These Terms govern your use of Researchor, an international marketplace operated by Lumio Africa that connects clients seeking research services with experts who provide them, wherever they are based. By creating an account you agree to them.
What Researchor is
Researchor is a marketplace and payment intermediary. We are not a party to the research engagement itself. Clients and experts contract with each other; Researchor provides the surface on which that happens, holds funds against agreed milestones, and offers a process when things go wrong.
We do not perform research, do not author deliverables, and do not verify the accuracy or originality of any work beyond the automated screening described in the Academic Integrity Policy.
Who may use Researchor
You must be at least 18 years old and legally able to enter a contract. You must provide accurate registration information and keep it current. One person or organisation may hold one account per role.
We may decline, suspend or close an account where we believe these Terms, the Academic Integrity Policy or applicable law have been breached.
Your account
You are responsible for activity under your account and for keeping your credentials secure. Tell us promptly at support@researchor.org.ng if you believe your account has been accessed without your authorisation.
Do not share an account, sell an account, or misrepresent your identity or qualifications. Expert qualifications you state on your profile must be true and, where we ask, evidenced.
Projects, offers and contracts
- A client describes a project. Researchor surfaces experts whose stated field, methodology and availability fit the brief.
- Experts submit proposals. A proposal is an offer to perform defined work for a stated fee.
- When a client accepts a proposal, a contract forms between the client and the expert on the terms of that proposal, subject to these Terms.
- Work is divided into milestones. The client funds a milestone into escrow before the expert begins it.
- The expert delivers. The client reviews, may request revisions within the agreed scope, and approves.
- Approval releases the milestone payment to the expert's Researchor balance.
Scope, deadlines and revision limits are whatever the accepted proposal states. Changing them requires both parties to agree.
Fees
All prices, fees and balances on Researchor are in US dollars (USD). Researchor charges a service fee on transactions. The fee applicable to a given engagement is shown before a client funds a milestone and before an expert accepts an offer. Fees are described in the Payment & Escrow Policy.
Prohibited use
You may not use Researchor to request, offer, or deliver anything prohibited by the Academic Integrity Policy. That policy is part of these Terms.
You also may not:
- misrepresent your identity, affiliation or qualifications;
- upload material you do not have the right to share, including confidential or personal data you are not authorised to disclose;
- attempt to take a transaction off-platform in order to avoid fees or the escrow process;
- interfere with the platform's operation, probe it for vulnerabilities without our written permission, or scrape it at scale;
- harass, threaten or discriminate against another user.
Intellectual property
Ownership of work produced through Researchor is governed by the Intellectual Property Policy. The Researchor name, logo, interface and content remain ours.
Suspension and termination
You may close your account at any time. Closing an account does not cancel obligations under contracts already in progress, or release funds held in escrow against unapproved milestones.
We may suspend or terminate access where we reasonably believe there has been a breach of these Terms, a risk of harm to another user, or a legal requirement to do so. Where we can do so safely and lawfully, we will tell you why.
Disclaimers
Researchor is provided "as is". We do not warrant that the platform will be uninterrupted or error-free, that any expert will be suitable for your purpose, or that any deliverable will meet your requirements or be accepted by any institution or publisher.
Automated screening is a signal, not a guarantee. A low screening score does not certify originality, and neither party should treat it as one.
Limitation of liability
To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, Researchor's aggregate liability arising from or relating to your use of the platform is limited to the total service fees you paid to Researchor in the six months preceding the event giving rise to the claim.
We are not liable for indirect or consequential loss, loss of profit, loss of data, or loss arising from the acts or omissions of another user.
Nothing in these Terms excludes liability that cannot lawfully be excluded.
Disputes
Disputes between a client and an expert follow the Dispute Resolution process.
Governing law
These Terms are governed by the laws of Nigeria, where Lumio Africa is established, and disputes between you and Researchor are subject to the courts there.
If you use Researchor as a consumer, you keep any protection the law of your country of residence gives you that cannot be excluded by agreement. Nothing in this section takes that away.
Changes
We may update these Terms. Where a change is material we will give notice through the platform or by email before it takes effect. Continuing to use Researchor after a change takes effect means you accept the revised Terms.
Questions about this document go to support@researchor.org.ng, or through the contact form.