Terms and conditions

References to 'IOP' mean the Institute of Physics and/or IOP Publishing Limited as appropriate. References to 'this web site' are to the specific IOP web site from which the user is linking to these terms and conditions.

Please read this document carefully. By accessing or using any part of this web site, you are agreeing to be bound by all of these terms and conditions. If you have any questions, please contact custserv@iop.org. These terms and conditions were last updated on 18 July 2008.

Using this Web Site

This web site is maintained by IOP for personal viewing and use. For the purposes of these terms and conditions, all references to the 'User' are to any person who accesses or uses this web site or any of the services provided by it, whether on their own behalf or on behalf of an organisation or institution whom they represent.

User Responsibilities

1. The User shall use this web site only in accordance with these terms and conditions and only for lawful purposes and in a lawful manner.
2. If the User submits information or data for display on this web site then they are responsible for ensuring that it is true, accurate, complete and up to date and for updating it whenever necessary. The User is also responsible for ensuring that no data is uploaded or submitted which is untrue, defamatory, obscene, abusive or otherwise objectionable or in breach of any applicable laws or third party rights.
3. By uploading or submitting data to this web site, the User warrants that they have taken all reasonable precautions to ensure that it is free from viruses and anything else which may have a contaminating or destructive effect on any part of this web site or any other technology.
4. The User shall make no attempt to undermine the integrity of this web site or any of its content and will not adapt or circumvent the systems in place in connection with this web site nor access it other than through normal operations.
5. Systematic downloading of files is prohibited.

Privacy Policy

6. IOP takes the privacy of its Users very seriously and is committed to safeguarding that privacy. Please refer to IOP's Privacy Policy for more details.

Disclaimer

7. The terms of IOP's Disclaimer are incorporated within these terms and conditions.

search.optics.org Licence

8. The search.optics.org toolbar and software, any third party software and any associated documentation or materials made available in conjunction with this software (the 'Software') is owned by IOP and/or by its licensors.
9. The Software is licensed to the User on a non-exclusive, revocable, non-transferrable basis in accordance with these terms and conditions. All rights not granted expressly to the User are reserved by IOP and/or the respective owners of the Software.
10. The User may use the Software on a personal computer, owned or controlled by them, for non-commercial use and benefit only. If the User wants to use the Software on a commercial basis, or otherwise than in accordance with these terms and conditions, they must obtain IOP's prior written consent.
11. Where the User is permitted to include a search.optics.org search box on their website, they shall comply with, and accept, the following terms, in addition to all other terms and conditions relating to use of the Software generally:
    1. at all times, the User shall be able to demonstrate that they provide a professional service to a professional audience;
    2. IOP reserves the right to instruct the User to remove the search box at any time it sees fit; and
    3. the User shall assume sole responsibility for assessing the compatibility and possible impact of the search box on their web site and acknowledges that IOP shall have no liability for any damage sustained as a result of use of such search box, whether such damage is direct or indirect.
12. The User shall not:
    1. except as permitted expressly by these terms and conditions, and save and to the extent permitted expressly by law, rent, lease, sub-license, loan, copy, modify, adapt, merge, translate, reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble or create derivative works based on the whole or any part of the Software, or use, reproduce or deal in the Software, or any part of it, in any way;
    2. incorporate the Software into any software or product they develop or sell, without IOP's prior consent in writing;
    3. use the Software in breach of any applicable law;
    4. use the Software in any manner that could damage, disable, overburden or impair the Software or this web site; or
    5. use the Software in any manner that could interfere with any other party's use of the Software or this web site.
13. The User may make copies of the outcome of any searches carried out by using the Software, and may distribute such copies to others within their organisations, provided that any such recipient has had the opportunity to review and agree to be bound by these terms and conditions. If others within their organisations do not have the opportunity to review and agree, and the User would like to distribute copies to such persons, they may do so provided that they have the legal right to bind their organisations and such persons to these terms and conditions. If they do not then they should not distribute the search results and should, instead, contact IOP.
14. The User shall not submit automated queries of any sort to this web site for the purpose of "meta-searching", determining how a site ranks against other results generated by this web site, or performing "offline" searches using this web site.
15. The User shall indemnify IOP for any claim or loss (including, without limitation, economic loss) suffered by IOP or arising out of the User's failure to observe these terms and conditions.
16. IOP would like to hear from Users with any new ideas on how to improve the services offered by this web site or any general comments. They can e-mail IOP at custserv@iop.org. By doing so, Users are deemed to grant IOP and third parties permission to use and incorporate their ideas and comments into the Software without compensation.

Miscellaneous

17. Unless otherwise stated, all competitions offered by IOP from this web site ('Competitions') are open to any person who is aged 18 or over, except for employees (and their families) of any company in the same group as IOP or anyone else connected with running Competitions. As not all countries in the world accept the legality of Competitions, it is the sole responsibility of each non United Kingdom based entrant to ensure that they are not breaching any laws of their country of residence by submitting an entry. IOP shall not be held responsible for any entrant entering any Competitions unlawfully. If in any doubt, the entrant should check with the relevant authorities in their country. All entrants must register for Competitions by giving their correct name and postal address, together with their email address. By registering for Competitions, Users acknowledge that they have read and agree to the provisions contained in IOP's Privacy Policy, as referred to in Clause 7 above. All Competitions will be subject to terms and conditions as displayed on this web site.
18. Any information submitted by the User will be treated by IOP as non-confidential and IOP shall be entitled to reproduce, distribute and communicate that information to others without restriction and without obligation.
19. Without limiting its rights to seek other remedies, IOP reserves the right to change, modify, substitute, alter or remove all or part of this web site, temporarily or permanently, without notice and without liability, at any time. This includes the right to remove offending material placed on this web site by the User that IOP considers to constitute misuse of this web site or to be potentially harmful to other Users.
20. These terms and conditions are in addition to, and supplement, any other terms and conditions which the User is required to accept in order to access any of IOP's specific goods or services on this web site.
21. IOP will use its reasonable endeavours to allow uninterrupted access to this web site but access may be suspended, restricted or terminated at any time.
22. IOP has the right to amend these terms and conditions at any time and continued use of this web site after the change will be deemed as acceptance of the changed terms and conditions. It is the responsibility of the User to check the terms and conditions regularly for changes and to discontinue use if the User is unhappy with the changes.
23. IOP reserves the right to prohibit access by persons to all or part of this web site, or the services provided on it, at its sole discretion. The User's licence to use the search service shall terminate automatically if they breach these terms and conditions, if IOP puts a notification on this web site or if IOP sends the User notification of termination. On termination the User must discontinue use of the search service and must destroy all copies of the search results. All disclaimers, indemnities and exclusions in these terms and conditions shall survive termination of the agreement between IOP and the User for any reason.
24. Each provision of these terms and conditions shall be construed separately and independently of each other and the invalidity of any one part shall not affect the validity of any other part.
25. Subject to the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999, any of these terms and conditions may be enforced by the following persons in their own right:
    1. any third party with whom IOP contracts for content or advertising;
    2. any third party licensor of any of the Software; and
    3. IOP's employees or agents.
26. English law governs these terms and conditions and the English courts have exclusive jurisdiction to determine any disputes.

Contact Information

If the User has any questions or comments about these terms and conditions, they should contact: