Terms of Service

1. Introduction

Welcome to ScholarSyncResearch. We are a professional consulting firm offering research advisory, scholarly communication support, and grants & M&E consulting to academics, institutions, and peer-reviewed publishers worldwide, and to NGOs, CBOs, and development-sector organisations across Kenya and East Africa.

All services are delivered on a consultancy and advisory basis. ScholarSyncResearch does not provide ghostwriting, essay writing, or academic, proposal, or report-writing work on behalf of clients.

2. Scope of Services

• Research Advisory: Guidance on research design, methodology development, and data analysis strategies.
• Scholarly Communication Consulting: Support for structuring manuscripts, improving clarity, and aligning with journal requirements.
• Publication Strategy: Advice on journal selection, submission planning, and navigating peer review processes.
• Research Consultations: One-on-one advisory support conducted by email to help plan, organise, and execute research projects effectively.
• Pre-Submission Expert Manuscript Review (Journal Articles): Independent expert feedback on a manuscript's methodology, structure, and clarity before the client submits it to their chosen journal. This service has no connection to, and no influence over, any journal's official peer-review process or editorial decision.
• Pre-Submission Book Manuscript Review: Independent expert feedback on a book manuscript's structure, clarity, and fit against typical publisher expectations, before the client submits it to their chosen publisher. This service has no connection to, and no influence over, any publisher's acquisition or editorial decision.
• Grant Proposal Development: Advisory support in developing a donor proposal in response to a funder's call for applications, including eligibility screening, needs assessment, results framework, budget, and pre-submission review. This service has no connection to, and no influence over, any funder's award or funding decision.
• M&E Framework & Evaluation Design: Advisory support in designing monitoring & evaluation frameworks and preparing evaluation reports (baseline, midline, endline, or standalone), assessed against recognised evaluation criteria. This service reflects an independent, evidence-based assessment and does not guarantee any particular finding, rating, or outcome.
• PhD In-Depth Thesis Review: Independent examiner-level diagnostic feedback on a PhD thesis, including an optional lighter-scope Light Scan tier. This service has no connection to, and no influence over, any institution's examination outcome.
• Paper Development for Peer-Review Publication: Development of a full paper from a completed thesis, or from secondary data and existing literature where no primary thesis exists, formatted for submission to a peer-reviewed journal. This service has no connection to, and no influence over, any publisher's or journal's editorial or acceptance decision. Where ScholarSyncResearch submits the paper to a publisher on the client's behalf, any publication or processing fee charged by that publisher is the client's responsibility.
• Presentation & Slide Deck Development: Design and structuring of a slide deck from materials, notes, or an outline the client provides. Content and narrative reflect the information and direction supplied by the client; ScholarSyncResearch is not the author of the client's underlying research, arguments, or data.
• Data Simulation for Training & Piloting: Generation of simulated datasets, drawn from a client's own research instrument, strictly for instrument piloting, statistical training, and methodological validation. This service must not be, and is not, used to generate data represented as empirically collected for an actual research submission, thesis, grant, or publication.

3. Client Responsibilities

By engaging ScholarSyncResearch, clients agree to:

• Provide accurate and complete project information and timelines.
• Ensure compliance with their institutional, publisher, and funder/donor guidelines.
• Use our services ethically and in accordance with academic and professional integrity standards.
• Acknowledge that ScholarSyncResearch does not provide ghostwriting or academic, proposal, or report-writing work on behalf of clients.

4. Payment Terms

• Fees are charged for consultancy time, expertise, and advisory support.
• Payments must be completed before services commence.
• Accepted payment methods: M-Pesa and major debit/credit cards (Visa, Mastercard), processed securely through Paystack.
• All payments are processed securely through our payment partner.

5. Refunds & Disputes

• Refunds are available only if services have not yet commenced.
• Once a consultation or advisory session has started, fees are non-refundable.
• If a client is dissatisfied with the service, we offer a follow-up consultation at no additional cost to address concerns.
• For any disputes, please contact us directly at scholarsyncresearch@proton.me. Our goal is to resolve issues amicably before escalation to payment providers.

6. Confidentiality

• All client information, research materials, and organisational/programme data are treated as strictly confidential.
• ScholarSyncResearch will not share or disclose client data without explicit consent.
• We adhere to professional standards of data protection and privacy.

7. Intellectual Property

• Upon full payment, written deliverables prepared specifically for a client (a manuscript review report, proposal draft content, or evaluation framework) become the client's property to use, revise, and submit as they see fit.
• ScholarSyncResearch retains all rights to its own proprietary methodologies, frameworks, templates, and internal tools used to produce a deliverable. These are not transferred to the client and may be reused across engagements.
• Clients retain full ownership and authorship of their own underlying research, data, and manuscripts at all times. ScholarSyncResearch claims no ownership interest in client-supplied material.

8. Compliance & Ethics

• Services are strictly advisory and consultancy-based.
• ScholarSyncResearch adheres to the highest ethical standards in research support.
• We do not offer ghostwriting, essay writing, or any services that facilitate academic misconduct.
• All services are designed to support scholarly and development-sector advancement in compliance with institutional, publisher, and funder/donor guidelines.

9. Limitation of Liability

• ScholarSyncResearch provides advisory services "as is" and does not guarantee acceptance or publication of manuscripts by journals or publishers, or the award of funding by any donor or funder.
• We are not responsible for decisions made by journals, publishers, academic institutions, funders, or donors regarding client submissions or applications.
• Our liability is limited to the fees paid for the specific service provided.

10. Amendments to These Terms

• ScholarSyncResearch may update these Terms of Service periodically to reflect changes in our services or legal requirements.
• Continued use of our services after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the revised terms.
• Material changes will be reflected by an updated revision date at the bottom of this page.

11. Governing Law

These Terms of Service are governed by the laws of the Republic of Kenya. Any disputes arising from these terms or our services shall be resolved under Kenyan jurisdiction.

12. Contact Information

For any questions regarding these Terms of Service, please contact us at: scholarsyncresearch@proton.me

Last updated: August 2026