperate, fees attributable to work already performed shall not ordinarily be refundable.

Where Vedant terminates a service for reasons unrelated to an Author breach and cannot provide the remaining agreed service, any applicable adjustment or refund relating to the unperformed portion shall be handled reasonably and in accordance with applicable law.

41. Refusal of Unethical Instructions

Vedant reserves the right to refuse any instruction that may involve:

  • fabrication;

  • falsification;

  • fake data;

  • fake ethical approvals;

  • fake citations;

  • manipulated authorship;

  • impersonation;

  • misleading declarations;

  • deliberate plagiarism;

  • deceptive journal communication; or

  • other unethical or unlawful activity.

Refusal to perform an unethical activity shall not constitute deficiency in service.

42. Author Responsibility for Claims

The Author remains responsible for claims, complaints or proceedings resulting from material supplied by the Author, including matters involving:

  • inaccurate information;

  • fabricated data;

  • copyright infringement;

  • privacy violations;

  • absence of required approval;

  • inappropriate authorship;

  • research misconduct;

  • undisclosed conflicts of interest; or

  • unlawful research practices.

Vedant does not assume ownership or responsibility for the Author’s underlying research merely because Vedant has provided editorial or publication-support services.

43. Limitation of Liability

Vedant shall exercise reasonable professional care while providing the Publication Facilitation Service.

However, Vedant cannot control decisions made independently by:

  • journals;

  • editors;

  • reviewers;

  • publishers;

  • Indexing Services;

  • database providers;

  • universities;

  • employers;

  • government bodies;

  • accreditation agencies; or

  • other third parties.

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Vedant shall not be liable for indirect, consequential, speculative or incidental losses arising from such independent decisions.

Where legally permissible, any direct liability attributable specifically to Vedant’s Publication Facilitation Service shall be limited to the amount paid to Vedant for the affected service.

Nothing in these Terms excludes or restricts any liability or statutory right that cannot lawfully be excluded or restricted.

44. Force Majeure and Events Outside Vedant’s Control

Vedant shall not be responsible for delay or inability to perform caused by circumstances reasonably outside its control, including:

  • journal delays;

  • reviewer delays;

  • publisher delays;

  • changes in journal policy;

  • changes in database policy;

  • changes in indexing policy;

  • technical failures;

  • cyber incidents;

  • platform outages;

  • natural disasters;

  • public emergencies;

  • government restrictions;

  • war;

  • civil disturbance;

  • labour disruptions;

  • widespread internet failure; or

  • similar circumstances outside Vedant’s reasonable control.

Estimated timelines shall be appropriately extended where such circumstances occur.

45. Communications and Records

Email, WhatsApp, electronic forms, invoices, quotations and other electronic communications may be maintained by Vedant as business and service records.

The Author is responsible for providing accurate contact details and notifying Vedant of any change.

Where important instructions are communicated verbally, Vedant may document or confirm those instructions electronically for record purposes.

46. Introduction of New Indexing Services

Vedant may expand its Publication Facilitation Service from time to time to support additional scholarly Indexing Services, databases, publication categories or research-discovery platforms.

Unless separate terms are expressly issued for such a service, these Terms & Conditions shall apply to any such additional or future Indexing Service offered under Vedant’s Publication Facilitation Service.

The availability of support for a particular Indexing Service does not constitute a guarantee that every manuscript will be suitable for journals covered by that service.

The specific indexing or publication target applicable to an Author shall be the one communicated and agreed for that particular service engagement.

47. Amendments to Terms

Vedant may update these Terms & Conditions from time to time to reflect:

  • changes in services;

  • operational requirements;

  • publication practices;

  • availability of additional Indexing Services;

  • legal requirements;

  • technology; or

  • business processes.

For an ongoing paid service, the terms accepted when that service was initiated will ordinarily continue to govern that service unless:

  • a change is required by law;

  • the change is beneficial to the Author; or

  • the Author and Vedant mutually agree to apply revised terms.

48. Governing Law, Dispute Resolution and Jurisdiction

These Terms & Conditions and the Publication Facilitation Service shall be governed by and interpreted in accordance with the laws of India.

If any dispute, disagreement, claim or concern arises in connection with the Publication Facilitation Service, the Author and Vedant shall first make reasonable efforts to resolve the matter amicably through written communication.

If the dispute cannot be resolved amicably, then, subject to any mandatory rights or jurisdiction provided under applicable law, the courts and competent legal authorities situated at Rajkot, Gujarat, India shall have exclusive jurisdiction over disputes arising from or relating to these Terms, the Publication Facilitation Service, payments, manuscripts, communications or related transactions between the Author and Vedant.

Nothing in this clause is intended to restrict any statutory consumer right or remedy that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited under applicable Indian law.

49. Severability

If any provision of these Terms is held to be invalid, unlawful or unenforceable, the remaining provisions shall continue to remain effective to the maximum extent permitted by law.

50. Service-Specific Terms

Where Vedant provides separate written conditions for a particular package, quotation, Indexing Service or Publication Facilitation Service, those specific conditions shall be read together with these Terms.

Where a specific written condition expressly differs from these general Terms, the specific condition applicable to that particular service shall prevail to the extent of the inconsistency.

51. Entire Understanding

These Terms, together with the applicable:

  • quotation;

  • proposal;

  • invoice;

  • payment schedule;

  • service confirmation;

  • written communication; and

  • Privacy Policy

constitute the understanding between Vedant and the Author regarding the Publication Facilitation Service.

No informal statement should be interpreted as overriding these Terms unless the change is expressly confirmed by Vedant in writing.

52. Acceptance of These Terms

By:

  • submitting a manuscript;

  • submitting a service form;

  • accepting a quotation;

  • making any payment;

  • selecting an online acceptance checkbox;

  • requesting Vedant to begin work; or

  • continuing with the Publication Facilitation Service,

the Author confirms acceptance of these Terms & Conditions.

The Author specifically acknowledges and understands that:

Vedant provides a professional Publication Facilitation Service and does not sell or guarantee journal acceptance, publication or indexing.

Publication and peer-review decisions are independently made by journals, editors, reviewers and publishers.

Indexing, database inclusion, coverage, listing, ranking and related decisions are independently controlled by the applicable Indexing Service or database provider.

All timelines communicated by Vedant are average, estimated and tentative, and the actual journal, publisher or database status shall prevail.

The Author and co-authors remain responsible for the research, data, ethical approvals, authorship, permissions and scholarly content.

Author-initiated withdrawal after commencement of professional work does not ordinarily create a right to refund.

The status, coverage, ranking, category, quartile or policies of any Indexing Service may change independently of Vedant.

Once the agreed publication and indexing-related service has been completed, subsequent journal delisting, database removal, indexing changes, ranking changes, quartile changes, correction, retraction or other independent action outside Vedant’s control does not ordinarily create a right to refund or compensation.

These Terms apply generally to publication support involving Scopus, Web of Science Core Collection, PubMed, MEDLINE and other present or future scholarly Indexing Services supported by Vedant, unless separate service-specific terms are expressly provided.

The Publication Facilitation Service is subject to the laws of India and, subject to mandatory applicable legal rights, jurisdiction at Rajkot, Gujarat, India.