ScholarGPS™ Privacy Policy

Meta Analytics LLC (“ScholarGPS™,” “we,” “us,” “our”) is the premier online source for analyzing scholarly activity in the academy and elsewhere. ScholarGPS™ empowers scholars to accelerate their research and, in turn, increase the pace of innovation, elevate research excellence, and enable productive collaborations.

ScholarGPS™ provides new tools to freely explore the organizational structure and evolution of science in various Fields, Disciplines, and Specialties.

This Privacy Policy (“policy”) describes how we collect, use, and disclose information from and about you. It applies to all websites, applications (“apps”), products, and services provided by ScholarGPS™ that link to this policy (collectively, the “Services”). For purposes of certain privacy laws, we are a “controller” of information we collect.

This policy may be augmented by the addition of other terms, notifications, or statements, which may pertain to specific services provided by ScholarGPS™. We may also update this policy from time to time, so you should refer frequently to this policy document to ensure that you are aware of any and all such changes. Changes are effective as of the “Last Modified” date above. We may also provide you with additional notice or options regarding updates to the Policy in accordance with applicable law. Your use of the Services (including visiting our website) after an update to this policy indicates your acceptance of the updated policy.

Please read this policy carefully. If you do not agree to this policy, please do not use the Services.

The information we collect and the methods by which we collect it may differ based on who you are and how you interact with us.

Scholars

Whether or not you use the Services, if you are an author of at least one publication that we consider to be an archival publication (see FAQs: What is an archival publication) (a “Scholar”), we collect from third-party sources including but not limited to open sources (see FAQs: Where do we get our data) the following information:

• your name
• your past and present institutional affiliations
• your record of archival publications and citations made to those publications
• your co-authors for such publications
• your record of US patents (if any)
• your record of US NSF or NIH grants (if any)

Users of the Services

Information you provide to us: Depending on your use of the Services, we may collect the following information directly from you.

• If you register and/or subscribe to our Services, we collect your email address, username, and authentication information (such as your password).
• We collect the following additional information from subscribers: purchase history and subscription information. Payment details are collected by our trusted third-party payment provider on our behalf.
• If you communicate with us (for example, via email or by submitting an online form), we collect the contents of your communications.

Information we collect automatically: If you use the Services, including by visiting any of our websites, we and our vendors may collect certain information about you automatically using cookies and similar technologies. Cookies are small text files placed on your browser or device that perform a variety of functions, including recognizing your device, enabling the Services to function, remembering your preferences, and assisting with security. Cookies and similar technologies may collect certain information about your device and use of the Services, including but not limited to IP address, device identifiers, information about your web browser (such as language and preferences) and operating system, device (such as model and manufacturer), and information about how you use our Services (such as web pages visited and dates and times of visits). Please see our Cookie Policy for more details about our use of cookies and similar technologies.

We may use the information described above for various purposes, depending on the information, including for the following purposes:

• to provide and maintain the Services and our operations
• to rank individual Scholars and institutions and to create Scholar profiles
• to comply with legal and regulatory requirements
• to create and maintain accounts for subscribers
• to communicate with you including by email and otherwise, subject to applicable law and any preferences you have communicated to us, including to send you information about your subscriptions and updates to the Services
• to improve and develop the Services
• to protect the integrity and security of the Services and prevent fraud
• to enforce our terms, including this policy, and protect our legal rights
• to analyze the Services
• for any other lawful purpose, with your consent

De-identified information: We may de-identify your information or aggregate your information with that of other users so that it cannot reasonably identify you. We may use and disclose this de-identified or aggregated information to any party for any lawful purpose.

For the purposes above, we may also combine the information that we collect through the Services with information that we receive from other sources, both online and offline, and use such combined information in accordance with this policy.

Legal Bases for Processing: The laws in some jurisdictions require companies to tell you about the legal grounds they rely on to process your information. Our legal bases for processing your information as described in this policy are as follows:

• Where use of your information is necessary to perform our obligations under a contract or commitment to you. For example, to provide the subscription you’ve requested from us, or to comply with our legal terms and policies.
• Where use of your information furthers our legitimate interests or the legitimate interests of others. For example, to operate and provide security for the Services, provide our rankings, process transactions, defend our legal rights, and prevent fraud.
• Where processing your information facilitates a task carried out in the public interest. For example, where our processing is pursuant to a public interest purpose recognized in applicable law.
• Where we use your information to comply with applicable legal obligations. For example, to facilitate any legally required audits.
• Where you have consented to our processing of your information for a particular purpose.

