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Terms of Use

Last updated: March 26, 2026

Welcome to SurfFitter. By accessing or using our application, you agree to be bound by these Terms of Use.

1. Intellectual Property

SurfFitter, including its underlying PRISM algorithms, source code, and design, is the exclusive property of the SIMBIOS research group, CiQUS, and Universidade de Santiago de Compostela. The software is proprietary; access does not grant any license to the source code or the right to distribute the calculation engine.

2. Permitted Academic Use

SurfFitter is provided free of charge strictly for academic, non-commercial research purposes. Permitted use includes uploading experimental data, running thermodynamic fits, and using generated reports in scholarly publications, provided proper citation is given.

3. User Responsibilities & Data Warranty

By uploading data to SurfFitter, you warrant that:

• You own the data or have explicit permission from the data owner/institution to process it.
• The data does not violate any third-party intellectual property or confidentiality agreements.
• You are responsible for maintaining backups of your own research data.

4. Commercial Use Restrictions

Any commercial use, including but not limited to fee-for-service analysis, integration into proprietary databases, or use in industrial R&D without a license, is strictly prohibited. Contact us for licensing inquiries.

5. External Services (Zenodo)

SurfFitter facilitates data archiving via Zenodo. By using this feature, you acknowledge that SurfFitter will only create a draft deposition for your records. You are solely responsible for reviewing and manually publishing the deposition on the Zenodo platform. SurfFitter is not responsible for data once it has been transferred to Zenodo and is subject to Zenodo's own terms and open-access licenses.

6. Citation Requirement

Usage of SurfFitter results in any scientific publication or public presentation requires citation of the following foundational work: Paula Antelo-Riveiro, Angel Piñeiro, Rebeca García-Fandiño. PRISM: a phase-resolved surface equation of state across the full Langmuir isotherm. (Under Review)

7. Disclaimer of Warranties

SurfFitter is provided "as is". While we strive for scientific excellence, we do not warrant the absolute accuracy of the thermodynamic fits. Use of the tool is at the user's own risk, and the authors shall not be liable for any research discrepancies or data loss.

8. Governing Law

These terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Spain. Any disputes arising from the use of SurfFitter shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain.