Rules
No Elsevier subscription or other purchase is necessary to enter or win. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED OR RESTRICTED.
The Apps for Authors Idea Elsevier Mobile Apps Competition (the “Competition”) is a skill-based competition in which contestants are asked to come up with an original idea for a new journal-based application or an improvement to an existing journal-based application (the “App Idea”).
Please read these rules (the “Official Rules”) before entering the Competition. By entering the Competition, you agree to be bound by the Official Rules, and all the decisions of the Sponsor, and represent that you satisfy all of the eligibility requirements set forth herein.
Sponsor
Elsevier Ltd, The Boulevard, Kidlington, Oxon, OX5 1GB, UK
Eligibility
The Competition is open to individuals aged twenty-one (21) years or older at the time of entry. The individual listed on the entry form will be the only person eligible to receive a prize, even if more than one person has contributed to the submitted App Idea. Participants may be subject to rules imposed by their employer/institution relative to their participation in competitions or promotions and should check with their employer/institution for any relevant policies. Participants are responsible for determining if the Elsevier Mobile Apps Competition is legal in their jurisdiction of residence. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED OR RESTRICTED BY LAW. Directors, officers and employees of the Sponsor, its parents, subsidiaries and affiliates, web design, advertising and promotional agencies, the Competition judges, and the immediate families and those living in the same household of the foregoing are not eligible. Any App Idea, entry form, comment or other participation that violates these Official Rules, applicable laws or regulations, or participant’s employer’s/institution’s policies, will be deemed ineligible.
App idea entry period
The App Idea entry period begins at 23:59:59 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time (“GMT”) on Thursday, 19 April 2012, and ends at 23:59:59 p.m. CET on Thursday, 31 May 2012 (the “Entry Period”). Sponsor's server is the official clock for the Competition.
How to Register
All participants must register at http://www.elsevierappscompetition.com (the “Competition Site”) by submitting a completed Competition Site registration form. Registration on the Competition Site is required to submit App Ideas.
How to enter an app idea
To submit an App Idea, during the Entry Period, registered users must visit the Competition Site, click on the “Submit Idea” link, and complete the App Idea entry form providing all required information. The description of the App Idea in the entry form must be sufficiently clear and detailed to allow the Sponsor to readily assess the purpose, content, and utility of the proposed application. There is no limit on the number of App Ideas each participant may submit, but each App Idea must be unique and submitted in a separate entry form via the Competition Site. Entries that are (i) submitted in any manner other than as specified; (ii) submitted before or after the Entry Period; or (iii) incomplete or in any way not in compliance with these Official Rules will be disqualified. Participant’s proof of submission does not constitute proof of receipt by Sponsor. App Ideas and entry materials submitted through the Competition Site become the property of the Sponsor and will not be returned.
Judging criteria
All App Idea entries will be screened with regard to obvious intellectual property conflicts or any legal issues and whether they fall outside the target area of interest for the Competition. All remaining eligible App Idea entries will be evaluated by a panel of qualified judges (the “Panel”) based on the following criteria:
- Application quality: Application quality includes application content and the concept. The following factors will be evaluated: whether the idea and objective are clearly defined, the overall application concept, the verifiability of the objectives and the capability to scale up the results.
- Innovation/vision: The term “innovation” is to be understood in the context of value creation. Evaluation will be focused on the level of innovation compared with the current applications available on the market. Usefulness to the user as well as novelty will be considered.
- Design/complexity of approach: This criterion will be used to evaluate the complexity of the design and to evaluate the layout of application on a mobile device.
- New Knowledge: Evaluation will also focus on the extent to which the project produces new knowledge of significance with regard to journal publishing.
- Potential for realisation in practice: The application’s potential benefits for the publishing industry as a whole, in terms of user needs fulfilled and advantages proposed, will be evaluated in terms of the possibility and ease of implementing the project within a publishing workflow.
The Panel will select one (1) first place winner (a single individual) and one (1) second place winner (a single individual) from all eligible submissions, whose decisions are final and binding.
Prizes
The winners will receive one of the following prizes:
- 1st Place: Apple® iPad 3rd Generation 16GB™, Wi-Fi model (approximate retail value (ARV) US$599)
- Runners Up: Amazon.com® Gift Card (ARV US$100)
Apple® and iPad® are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. who does not sponsor, endorse, administer, or is not associated with this Competition. Amazon® is a registered trademark of Amazon.com LLC who does not sponsor, endorse, administer, or is not associated with this Competition.
Notice to Winners
Potential winner(s) will be notified by email within one (1) month of the Competition closing date, and will receive their prize within six (6) weeks of notification.
All winners must sign and return to Sponsor a Declaration of Eligibility and Liability/Publicity Release within 14 days of notification in order to claim the prize. If a winner: (i) is determined to be ineligible; (ii) cannot be contacted (for example, if the notice is returned as undeliverable); (iii) fails to return the completed Declaration of Eligibility and Liability/Publicity Release within 14 days of notification; or (iv) declines or waives the prize, or cannot or fails to accept the prize for any reason, then the prize will be forfeited and an alternate winner will be selected based upon the judging criteria by the Panel.
Limit one (1) prize per person/registered user/e-mail address. Prizes will be awarded via mail to the name and address provided in the claim forms within 6 to 8 weeks following confirmation. Winners are responsible for payment of any local, state, or federal taxes applicable to winning the prize. No cash in lieu of prize. No substitution of prize, except that Sponsor reserves the right to substitute a prize of equal or greater value in the event a prize or prize component becomes unavailable for any reason. No transfer of prize prior to award. Sponsor is not responsible for lost, late, misdirected, mutilated or postage due mail or e-mail.
Winning App Idea entries, credited with the entrant’s name, role and country, will be posted on the Competition Site on or about 30 June 2012, or as soon as the winners have been confirmed according to the process herein.
Original work
App Ideas submitted must be the original work of the participant submitting them. By submitting an App Idea in the Competition, participant voluntarily forfeits all proprietary rights in the App Idea and conveys full ownership to Sponsor. App Ideas submitted shall not: (i) violate the intellectual property rights (copyright, patent, trademark, etc.) of any third party; (ii) defame or invade the publicity or privacy rights of any person, living or deceased; (iii) be the subject of a patent or pending patent application; or (iv) otherwise infringe upon any person’s or entity’s personal or proprietary rights. Participants are responsible for ensuring that Sponsor may use, develop, build, or otherwise publish their App Ideas without the permission of any third party. Any entries found to be in violation of these provisions will be disqualified. Entries must not be obscene, profane, or unsuitable for publication in Sponsor’s sole discretion.
Right to use entries and personal information
By submitting an App Idea in the Competition, participants understand and agree that, as the owner of all rights in the App Ideas submitted, Sponsor may post, publish, display, use, reproduce, distribute, edit, translate, exploit, and create derivative works from the App Ideas, the entries (including any visual materials), for any commercial or non-commercial purposes in any manner and in any medium now known or hereafter devised throughout the world in perpetuity without restriction and without further obligation to participants or any other party. Participants agree and understand that Sponsor may choose to build, or not to build, and allow others to build applications based on the App Ideas. Participants agree and understand that Sponsor will make all eligible App Ideas and accompanying comments within participant’s entry form available to the SciVerse Applications Developer community at large, so that others may use the App Ideas and comments in building applications in future projects without restriction by or further obligation to participants. By submitting an App Idea to the Competition, participants specifically agree to such use. Participants agree not to instigate, support, maintain or authorize any action or lawsuit against Sponsor and/or its affiliates, or any of their employees, officers, directors, or agents, on the ground that any use or development of their App Ideas, entries or comments infringes any of their rights as creators of such App Ideas, entries, and comments.
By entering the Competition and by submitting App Ideas on the Competition Site, participants grant Sponsor and its affiliates, the rights, without limitation or further permission or compensation, to use, display and publish their name, role and country, with or without their App Ideas, or other entry materials, on the Competition Site and in connection with any references to or discussions of the Competition in any media. Winners’ full names, role and country, as well as their App Ideas, entries and any comments relating to their App Ideas, may be featured on the Competition Site and websites of the Sponsor and its affiliates and in printed and online publications. Participants hereby forever waive and relinquish all so-called “moral rights (droit moral)” now or hereafter recognized in the App Ideas, entries and comments.
Disclaimer/limitation of liability
Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in these Official Rules or elsewhere, Sponsor makes available the Competition, the Competition Site, and any prizes on an “as is” basis and disclaims all warranties, including any warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose in connection therewith. Sponsor and its parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, agents, professional advisors, advertising and promotional agencies, and directors, officers, and employees thereof, shall not have any obligation, liability or responsibility for: (i) lost, late, incomplete, illegible, unintelligible, damaged, garbled, or misdirected entries, comments, votes, prize claims, notifications, or other communications; (ii) inaccurate entry information, whether caused by participant or by any of the equipment or programming associated with the Competition; (iii) any errors or malfunctions that may occur; (iv) any condition caused by events beyond Sponsor’s control that may cause the Competition to be delayed, disrupted or corrupted; (v) any error in any materials associated with the Competition; and (vi) any damages or losses of any kind resulting from participation in the Competition, accessing, transmitting, uploading or downloading data in connection with the Competition, or acceptance, possession or use of any prize. Any use of robotic, automatic, macro, programmed or like entry methods is strictly prohibited and will result in the disqualification of any participant or registered user using such methods and the voiding of any votes generated by such methods, in Sponsor’s sole discretion.
Release
By entering the Competition and/or by submitting comments on finalist entries, participants release and hold harmless Sponsor and its parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, agents, professional advisors, advertising and promotional agencies, and directors, officers, and employees thereof, from any and all claims, injuries, loss, damage, expenses, or liabilities of any kind arising out of or in connection with the Competition, participation in the Competition (including providing comments), or delivery, misdelivery, acceptance, possession, and use of, or inability to use, any prize, to the extent permitted by law. in no event will Sponsor be liable to a participant for any indirect, incidental, consequential, special, punitive, or exemplary damages arising out of, or in connection with the Competition, whether or not Sponsor has been advised, had reason to know, or in fact knew of the possibility of such damage.
Governing law and venue
The laws of the UK govern the Competition and these Official Rules. Participants irrevocably consent to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of UK with respect to any action or suit arising out of or pertaining to the Competition and these Official Rules (except where local law requires otherwise).
Reservation of rights
If for any reason, the Competition is not capable of being run as planned, the Sponsor reserves the right in its sole discretion to change these Official Rules, disqualify any individual who tampers with the entry process or operation of the Competition, and to modify, suspend, cancel or terminate the Competition. If the Competition is terminated early, the Sponsor may select Finalists and winners based on the App Ideas and Comments received prior to the termination date or take any other action in its sole discretion to carry out the letter and spirit of these Official Rules.
Rules
Participants agree to be bound by these Official Rules and the decisions of the Sponsor in regards to the Competition. Any participant found to be acting in violation of these Official Rules may be disqualified in Sponsor’s sole discretion. In the event of a dispute regarding the identity of a winner, the winner will be the individual registered user named in the Competition Site registration through which the App Idea or Comment was submitted.
Winners list
The names of the winners will be posted on the Competition Site for at least thirty (30) days after the winners are selected, along with a copy of these Official Rules.