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StepSphere Policy

Version 1.0 · Effective 4 October 2026

1. About StepSphere

StepSphere is an optional, paid, AI-powered research workspace operated by Scientific Steps International Publishing Services LLC ("SSG"). It includes Statistics Studio, Draft Inspector, Presentation Studio, and Research Navigator. StepSphere is a commercial service. It is separate from the scholarly journals published by SSG.

The release you are using is shown beside the StepSphere logo in the workspace and at the foot of every report and file you download (currently StepSphere Orbit 1.0). The version number changes when StepSphere is updated.

2. Use of artificial intelligence

  • All StepSphere tools use artificial intelligence to generate their outputs.
  • To provide the service, the content you submit is processed by third-party AI providers (and, for statistical computing, cloud computing providers) acting on SSG's behalf, under agreements that protect your content.
  • Outputs are produced automatically. They are not reviewed by a human expert. They may contain errors, omissions, or inaccuracies.
  • AI is a tool, not an author. AI cannot take responsibility for research and must not be listed as an author.

3. Independence from SSG journals (editorial firewall)

SSG maintains a strict separation between StepSphere and the editorial work of its journals.

  1. Optional. Using StepSphere is never required to submit to, or publish in, any SSG journal.
  2. No influence. Purchasing or using any StepSphere service, or choosing not to, has no effect on submission handling, peer review, editorial decisions, publication timelines, Article Processing Charges, or waivers.
  3. No access. Journal editors, editorial board members, and reviewers have no access to StepSphere accounts, purchases, files, or results. They are not told whether an author has used StepSphere.
  4. No transfer. StepSphere never sends your files or results to any journal. What you do with your results is your decision.
  5. No fast track. StepSphere offers no priority, expedited review, or other advantage at SSG journals.
  6. Not peer review. Draft Inspector is an automated technical check. It is not peer review, not an editorial evaluation, and not a prediction of acceptance at any journal.
  7. No guarantee. StepSphere does not guarantee publication or acceptance at any journal, including SSG journals.

Read also the Editorial Independence and Separation of Commercial Services policy.

4. Your responsibilities and research integrity

  • You remain fully responsible for your research, data, analysis, interpretation, and every part of the final manuscript or presentation.
  • Check every output before using it. Verify every reference against the original source.
  • Disclose AI use in your manuscript as your target journal requires (for example, in the Methods or Acknowledgments section). StepSphere can generate a suggested disclosure statement for you.
  • Use your own data. StepSphere must not be used to fabricate, falsify, or manipulate data, results, images, or references.

5. Prohibited uses

You must not upload or use StepSphere to process:

  • Manuscripts you are reviewing or editing for any journal, or any other confidential document you are not authorized to share.
  • Identifiable personal data, including patient or health data. De-identify datasets before uploading.
  • Content that infringes others' rights, or is unlawful.
  • Content intended to plagiarize, to disguise AI-generated text, or to deceive editors, reviewers, or readers.

SSG may suspend accounts that break these rules.

6. Data and privacy

  • What we keep: your account details, your orders and payments, the files you upload, and the results generated for you.
  • Retention: uploaded files and results are deleted automatically 30 days after your package ends. You can delete them sooner at any time with "Delete my data".
  • Temporary storage by our service providers: to protect against abuse and keep the service secure, the trusted providers that process your content for us may keep it temporarily, for a limited period of up to 30 days, after which it is deleted; for the images in presentations, up to 55 days. It is used only for security and misuse prevention. Content that is flagged as violating a provider's safety rules may be kept longer, as that provider's own security policies require. This applies in addition to our own retention period above.
  • No training: SSG does not use your files or results to train AI models. Our AI providers process your content under API terms that do not allow training on it.
  • No sharing with journals: see section 3.
  • We do not sell your data. See also the SSG Privacy Policy.

7. Service limits

Each service has stated limits. They are shown on the tool page and again before you pay, and files are checked against them before you pay (no AI is used for that check). The AI reads only what is described here. One package covers one subject: every check is made before anything is deducted from your package, and a refused request costs you nothing.

Research Navigator

  • One package covers one research topic.
  • Accepted files: Word (.docx), PDF, TXT, MD.
  • Up to 10 files, 20 MB each.
  • The AI can read up to about 20,000 words from each file. Longer files are read up to that limit only.
  • Text and tables are read. Images and figures are not read. Scanned PDFs are not supported.
  • 4 rounds, each question up to about 650 words. You name your topic before the first round; later questions and files must stay within it.
  • Unused rounds expire after 14 days.

Statistics Studio

  • One package covers one study.
  • Accepted files: CSV, TSV, Excel (.xlsx, .xls).
  • Up to 5 files, 20 MB each. Upload all the files of your study before your first question: files are locked after it.
  • Up to 200,000 rows and 100 columns per file; up to 12 sheets per Excel workbook.
  • How your data is read: the AI sees your column names, data types and a small sample of rows to plan the analysis. All calculations run on your full data.
  • 3 questions, each up to about 650 words, all on the same data.
  • Unused questions expire after 7 days.

Draft Inspector

  • One package covers one manuscript.
  • Accepted files: Word (.docx), PDF, TXT, MD. One manuscript per inspection.
  • Up to 25 pages (about 12,500 words), 20 MB.
  • The AI reads the whole manuscript text. Text and tables are read. Images and figures are not read. Scanned PDFs are not supported.
  • 1 inspection + 1 re-inspection of the revised version of the same manuscript.
  • An unused inspection or re-inspection expires after 14 days.

Presentation Studio

  • One package covers one presentation.
  • Accepted source files: Word (.docx), PDF, TXT, MD. Up to 5 files, 20 MB each.
  • Up to about 10,000 words of content in total.
  • Up to 25 slides, up to 8 AI images, 2 regenerations of the same presentation (no new content, files or title).
  • An unused presentation or regeneration expires after 14 days.
  • Text and tables are read. Images and figures in your files are not read.

Scanned documents are not supported, because text cannot be read from a picture of a page. If a file is longer than a service reads, you are told before you pay and only the part within the limit is used.

8. Prices, payment and refunds

  • StepSphere is pay-per-use. There is no subscription. The price and what is included (for example the number of questions and the validity period) are shown before you pay.
  • All StepSphere AI tools are paid, each with one fixed price and stated limits shown before you pay. There are no free trials, summaries or previews. Only the multiple-choice guide that helps you pick a tool is free.
  • Payment methods: bank card (through a secure payment provider), PayPal and cash transfer (Sham Cash for customers in Syria; Whish for customers in Lebanon), which we check ourselves. Your order is activated only after the payment is confirmed. SSG does not see or store your card number.
  • Refunds: If we cannot deliver a useful result for technical reasons, we re-run the job or refund the amount. Completed jobs are not refundable.

9. Intellectual property

You keep ownership of the content you upload. Subject to applicable law and the third-party terms that apply, you may use the outputs generated for you in your own work.

10. Changes and contact

We may update this policy; the version and date are shown at the top. Questions, and concerns about editorial independence: info@scientificstepsgroup-ssg.com.