Terms of Use

Table of contents
Table of contents

Effective date: September 25, 2026
Last updated: September 25, 2026

Please read these Terms of Use carefully. They contain important provisions concerning your legal rights, permitted uses of this website, disclaimers, limitations of liability, and the resolution of disputes.

1. Acceptance of These Terms

These Terms of Use (“Terms”) govern your access to and use of betterscience.com and any pages, articles, videos, newsletters, forms, features, or other services made available through it (collectively, the “Site”). The Site is operated under the Better Science® name (“Better Science,” “we,” “us,” or “our”).

By accessing or using the Site, you agree to these Terms and acknowledge our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, you must not use the Site. If you use the Site on behalf of an organization, you represent that you have authority to bind that organization to these Terms.

2. Changes to These Terms

We may revise these Terms to reflect changes to the Site, our practices, or applicable law. Revised Terms will be posted on this page with a new “Last updated” date. Material changes will apply prospectively. Your continued use of the Site after revised Terms become effective constitutes acceptance of those revisions.

3. Purpose of the Site

Better Science provides science communication, commentary, educational material, interviews, summaries of research, and related content for a general audience.

The Site may discuss medicine, public health, artificial intelligence, research practices, scientific controversies, or other subjects with real-world consequences. Such content is intended to explain and discuss information; it is not intended to direct individual professional decisions.

4. No Medical or Professional Advice

THE SITE DOES NOT PROVIDE MEDICAL, CLINICAL, MENTAL-HEALTH, LEGAL, FINANCIAL, ENGINEERING, OR OTHER PROFESSIONAL ADVICE.

Nothing on the Site establishes a physician-patient, therapist-patient, attorney-client, professional-client, fiduciary, or similar relationship.

Do not use Site content to:

  • Diagnose or treat a medical condition;
  • Begin, stop, or modify medication or treatment;
  • Delay seeking professional care;
  • Make decisions requiring an individualized professional assessment; or
  • Respond to a medical or other emergency.

Always seek advice from an appropriately qualified professional who can evaluate your circumstances. If you believe you may be experiencing a medical emergency, contact emergency services immediately.

5. Scientific Information and Uncertainty

Scientific knowledge changes as new evidence emerges. Research discussed on the Site may be preliminary, observational, disputed, corrected, retracted, or subject to limitations that are not apparent from a summary.

Although we strive to explain evidence accurately and identify meaningful limitations:

  • We do not warrant that Site content is complete, current, error-free, or suitable for a particular purpose;
  • A summary may not include every qualification contained in the original research;
  • A citation does not guarantee that the cited work is accurate, reproducible, or free from later correction or retraction;
  • Individual studies should not necessarily be treated as scientific consensus;
  • Opinions and interpretations may differ among qualified experts; and
  • Article publication dates, references, links, and research status may change.

Readers should review original sources and current professional guidance before relying on scientific information for consequential decisions. We welcome good-faith correction requests at contact@betterscience.com.

6. Author Opinions and Institutional Affiliations

Articles, interviews, videos, and other contributions may express the views of their identified authors or speakers. Those views do not necessarily represent Better Science, an author’s employer, a contributor’s institution, a funding organization, or any other affiliated entity.

Mention of an author’s education, employment, credentials, or institutional affiliation does not imply that the institution sponsors, approves, or endorses Better Science or the relevant content.

7. No Endorsement

References or links to researchers, institutions, publications, journals, products, services, companies, treatments, technologies, or organizations are provided for informational purposes. Unless expressly stated, their inclusion does not constitute sponsorship, certification, recommendation, or endorsement by Better Science. Likewise, a third party’s reference or link to Better Science does not imply our endorsement of that party.

Any sponsorship, advertising, affiliate relationship, or other material commercial connection will be disclosed where applicable.

8. Limited Permission to Use Site Content

Subject to these Terms, Better Science grants you a limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to access and use the Site for lawful personal, educational, and other non-commercial purposes.

You may:

  • Link to publicly accessible Site pages;
  • Quote limited portions with appropriate attribution;
  • Share Site links through social media, email, or similar channels; and
  • Make uses otherwise permitted by applicable copyright law, including fair use.

Except where permitted by law or authorized in writing, you may not:

  • Republish a complete article, video, transcript, graphic, or substantial portion of Site content;
  • Sell, sublicense, syndicate, or commercially exploit Site content;
  • Remove copyright, trademark, attribution, citation, or rights-management notices;
  • Misrepresent Site content or present it out of context in a materially misleading manner;
  • Create unauthorized translations, adaptations, or derivative publications;
  • Frame or mirror substantial portions of the Site;
  • Imply that Better Science endorses you, your organization, or your activities; or
  • Use Site content in a manner that infringes another person’s rights.

Permission requests may be sent to contact@betterscience.com.

9. Automated Access and AI Training

Except with our prior written permission or as otherwise permitted by applicable law, you may not use bots, crawlers, scrapers, automated extraction tools, or similar systems to:

  • Download Site content in bulk;
  • Build or supplement a commercial database;
  • Train, fine-tune, evaluate, ground, or otherwise develop an artificial-intelligence or machine-learning system;
  • Generate substituted or competing versions of Site content;
  • Circumvent access controls, rate limits, or machine-readable restrictions; or
  • Place an unreasonable burden on the Site or its infrastructure.

Search engines may crawl publicly accessible pages in accordance with our robots.txt instructions and other applicable technical controls.

10. Prohibited Conduct

You may not use the Site to:

  • Violate any applicable law or regulation;
  • Infringe intellectual-property, privacy, publicity, confidentiality, or other rights;
  • Introduce malware, malicious code, or harmful components;
  • Probe, scan, or test the vulnerability of the Site without authorization;
  • Interfere with Site operation or another person’s use of the Site;
  • Gain unauthorized access to accounts, servers, systems, or data;
  • Impersonate another person or misrepresent your identity or affiliation;
  • Submit defamatory, threatening, fraudulent, unlawful, or deliberately misleading material;
  • Collect personal information about other users without authorization;
  • Send spam, unsolicited advertising, or deceptive communications; or
  • Assist another person in doing any of the foregoing.

11. Questions, Feedback, and Unsolicited Ideas

Messages sent through our contact forms or email are not confidential unless we expressly agree otherwise in writing.

If you send feedback, suggestions, corrections, topic proposals, or other unsolicited ideas, you grant Better Science a worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to use, reproduce, adapt, publish, and otherwise use that material for purposes connected with the Site and our work.

This provision does not transfer ownership of your pre-existing intellectual property to Better Science. It also does not require us to review, use, publish, compensate you for, or respond to an unsolicited submission.

Do not send confidential research, patient information, protected health information, trade secrets, unpublished patentable inventions, embargoed results, or material you are not authorized to disclose.

12. Articles and Other Accepted Contributions

A proposal, manuscript, interview, video, review, or other contribution that Better Science affirmatively agrees to consider or publish may be governed by a separate contributor or publication agreement.

Unless a signed agreement states otherwise:

  • Contributors retain ownership of their original work;
  • Contributors grant Better Science a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to edit, reproduce, publish, distribute, archive, promote, and display the accepted contribution in any format;
  • Better Science may make editorial, formatting, accessibility, headline, citation, and style changes;
  • Publication is not guaranteed;
  • Better Science may decline, correct, update, annotate, unpublish, or retract a contribution;
  • Contributors remain responsible for the accuracy and originality of their submissions; and
  • Contributors must disclose material conflicts of interest and obtain necessary permissions.

A separate signed agreement controls if it conflicts with this section.

13. Contributor Representations

By submitting material for possible publication, you represent that:

  • You created it or possess all necessary rights and permissions;
  • It does not infringe another party’s rights;
  • It does not contain fabricated citations, data, quotations, credentials, or sources;
  • It does not improperly disclose confidential, personal, patient, or protected information;
  • Any required institutional, participant, copyright, or media permissions have been obtained;
  • Material assistance from artificial-intelligence tools has been disclosed when requested;
  • Relevant financial, professional, or personal conflicts have been disclosed; and
  • The submission complies with applicable law and ethical requirements.

14. Intellectual Property

The Site and its original text, design, organization, graphics, logos, videos, software, and other materials are owned by or licensed to Better Science and are protected by copyright, trademark, and other laws.

“Better Science,” Better Science® branding, logos, slogans, and related marks may not be used without prior written permission. Third-party names and marks remain the property of their respective owners. Nothing in these Terms transfers any ownership right to you.

15. Copyright Complaints

If you believe material on the Site infringes your copyright, send a written notice to contact@betterscience.com containing:

  • Your name and contact information;
  • Identification of the copyrighted work;
  • Identification and URL of the allegedly infringing material;
  • A statement that you have a good-faith belief that the use is unauthorized;
  • A statement, made under penalty of perjury, that your notice is accurate and that you are authorized to act for the copyright owner; and
  • Your physical or electronic signature.

