Center for Open Science Terms Scorecard

Grade C+ — Standard consumer terms (score 67/100)

The policy grants the company a perpetual, irrevocable license to your content and allows for unilateral changes to terms, but avoids forced arbitration and class action waivers.

Grants perpetual content license. No forced arbitration. Unilateral changes.

Terms at a glance

Sells your data
NO
Forced arbitration
NO
Trains AI on your content
UNCLEAR
Collects biometric data
NO
Shares data with government
LIKELY
Easy to cancel
UNCLEAR
Tells you before changes
NO
Deletes data on request
UNCLEAR

What the terms actually say

Section 6 — Restricting Access to Content

by depositing any Content... in an OSF account, you grant the COS a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, reproduce, transmit, distribute, publicly perform, and publicly display such Content

You give the company a permanent, non-revocable right to use your uploaded research content forever, even if you delete your account.

Section 3 — Modifications to these Terms of Use

We may modify these Terms of Use from time to time by posting a revised version on our Websites and/or Services. Your continued use of the Websites or Services after the posting of such new Terms of Use means that you agree to the posted changes.

The company can change the rules at any time without notifying you; simply using the site means you accept the new terms.

Section 15 — Termination

The COS reserves the right to terminate or suspend your access to and use of the Websites and Services, or parts of the Websites and Services, without notice, if we believe, in our sole discretion, that such use is (i) in violation of any applicable law...

The company can cut off your access to the service at any time for any reason they deem appropriate, without giving you advance warning.

Section 22 — General

Any cause of action you may have with respect to your use of the Websites or Services must be commenced within one (1) year after the claim or cause of action arises.

You are forced to sue the company within one year of an incident, or you lose your right to bring a claim.

Section 22 — General

Any action or proceeding arising out of or related to these Terms or your use of the Websites or Services must be brought in the state or federal courts of the Commonwealth of Virginia

You must resolve all legal disputes in Virginia, regardless of where you live.

Last reviewed 2026-08-21 under rubric v3.5.

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