TERMS OF USE

Effective September 5, 2026​

​

 

1. Agreement

​

These Terms govern your use of biirgs.com and of the materials, events, and services offered through it. By using the site, downloading our materials, subscribing to our communications, or registering for our events, you agree to them. If you are acting for an organization, you confirm you have authority to bind it.

The Blackwell Institute of Innovative Research & Global Strategies ("BIIRGS") is an independent interdisciplinary psychological science institute incorporated in the United States.

2. Using the Site

You may read, print, and store our freely published content for your own reference, quote short extracts in academic, journalistic, or professional work with proper attribution, and link to any page on the site provided the link does not imply an endorsement or affiliation that does not exist.

The site is intended for professional and institutional audiences. You must be 18 or over to purchase, license, or enter into any agreement with us.

You agree not to:​

​

• reproduce, republish, or commercially exploit our content beyond what these Terms permit;

• remove or alter any copyright, trademark, or attribution notice;

• present our research as your own or as another organization’s;

• misrepresent our findings, or use our name or research to imply an endorsement we have not given;

• use the site unlawfully, or to transmit defamatory, harassing, or infringing material;

• attempt unauthorized access, introduce malicious code, or interfere with the site’s operation;

• use automated systems in a way that places an unreasonable load on the site; or

• use contact details published on the site to send unsolicited commercial messages.

3. Intellectual Property

All content on the site — including research reports, briefs, commentary, toolkits, frameworks, methodologies, data, text, graphics, images, and the selection and arrangement of content — is owned by BIIRGS or its licensors and protected by copyright, database rights, trademark, and other intellectual property laws. All rights not expressly granted are reserved.

 

BIIRGS’s names, logos, taglines, program and initiative names, frameworks, methodologies, and other brand identifiers are trademarks, service marks, trade names, or other protected identifiers owned and used by BIIRGS.

​

Registered marks are identified by ® where applicable; other marks may be identified by ™. The absence of a symbol does not waive our rights.

​

Accurate factual references to BIIRGS for citation, reporting, commentary, criticism, or other uses permitted by law are allowed. You may not use our names, logos, or marks in a manner likely to cause confusion, imply an endorsement, sponsorship, affiliation, or partnership that does not exist, or identify your own products, services, advertising, domain names, or social media accounts without our prior written consent.

BIIRGS reserves all rights in its content in relation to text and data mining, web scraping, and the training or fine-tuning of artificial intelligence systems. This reservation is made for the purposes of Article 4(3) of Directive (EU) 2019/790 and any equivalent provision elsewhere. Ordinary search engine indexing and use by assistive technologies are permitted.

4. Citation

​

Where a BIIRGS publication provides a recommended citation, please use that citation. Otherwise, include the named author or institutional author, year of publication, full title, The Blackwell Institute of Innovative Research & Global Strategies, and a stable URL or DOI.

​

For publications with named authors:

​

[Author surname, initials]. ([Year]). [Title of publication]. The Blackwell Institute of Innovative Research & Global Strategies. [URL or DOI]

​

For institutionally authored publications:

​

The Blackwell Institute of Innovative Research & Global Strategies. ([Year]). [Title of publication]. [URL or DOI]

​

You may adapt the punctuation and order to a recognized academic or professional citation style, provided the source remains clearly and accurately attributed.

 

Quotations and extracts must be clearly identified and represented accurately. Do not alter or present BIIRGS content in a way that materially misrepresents its source, findings, scope, sample, or limitations. Attribution does not authorize reproduction or distribution beyond what these Terms, an applicable license, or the law permits.

5. Licensed Materials

Some BIIRGS materials, including Research Editions and commissioned outputs, are available only under a separate license or engagement agreement. Access is granted to the named licensee at the tier purchased and for the scope set out in that license. Licensed materials may not be copied, resold, sublicensed, posted publicly, or circulated beyond the permitted users. Where a license and these Terms conflict, the license governs. Unauthorized distribution is a material breach and may result in termination without refund.

6. Events and Payment

​

Registration is personal to the named registrant unless we state otherwise. Prices are stated at the point of purchase, and payment is processed by a third-party provider under its own terms. Event recordings, slides, and materials remain our property. Where we record an event, we will say so in advance. Participants may not record, reproduce, or distribute any part of an event without our prior written consent.

​

Participant cancellations. Unless a different cancellation policy is clearly disclosed on the relevant event or registration page before purchase, a participant may request a refund by 11:59 pm ET at least seven calendar days before the scheduled event. Requests received after that deadline are not eligible for a refund.

​

Cancellation requests must be sent to events@biirgs.com and include the purchaser’s name, registration email address, and event title. Registrations may be transferred to another eligible participant or to a future BIIRGS event only with our written approval. Eligibility requirements continue to apply to student, supported, or otherwise restricted registration categories.