We may remove or restrict access to disputed material while evaluating a complaint. This section does not represent that Better Science has completed the separate U.S. Copyright Office registration required to obtain any particular DMCA safe-harbor protection.

16. Third-Party Sites and Services

The Site may link to third-party journals, databases, preprints, videos, social-media services, products, or websites. Better Science does not control those resources and is not responsible for their availability, security, accuracy, accessibility, content, or privacy practices.

Your use of a third-party service is governed by that party’s terms and policies. Accessing third-party resources is at your own risk.

17. Privacy

Our collection and use of personal information are described in the Better Science Privacy Policy.

Do not submit sensitive personal information unless it is necessary and expressly requested. Internet transmission and storage cannot be guaranteed to be completely secure.

18. Children

The Site is intended for a general audience and is not directed to children under 13. Children under 13 should not submit personal information through the Site. If you believe a child has provided personal information, contact us so that we can investigate and take appropriate action.

19. Site Availability and Changes

We may, at any time and without liability:

  • Add, remove, correct, update, archive, or reorganize content;
  • Change Site functionality;
  • Restrict or suspend access;
  • Discontinue any portion of the Site; or
  • Block activity that we reasonably believe violates these Terms or threatens the Site, its users, or others.

We do not guarantee uninterrupted or error-free access, permanent availability of any article, or preservation of any particular URL.

20. Disclaimer of Warranties

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE SITE AND ALL CONTENT ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE.”

BETTER SCIENCE DISCLAIMS ALL EXPRESS AND IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, CURRENTNESS, MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, SECURITY, AND AVAILABILITY.

WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SITE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR-FREE, SECURE, OR FREE OF HARMFUL COMPONENTS, OR THAT USE OF THE SITE WILL PRODUCE ANY PARTICULAR RESULT.

Some jurisdictions do not permit certain warranty exclusions, so some exclusions may not apply to you.

21. Limitation of Liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, BETTER SCIENCE AND ITS OWNERS, OFFICERS, CONTRIBUTORS, AUTHORS, EDITORS, EMPLOYEES, CONTRACTORS, LICENSORS, AND AGENTS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR ANY LOSS OF DATA, REVENUE, PROFITS, GOODWILL, OPPORTUNITY, OR USE, ARISING FROM OR RELATED TO THE SITE.

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY OF BETTER SCIENCE FOR ALL CLAIMS ARISING FROM OR RELATED TO THE SITE WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF: (1) THE AMOUNT YOU PAID BETTER SCIENCE FOR THE RELEVANT SITE SERVICE DURING THE PRECEDING 12 MONTHS; OR (2) ONE HUNDRED U.S. DOLLARS.

These limitations apply regardless of the legal theory and even if a party was advised that damages were possible. Nothing in these Terms excludes liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited.

22. Indemnification

To the maximum extent permitted by law, you agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Better Science and its owners, officers, employees, contractors, contributors, licensors, and agents from claims, liabilities, damages, judgments, losses, and reasonable legal expenses arising from:

  • Your unlawful or unauthorized use of the Site;
  • Your material violation of these Terms;
  • Material you submit or publish through the Site;
  • Your infringement of another party’s rights; or
  • Fraud, willful misconduct, or misrepresentation by you.

Better Science may control the defense of a covered claim, and you agree to provide reasonable cooperation. You may not settle a claim in a manner that imposes liability or obligations on Better Science without our written consent.

23. Governing Law and Venue

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Texas, without regard to conflict-of-law principles.

Subject to any rights that cannot lawfully be waived, disputes arising from or relating to the Site or these Terms must be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in Harris County, Texas. You consent to the personal jurisdiction of those courts.

To the extent permitted by law, a claim arising from the Site or these Terms must be filed within one year after the claim arose. This limitation does not apply where applicable law prohibits shortening the limitations period.

24. General Provisions

These Terms and the Privacy Policy constitute the entire agreement concerning your use of the Site unless another written agreement applies.

If any provision is held unlawful or unenforceable, it will be modified to the minimum extent necessary or severed, and the remaining provisions will remain effective. Our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver.

You may not assign your rights under these Terms without our written consent. We may assign these Terms as part of a restructuring, transfer, or succession involving the Site. Headings are provided for convenience and do not affect interpretation.

25. Contact

Questions about these Terms may be sent to:

Better Science®
Attn: Terms of Use
Email: contact@betterscience.com