Rectoly — Terms of Use

Last updated October 7, 2026

These Terms of Use govern your use of Rectoly (the "App"), developed by Hawk Eye, the trade name of Takaki Takemura, a sole proprietor in Japan ("we," "us"). By downloading or using the App, you agree to these Terms and to the terms of the store you obtained the App from. If you obtained it from the App Store, Apple's Standard End User License Agreement also applies except where these Terms provide otherwise. If you obtained it from Google Play, the Google Play Terms of Service also apply. If you bought it on our website for Windows, Mac, Linux, or Android, the purchase is made through Paddle.com and the Paddle Buyer Terms also apply.

License

We grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to use Rectoly on devices you own or control, for your personal, non-commercial use, subject to these Terms and to the terms of the store or reseller you obtained the App from — Apple's App Store Terms of Service, the Google Play Terms of Service, or the Paddle Buyer Terms. One purchase may be shared across up to three accounts of the same product that you yourself use (for example, a research account and a personal one). It may not be shared with, transferred, or resold to anyone else.

Independence and trademarks

Rectoly is an independent, third-party client. It is not affiliated with, sponsored by, endorsed by, or otherwise associated with Elsevier B.V., Mendeley Ltd., the Corporation for Digital Scholarship, or Zotero. "Mendeley" is a trademark of Elsevier B.V. and its affiliates; "Zotero" is a trademark of the Corporation for Digital Scholarship. Those names are used only to describe what Rectoly is compatible with, in the form "Rectoly for Mendeley" and "Rectoly for Zotero."

Rectoly connects to those services through their publicly documented APIs and under their respective developer terms. Your use of Mendeley or Zotero themselves is governed by their own terms and privacy policies, not by these Terms. Access to those APIs is outside our control: if a provider changes, limits, or withdraws its API, some or all sync features may stop working, and we are not liable for that.

Your account and content

Rectoly connects to your own Mendeley or Zotero account to read and sync your reference library. You are responsible for the accuracy and legality of the documents you import and annotate. We do not claim ownership of your documents, highlights, underlines, sticky notes, or handwriting — they remain yours.

Data, backups, and your responsibility

Rectoly is an app for reading and annotating the references you keep in Mendeley or Zotero. It is not a storage, archival, or backup service, and it does not guarantee that any document, annotation, or setting will be preserved, synced, or recoverable.

• You are solely responsible for maintaining your own backups of any data that matters to you — through the official desktop application of your reference manager, your Mendeley or Zotero account, iCloud on iPad and iPhone, or external storage — before and while you use Rectoly.
• Data may be lost or corrupted for reasons that include, without limitation: device loss, damage, or reset; deleting the App; operating-system or App updates; failed, partial, or conflicting syncs; changes, outages, or rate limits on the Mendeley or Zotero side; iCloud or network failures; and defects in the App itself.
• Sync resolves conflicts automatically where it can. Where a conflict cannot be resolved, an edit made on one device may be overwritten by another. Verify anything critical against your authoritative copy.
• Deleting the App, or signing out, may remove locally stored documents, annotations, and handwriting from your device.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, we accept no liability whatsoever for the loss, corruption, or unavailability of data, or for any delay to or disruption of research or other activity, arising from your use of the App.

Free trial and one-time purchase

Rectoly is free to download, and every feature is available free of charge during a trial period. Continued use after the trial requires a single one-time purchase. On iPad and iPhone it is an in-app purchase billed to your Apple ID, as it is on Mac for the App Store version. On Windows, Linux, and Android, and for the Mac version downloaded from our website, it is bought on our website.

• For an in-app purchase, payment is charged to your Apple ID at confirmation of purchase.
• Purchases on our website are sold by our online reseller Paddle.com, which is the Merchant of Record for these orders. Paddle processes the payment, charges any applicable sales tax or VAT, issues the receipt, and returns the money when a refund is approved.
• The purchase is a one-time payment. It is not a subscription: nothing renews, and there are no recurring or additional charges.
• The free trial never converts into a charge automatically. Nothing is billed unless you choose to make the purchase.
• A purchase made on one platform also unlocks the App on the other platforms we support, as long as you sign in with the same account — your Mendeley account for Rectoly for Mendeley, your Zotero account for Rectoly for Zotero. This is a convenience we offer rather than a guarantee: it depends on the stores, Paddle, and that account remaining available.
• A purchase on our website lets the desktop app keep working offline after it has confirmed the purchase once. If the purchase is refunded or charged back, the unlock is removed on every platform.
• Refunds are described in our Refund Policy. Purchases on our website can be refunded in full within 14 days of purchase. App Store purchases are refunded by Apple under the App Store's own policy: request a refund at reportaproblem.apple.com.

Acceptable use

You agree not to use Rectoly to infringe copyright, distribute malware, or violate applicable law. We may suspend access to sync features if we detect abuse of the Mendeley or Zotero integration or attempts to circumvent purchase requirements.

Disclaimer of warranty

Rectoly is provided "as is" and "as available," without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. We do not guarantee the App will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error-free, that it will remain compatible with any third-party service, or that any data will be preserved or accurately synced.

The App’s translation feature is machine translation, and we do not warrant its accuracy or completeness. Translations are there to help you understand the original. For quotations, for research judgements and for any decision that matters, always check the original text.

Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Hawk Eye is not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, nor for any loss or corruption of data, loss of annotations or documents, delay to or interruption of research, academic, or professional activity, or loss of profits or opportunity, arising from or related to your use of, or inability to use, the App — even if we have been advised of the possibility of such damages.

Where liability cannot be excluded, our total aggregate liability is limited to the amount you actually paid for the App in the twelve months preceding the event giving rise to the claim.

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of certain warranties or the limitation of certain damages, so parts of the two sections above may not apply to you. Nothing in these Terms limits liability that cannot be limited under applicable law, including liability for willful misconduct or gross negligence, or rights you have under mandatory consumer-protection law.

Changes to the App or these Terms

We may update the App and these Terms from time to time. Continued use of the App after changes take effect constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.

Termination

We may suspend or terminate your access to sync-related features if you violate these Terms. You may stop using the App and delete it at any time. Export or back up anything you want to keep before you do.

Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of Japan, without regard to conflict-of-law principles. Any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the App shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts located in Japan, unless applicable consumer-protection law requires otherwise.

Business information

• Business name: Hawk Eye — the trade name of a sole proprietor in Japan
• Representative: Takaki Takemura
• Registered address: Manor House 202, 2-19-8 Minamisenzoku, Ota-ku, Tokyo 145-0063, Japan
• Telephone: +81 70-8440-2070
• Email: [email protected]

The price, payment methods and timing, delivery, returns, and system requirements for the Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android editions sold on our website are set out on our Business Information page — the disclosure required of Japanese online sellers by the Act on Specified Commercial Transactions.

Contact

Questions about these Terms: [email protected]