Terms of Service

Cortexa is a free, open-access research paper search engine, built and operated by Ansh Kansagra, an individual based in India. By using Cortexa — the website, the public API, or the MCP connector — you agree to these terms. If you don't agree, please don't use the service. See also the Privacy Policy, which these terms incorporate by reference.

What Cortexa is

Cortexa indexes publicly available, open-access research paper metadata from sources including arXiv, CrossRef, OpenAlex, CORE, Semantic Scholar, and Zenodo. Cortexa doesn't host or redistribute paper PDFs itself — it links out to the source's own open-access copy. See how Cortexa works for how sources and licenses are verified.

Cortexa is provided free of charge, with no subscription tier, ads, or paid features.

Your account

• You must provide accurate information when creating an account.
• You're responsible for keeping your password confidential.
• One account per person — don't create accounts to evade a suspension.
• You can delete your account at any time from Settings.

Acceptable use

You agree not to:

• Bulk-scrape the website itself — use the public API or MCP connector instead; both exist specifically so you don't have to.
• Attempt to bypass rate limits, or overload the service intentionally.
• Use the service for anything illegal, or to harass or harm others.
• Attempt to gain unauthorized access to accounts, data, or infrastructure.
• Misrepresent your API key or credentials as someone else's.

Violating these may result in your account or API key being suspended or revoked, without prior notice for serious or repeated violations.

Public API and MCP connector

The API and MCP connector are provided free, rate-limited, and without any uptime guarantee or service-level agreement — this is an independently-run project, not a commercial service with contractual support. Rate limits and available fields may change as the project evolves; breaking changes will be noted where reasonably practicable.

Content and ownership

Paper titles, abstracts, and metadata indexed by Cortexa remain the property of their original authors and publishers — Cortexa only indexes and links to them. The Cortexa name, logo, and site design are Ansh Kansagra's. Feedback you submit may be used to improve the product without further compensation or attribution to you.

No warranty

Cortexa is provided "as is," without warranty of any kind. Paper metadata is drawn from third-party sources and may occasionally be incomplete, outdated, or inaccurate — always verify against the source before relying on it academically. Cortexa doesn't guarantee uninterrupted availability, error-free operation, or that any particular paper remains freely accessible at its source indefinitely.

Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Cortexa and its operator aren't liable for any indirect, incidental, or consequential damages arising from your use of the service. Since Cortexa is free, this also means there's no liability for the fees you didn't pay.

Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of India, without regard to conflict-of-law principles. If you're located elsewhere, local consumer-protection laws that can't be waived by contract still apply to you where required.

Changes to these terms

If these terms change, the "Last updated" date at the top of this page will change too. Continuing to use Cortexa after a change means you accept the updated terms.

Contact

Questions about these terms — reach out via the feedback page or email anshkansagra2004@gmail.com.