Terms of Use
These Terms of Use govern your use of SigmaCV at sigmacv.org and its pages. By creating an account or otherwise using SigmaCV, you agree to them. If you do not agree, please do not use the service. They apply alongside our Privacy & Data Protection notice, which is incorporated here by reference.
The service
SigmaCV is a free, open-source tool that assembles an academic CV from public research metadata and lets you curate, style, export, and optionally publish it. It is operated by Basile Chrétien (PharmD, MSc, MPH) as an independent personal project — not by, or on behalf of, any university or employer — and is provided free of charge for individual, non-commercial use.
Accounts & eligibility
Using SigmaCV requires signing in through a supported provider (ORCID, Google, or email). You are responsible for activity under your account and for keeping your sign-in method secure. You must be at least 16, or the age of digital consent in your country, to create an account. Do not impersonate anyone else or misrepresent your identity or affiliation.
Your content
You keep ownership of the CV content and any profile photo you add. You are responsible for what your CV contains and, if you publish a public page, for what you make public — including ensuring you have the right to use anything you upload and that it is accurate and not misleading. You grant SigmaCV the limited permission needed to store, process, and display your content so the service can work — for example, to render your CV, generate exports, and serve your public page when you choose to publish. We claim no other rights over your content, and the permission ends when you delete the content or your account.
Acceptable use
Use SigmaCV only for lawful purposes and as intended. Do not: upload or publish unlawful, infringing, hateful, or deliberately false content; impersonate another researcher or claim work that is not yours; attempt to break, overload, probe, or gain unauthorised access to the service or its infrastructure; bulk-extract data by means other than the features provided; or use the service in a way that breaches the terms of the public data sources it relies on. We may remove content or restrict access that breaks these rules.
Auto-generated data
SigmaCV builds your CV from third-party public sources (OpenAlex, ORCID, Crossref, DataCite and others). That data can be incomplete, out of date, or wrongly attributed — for example, a publication by a different researcher with a similar name. The service flags likely mismatches, but you are responsible for reviewing and correcting your CV before relying on it or publishing it. We do not warrant the accuracy or completeness of data obtained from these sources.
No warranty
SigmaCV is provided “as is” and “as available”, without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy, or uninterrupted availability. Because the service is free and personally run, it may change, become unavailable, or be discontinued at any time. To the maximum extent permitted by law, we disclaim all warranties not expressly stated here.
Limitation of liability
To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, the operator will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, or consequential damages, or for loss of data, opportunities, or reputation, arising from your use of (or inability to use) SigmaCV — including any reliance on auto-generated CV data. Nothing here limits liability that cannot be limited by law.
Suspension & termination
You can stop using SigmaCV at any time and delete your account and all associated data from within the app. We may suspend or end access if you materially breach these terms or use the service in a way that harms it or its users — where practical, with notice. If the service is discontinued, we will give reasonable notice so you can export your data first.
Changes
We may update these terms as the service evolves. When changes are material we will note them on this page and update the date below; continuing to use SigmaCV after a change means you accept the revised terms. If you do not agree to a change, please delete your account.
Intellectual property
The SigmaCV software is open source under its licence on GitHub — your rights to the code come from that licence. The SigmaCV name, look, and branding belong to the operator and are not granted by these terms or by the software licence. Third-party data and citation styles remain the property of their sources and are used under their own terms.
Privacy
How we handle your personal data — data minimisation, identifier-only matching, and research logging only with your explicit consent — is described in our Privacy & Data Protection notice, which forms part of these terms. Privacy & Data Protection
Governing law
These terms are governed by the laws of Japan, where the operator is established, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. If you use SigmaCV as a consumer, this does not deprive you of the protection of the mandatory consumer-protection rules of your country of residence — for example, in the EU. We aim to resolve any dispute amicably, so please contact us first.
Contact
Questions about these terms? Email the operator at privacy@sigmacv.org or use the contact page.
These terms are provided in several languages for convenience; if the versions differ, the English text prevails.
Last updated June 2026.