Terms of Service

1. Academic integrity — what Methea is and isn't

Methea is a process tool, not an output tool. It helps you structure your thinking — theoretical framework, methodology, research instruments, and analysis — but it does not write your research for you.

You are the author of your research. Any methodology scaffold, framework narrative, interview guide, or other output Methea generates is a starting point for your own thinking and writing, not finished academic work. Text generated by Methea (including any "polished draft" option) must be reviewed, edited, and put into your own words before it is submitted as your own work. You are solely responsible for ensuring your submission complies with your institution's academic integrity, plagiarism, and AI-use policies.

2. Acceptable use

• —Don't use Methea to generate content you intend to submit as your own unedited academic work.
• —Don't upload content you don't have the right to upload (e.g. interview transcripts without appropriate consent — see our Privacy Policy, section 6).
• —Don't attempt to disrupt, reverse-engineer, or gain unauthorised access to the service or other users' data.
• —Don't use Methea for any unlawful purpose, or in a way that infringes anyone else's rights.

3. Account terms

You need an account to use Methea. You're responsible for keeping your login credentials secure and for all activity under your account. You must provide accurate information when creating your account. We may suspend or terminate accounts that violate these terms or the acceptable use rules above.

4. Purchases and payments

Methea's paid plan is $49 per project, one-time, covering that project until it's complete. Other plans, if and when offered, will be described at the point of purchase.

Payments are processed by Paddle.com Market Limited, who acts as the merchant of record for your purchase. Paddle — not Methea — bills you, handles VAT and applicable sales tax, issues invoices and receipts, and processes refunds. Your contract for the purchase itself is with Paddle as reseller; these Terms govern your use of the Methea service that purchase unlocks.

Right of withdrawal (EU/UK consumers). If you're a consumer in the EU or UK, you generally have a 14-day right to withdraw from a distance purchase of digital content. Because Methea is a digital service delivered immediately on payment, starting to use the paid features before the 14-day period ends may waive this right, where you have expressly requested early access and acknowledged that you lose the withdrawal right by doing so. Refund requests are handled by Paddle in line with their refund policy and applicable law.

5. Intellectual property and ownership

Your research content is yours. You own your topic, research question, framework selections, methodology, interview guides, transcripts, and any findings or analysis generated from your work in Methea.

Methea owns the platform. This includes the Methea software, product design, and our curated theory library (the set of theoretical frameworks, summaries, and citations we maintain and verify). You may use the theory library within the service to build your own research, but the library itself, and the Methea platform, remain our property and may not be copied, scraped, or redistributed.

6. Disclaimers and limitation of liability

Methea is provided "as is," without warranties of any kind, to the fullest extent permitted by law. Methea is a structuring and drafting-assistance tool — it does not guarantee academic outcomes, grades, ethics/IRB approval, or that any suggested theory, framework, or methodology is correct or appropriate for your specific research. You remain responsible for the academic and methodological soundness of your own research.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, we are not liable for any indirect, incidental, or consequential damages arising from your use of Methea, including academic outcomes. Our total liability for any claim relating to the service is limited to the amount you paid us for the project giving rise to the claim.

7. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms as the product evolves. We will update the "last updated" date above and, for material changes, notify you.

8. Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of the Kyrgyz Republic, without regard to conflict of law principles, and without limiting any mandatory consumer-protection rights you have under the law of your own country of residence.

9. Contact

Questions about these terms: privacy@methea.app