Noterva
Privacy policy for Noterva Journals — Journal Intelligence for Google Scholar on Chrome, Edge, Firefox and other browsers. Effective 21 August 2026.
Noterva Journals runs only on Google Scholar. Without a Noterva account you can use the journal-search tool in its toolbar popup; the on-page features — journal ratings, retraction flags, abstracts, sorting, citation export and saving to your library — require a free Noterva account (a short free trial, then Premium). Whenever it resolves a result’s rating, abstract or retraction status, it looks that article up using public bibliographic metadata such as title, authors, journal or source, DOI, and ISSN — never your search queries or browsing history. Account features process your email, authentication and licensing credentials, a random device ID, and the journals and papers you choose to save.
On Google Scholar results and author-profile pages it shows each journal’s ABDC, ABS/AJG, Scopus and FT50 classification, and flags articles that have been retracted. It can also show an article’s abstract on request, sort results by citations, and export or save references with their venue record. To resolve these signals, the extension looks up public bibliographic metadata such as title, authors, journal or source, DOI, and ISSN in Crossref, OpenAlex, and Noterva’s own record server (below). It runs on no other website. These on-page features need a free Noterva account (a short free trial, then Premium); without an account you can still use the journal-search tool in the toolbar popup. One Noterva account also syncs your saved library across devices.
To make these lookups fast and to fill in details that Crossref and OpenAlex do not carry, our server keeps a cache of article records — public bibliographic data only (title, journal, identifiers, abstract, citation metrics and similar). When our server does not yet hold an abstract for an article, it retrieves one from additional public scholarly databases — Semantic Scholar and Europe PMC — stores it, and serves it to users. These records are about the article, not about you: they carry no account identifier and are not linked to any individual. Where an abstract is provided by Semantic Scholar, it is labelled accordingly.
Using a Noterva account is optional, but it is required for the extension’s signed-in features and cross-device library synchronization. One Noterva account works across all Noterva extensions. When you sign in, your email and password are sent over HTTPS to noterva.com for authentication and licensing reconciliation. The extension does not store your password. It stores session and account-license credentials locally so it can maintain your session, verify the account identity, apply your plan and synchronize the correct account’s library. Signing out removes those credentials but does not automatically erase that account’s locally saved library.
When you save a journal or paper to “My Journals”, its bibliographic metadata — journal title, ISSN, ratings, and for saved papers the title, authors, DOI and volume/issue/pages — is stored locally under a library specific to the signed-in account. While you remain signed in, that library is automatically synchronized to the same account on noterva.com for access on your other devices and account dashboard. Items removed from the main library first enter Trash and may remain locally and in the synchronized library until you explicitly delete them permanently. Uncertain data from older extension versions may be retained locally in a recovery quarantine rather than assigned to a different account. You may permanently delete saved items or request deletion of server data associated with your account.
Premium is tied to your account and activated per device. There are two ways to activate:
Your device ID is generated locally and at random; it is not your browser fingerprint, your IP, or any hardware identifier. Once activated it remains associated with the account until the device is deactivated or removed, and is used only to apply your license and enforce the device limit.
| What | When | To whom | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Public bibliographic metadata (such as title, authors, journal or source, DOI, and ISSN) | When a result is shown on Google Scholar, and when you export or save it | Crossref (api.crossref.org) | To resolve the journal’s rating and complete the citation — journal, ISSN, volume, issue, pages, DOI. |
| Public bibliographic metadata (such as title, authors, journal or source, DOI, and ISSN) | When a result is shown, or when you open its abstract | OpenAlex (api.openalex.org) | To resolve the abstract, keywords, citation metrics and retraction status when Crossref does not carry them. |
| A public DOI | When you open a result’s abstract, or export or save a result | noterva.com | To fetch the record our server has assembled for that article — public bibliographic data (abstract, identifiers, citation metrics), not linked to you. If our server lacks an abstract, it sources one from Semantic Scholar or Europe PMC. |
| Your account email and password | Only when you sign in or create an account | noterva.com | To authenticate your account. The password is never stored by the extension. |
| A random device ID (with your product code) | When you activate this device on your account, and on periodic license re-checks | noterva.com | To apply your plan and enforce the device limit. The binding remains until the device is deactivated or removed. |
| The journals and papers you save (metadata only) | Automatically while you are signed in, including after saving, opening the popup, or resolving a sync conflict | noterva.com | To keep the signed-in account’s “My Journals” library in sync across devices and on the dashboard. |
| An activation code and a random device ID | Only if you activate with a single-use offline code | Noterva licensing server (ajayceindia.com) | To validate the code once and prevent it being reused. No email or account is sent. |
| A request for classification datasets | On load and periodic updates | noterva.com | To download the ABDC / ABS / Scopus / FT50 reference data. This is data only — no code is executed. |
We do not transmit your search terms or browsing history. Scholarly lookups send only public bibliographic metadata for the academic result being displayed, such as title, authors, journal or source, DOI, and ISSN. The account and library service is noterva.com; single-use offline codes are validated on ajayceindia.com — both are operated by us.
Server-side, we retain account, licensing and random device-identification records as needed to provide and administer the account and plan. A synchronized library remains until its items are permanently deleted or the account data is deleted. Account-scoped local libraries and Trash entries remain after sign-out until items are explicitly deleted, extension storage is cleared, or the extension is uninstalled. Account-specific safety backups and recovery-quarantine data remain until extension storage is cleared or the extension is uninstalled. Public bibliographic records cached by our server are not linked to a user account. All network transfers use HTTPS. The extension contains no private keys or secrets; activation codes are verified against a public key only.
This is a tool for researchers and is not directed at children under 13 (or the age of digital consent in your jurisdiction).
We handle personal data in line with India’s Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act and comparable principles elsewhere. You may ask us to show you, correct, or delete any data associated with your license or account by writing to us.
If this policy changes materially we will update the effective date above and, where appropriate, note it in the extension or store listing.
Privacy, access and deletion requests: connect@noterva.com. Product support and data-error reports: notervaindia@gmail.com.
Noterva is a product for researchers and scholars in all domains. See also the other extensions’ policies and the website policy at /privacy.