​

Changes or cancellations by BIIRGS. We may make reasonable changes to an event, including its date, time, facilitator, location, or delivery format. If we cancel an event, registrants will receive a refund of the registration fee paid unless they choose an alternative offered by BIIRGS. If we materially reschedule an event and you cannot attend, you may request a refund within 14 calendar days after we notify you, provided the request is received before the rescheduled event takes place.

​

Refunds are issued to the original payment method. BIIRGS is not responsible for travel, accommodation, technology, or other costs incurred in connection with an event, except where required by law.

​

Nothing in this section limits any cancellation, refund, or other consumer right that cannot lawfully be excluded. Where applicable law provides greater protection, that law prevails.

7. Submissions

If you send us feedback, comments, or suggestions through the site, you grant us a non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual license to use them without obligation to you, unless we agree otherwise in writing. Please do not send confidential information through general site channels; material submitted this way is not treated as confidential. This does not apply to research participation or to commissioned engagements governed by a written agreement.

8. No Professional Advice

Content on the site is provided for information and research. It is not psychological, clinical, medical, legal, employment, financial, or tax advice, and it is not a substitute for advice tailored to your circumstances by a qualified professional. No professional or client relationship is created by using the site, reading our publications, or attending our events. Formal engagements are established only through a written agreement signed by BIIRGS.

Our research examines patterns across populations and organizations. Findings describe tendencies within a defined scope and sample; they do not predict outcomes for any individual person or organization. Decisions taken in reliance on our published content are your own.

9. Disclaimers and Liability

​

The site and its freely available content are provided for general information and research. To the fullest extent permitted by law, they are provided “as is” and “as available.” We take reasonable care in preparing our content, but we do not guarantee that it will always be complete, current, error-free, uninterrupted, secure, or free from harmful components. We may suspend, change, or withdraw the site or any content at any time.

​

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; death or personal injury caused by negligence; breach of statutory consumer rights, including any obligation to provide services with reasonable care and skill; or any other liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited.

​

If you are a consumer, BIIRGS remains responsible for loss or damage that is a reasonably foreseeable result of our breach of these Terms or failure to exercise reasonable care and skill. We are not responsible for losses that were not reasonably foreseeable or for business losses arising from use undertaken wholly or mainly for personal purposes. Your statutory rights remain unaffected.

​

If you use the site, content, events, or services in connection with a trade, business, profession, or organization, you are a business user. Subject to the liabilities that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited, BIIRGS will not be liable to a business user for any indirect, incidental, special, punitive, or consequential loss, or for any loss of profits, revenue, business, opportunity, goodwill, anticipated savings, or data. BIIRGS’s total aggregate liability to a business user arising under or in connection with these Terms will not exceed the greater of the total fees that the business user paid to BIIRGS under these Terms during the twelve months immediately preceding the act or omission giving rise to the claim, or one hundred United States dollars.

​

If you are a business user, you agree to indemnify BIIRGS against third-party claims and reasonable losses, liabilities, and expenses to the extent caused by your material breach of these Terms, unlawful misuse of the site or BIIRGS content, or infringement of another person’s rights. This indemnity does not apply to the extent that a claim results from BIIRGS’s own negligence, willful misconduct, or breach of these Terms.

​

This section does not replace a limitation-of-liability or indemnification provision contained in a separate license, event, or engagement agreement. Where such an agreement applies, its provisions govern the activities covered by that agreement.

10. Governing Law

​

Subject to the consumer protections set out below, these Terms and any dispute arising from them are governed by the laws of the State of New Jersey, United States, without regard to conflict-of-law principles, and the state and federal courts of New Jersey have exclusive jurisdiction.

​

If you are a consumer resident in the United Kingdom, the European Union, or another jurisdiction that grants mandatory protections that cannot be varied by agreement, nothing in these Terms deprives you of those protections or of any right that applicable law gives you to bring proceedings in another competent court.

​

Before commencing proceedings, we encourage you to contact us so that we can attempt to resolve the matter in good faith.

11. General

​

These Terms apply together with any event-specific terms and any applicable license or engagement agreement. If they conflict, the more specific agreement governs the matter it covers. Our Privacy Policy explains how we collect and use personal information; it does not form part of the contract between us.

​

If any provision of these Terms is found to be unlawful or unenforceable, the remaining provisions will continue in effect. Our failure to enforce any provision is not a waiver of our right to enforce it later.

​

You may not assign or transfer your rights under these Terms without our prior written consent. We may assign our rights and obligations in connection with a reorganization, merger, or transfer of our activities, provided that doing so does not reduce your rights.

​

We are not responsible for a failure or delay caused by circumstances beyond our reasonable control. This does not affect any refund or other right provided under Section 6 or required by applicable law.

​

We may revise these Terms. The effective date at the top shows when they last changed, and continued use after that date constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms. Changes do not apply retrospectively to licenses or engagements already agreed.

12. Contact

 

• General questions, permission requests, and licensing inquiries: inquiries@biirgs.com 

• Event registration and cancellation matters: events@biirgs.com

• Privacy matters: privacy@biirgs.com