Scholars: We make public on our Services the following information about Scholars:

• your name
• your present and past affiliations
• the broad area of research you are involved in
• certain areas of specialization you have been involved in
• a list of your publications and citations made to those publications
• a list of your co-authors
• certain ranking indices, including your h-index

Scholars and users: We may disclose information about Scholars and about users of our Services in the following ways:

• To affiliated entities under our common ownership and control.
• To our service providers that provide services (such as web hosting, analytics, and security) in support of our Services.
• If required by law or in the good faith belief that such disclosure is reasonably necessary to: (a) comply with legal process (for example, a subpoena or court order); (b) enforce our legal terms, including this policy, or other contracts with you; (c) respond to legal claims involving us; (d) report illegal activity such as fraud; or (e) protect the rights, property, or personal safety of us, our users, or others.
• If we participate in a merger, acquisition, bankruptcy proceedings, or other transfer or reorganization of assets, including in contemplation thereof, your information may be among the transferred assets. If a portion or all of our assets are transferred to a third party in these circumstances, we may disclose your information as part of the transfer.

We may also disclose your information for any other lawful purpose that we disclose to you and to which you consent.

We keep your information only for as long as is necessary for the purpose for which it was collected or to satisfy any regulatory, legal, reporting or accounting requirements. In the event of a dispute, we may also retain your information until such time as the dispute has been resolved.

We are based in the United States. If you are located outside of the United States, please be aware that we may store and process your information in the United States or any other country in which we or our affiliates or vendors maintain facilities. If you are located in the European Union or other regions with laws governing data collection and use that may differ from United States law, please note that we may transfer your information to a country and jurisdiction that does not have the same data protection laws as your jurisdiction. By using the Services, you acknowledge the transfer of your information to such jurisdictions.

Our Services may contain links to websites, applications, and other services (collectively, “sites”) that are not owned or controlled by us, such as social media sites. We are not responsible in any way for the security and privacy practices or content provided by such sites, and you visit them at your own risk. We encourage you to review a site’s privacy and security policies before providing your information to the site, as you will be subject to such policies when interacting with the site.

We maintain technical and organizational standards to help ensure that your information is secure. We employ state-of-the-art web server and database infrastructure from Amazon Web Services to securely store and manage data. We use the latest standards in encryption and server firewalls to prevent unwanted access. However, no Internet site or service can guarantee 100% security, so it is possible that someone could unlawfully access your information despite our efforts.

Users of the Services

Depending on the jurisdiction where you reside, you may have certain rights with regard to information we collect from or about you, including the right to request:

• Access to, or a copy of, your information
• Confirmation that we are processing your information
• Correction or amendment of your information
• Deletion of your information
• Transfer of your information to a third party
• Restriction or objection to certain uses of your information

If you have provided consent for us to use your information for a specific purpose, you may also request to withdraw that consent.

Scholars

• correct certain parts of your profile that are in error (e.g., your current affiliation)
• add to your publication list provided the publication you intend to add is in our database
• delete items from your publication list provided that the item to be deleted does not belong to you
• merge duplicate profiles that refer to yourself

Rights Process

Please note that the rights above are subject to certain limitations and exceptions (e.g., we may decline to delete information where we are required to keep it for legal purposes, where such information is processed for scientific research purposes, or where this would interfere with freedom of expression).

You can exercise the rights listed by emailing us at privacy@scholargps.com. We may ask you to provide us with information necessary to reasonably verify your identity before responding to your request.

Cookies

As mentioned above, we and our vendors use cookies and similar technologies to collect certain information about you. You may be able to set your internet browser or device to stop accepting new cookies, notice when you receive a new cookie, or disable existing cookies. Please consult the “Help” section of your browser for more information. The setting will apply only to the browser or device you are using, so you will need to reset the setting on a different browser or device. If you disable some or all cookies, the Services may not function as intended and some features may be unavailable.

Online analytics

We and our vendors may use third-party analytics services on the Services to help us understand how users engage with Services, including Google Analytics, consistent with applicable legal requirements depending on your jurisdiction of residence. These parties may use cookies and other technologies to help collect, analyze, and provide us with reports and/or data. For more information about Google Analytics and how it collects and processes data, please visit: https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites. To opt out of Google Analytics using your information for analytics purposes, see: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

Do Not Track (“DNT”)

DNT is a privacy preference that users can set in certain web browsers. We do not currently recognize or respond to browser-initiated DNT signals. You can learn more about Do Not Track here.

We do not knowingly solicit or collect personal information (as defined in applicable law) from children under the age permitted by applicable law without parental consent. If you are a parent or guardian and believe that your child disclosed information to us in a way that is prohibited by applicable children's privacy laws, please contact us as set forth below.

If you need to contact us with regard to an aspect of this privacy policy, please contact us at privacy@scholargps.com or via the mailing address below:

Meta Analytics LLC.
6230 Wilshire Boulevard
Ste A PMB 2234
Los Angeles, CA 90048