Disclaimer

Effective August 24, 2026 · Version 2026-08-24-launch

Use at your own risk

The Service is provided AS IS, with no service-level guarantees. Features may be modified, suspended or discontinued; where reasonably practicable we will give notice of material changes. Do not use Acanthus as the system of record for decisions with legal, financial, contractual or reputational consequences. Keep your own backups (e.g. CSV exports) of any data that matters to you.

Advisory tool only

Acanthus aggregates judge scores using the configuration you choose (e.g. average, weighted sum, rank). The output is an aid to decision-making, not the decision itself. Final award decisions, eligibility, conflicts of interest and tie-breaking remain the sole responsibility of the conference organizer and the relevant award committee.

No academic endorsement

We are an independent software vendor. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or accredited by any conference, university, society or publisher.

Accuracy

While we work hard to keep the Service reliable, we do not guarantee that scores, rankings or exports are free from human entry errors, configuration mistakes, rounding artefacts or temporary outages. Always review results before publication.

Third-party content

Presenter titles, abstracts and other materials are provided by organizers. We do not review or endorse this content.

Bias and fairness

Aggregated scores reflect the judges and rubric you configure. Acanthus does not detect or correct for individual judge bias. Organizers should design rubrics and judge panels with fairness in mind.