This policy governs conduct inside every ResearchBuddy AI virtual lab. It applies to Research Supervisors, enrolled Students, and ResearchBuddy AI staff. It sits alongside the Research Supervisor Terms and Conditions; where a term is defined there, the same meaning applies here.

Everything created or shared inside a lab is confidential. All members must maintain confidentiality throughout the cohort, and material that remains unpublished stays confidential until it is formally published. Confidential material includes: • Research ideas, topics, and proposals. • Unpublished data, datasets, methodology, and research instruments. • Draft manuscripts and internal review comments. • Session recordings, slides, and shared lab documents. • Personal information of students, supervisors, and staff, and internal platform discussions. Live sessions are recorded for lab use only. Recordings must not be downloaded, forwarded, re-uploaded, or shared with anyone outside the lab.

Ideas developed inside a lab are owned jointly by the contributing members and the lab. They are not exposable outside the lab and may not be pursued independently by any individual. A member may state that they work on a research project at ResearchBuddy AI when applying for jobs, scholarships, or graduate admission, and may request a recommendation from their supervisor. Unpublished results, data, and manuscripts must not be shared in the process.

If a member leaves before the work is complete, the topic is retained by the lab. That member may not take the idea and publish it on their own or with anyone else. Any work that originated in a lab must be submitted through the lab. If a violation is established, ResearchBuddy AI will take strong action, including a formal report to the journal or conference concerned.

Consent: Consent from the supervisor, all co-researchers on the project, and ResearchBuddy AI is required before any lab work is submitted for publication. Order: Authorship order is decided by the supervisor on the basis of each member’s contribution. Acknowledgement: Every publication arising from a lab must carry the following statement in the acknowledgement section: “The authors acknowledge ResearchBuddy AI Ltd. for providing the collaborative virtual laboratory infrastructure and research coordination support under which this study was carried out.”

Publication and processing fees are the responsibility of the students and the supervisor of the lab, not of the platform. The supervisor may divide the fee equally among the student authors, or may choose to contribute personally. ResearchBuddy AI does not sell authorship. No person may be added as an author in exchange for paying a publication fee without having genuinely worked on the paper. Ensuring this is the supervisor’s responsibility. Any complaint on this issue will be investigated by the Chief Research Officer, and both supervisors and students are required to cooperate with that investigation.

• Submitting or publishing lab work in a predatory journal or conference is strictly prohibited, under any circumstance. • Data fabrication and falsification are prohibited. • Plagiarism and misrepresentation of sources are prohibited.

Members are expected to attend the weekly live session and to participate actively between sessions. Students are expected to continue in the lab until a draft paper is ready for submission. Depending on the field, this normally takes six to twelve months.

• No outsider may join a lab session without approval from ResearchBuddy AI. • Unpublished results, session content, and screenshots must not be posted on social media or any public platform.

No student or supervisor may harass another member in any form. All members are expected to communicate respectfully with each other at all times. Harassment is treated as a serious violation of this policy.

Where a member is found to have breached this policy, ResearchBuddy AI may apply any of the following: • Removal from the lab without refund. • Withholding of the experience or completion certificate. • Referral to the Chief Research Officer for serious cases, including formal notification to the relevant journal or conference. Where a breach involves confidential lab data, unpublished research, or the personal information of members, ResearchBuddy AI reserves the right to pursue legal action against the responsible party in addition to the measures above. Suspected breaches should be reported to the Chief Research Officer at info@researchbuddy.tech.

By joining a ResearchBuddy AI virtual lab as a supervisor and student you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agreed to this Virtual Lab Policy. Nahiyan Bin Noor Chief Research Officer, ResearchBuddy AI Ltd. Issued August 2026