Publication Charge
Last updated: August, 2026.
An Article Publication Charge (APC) is a standard fee levied upon authors to enable their research to be published under an open access model. Unlike traditional subscription-based publishing, where readers pay for access, the open access model shifts the cost to the author’s side, ensuring that the final published work is freely and immediately available to anyone with an internet connection.
The APC may be covered by the author’s personal research budget, by the author’s affiliated institution or university, or by the research funding body that supported the underlying project. Many major research councils and foundations now include APC allowances as part of their grant agreements.
For our open access journals, the APC directly supports the comprehensive editorial and production services required to maintain rigorous quality standards. These services include the management and administration of the double-blind peer-review process, coordination with reviewers and editorial board members, professional copyediting and language polishing, typesetting and layout design, figure processing, metadata creation, DOI registration, and long-term digital archiving. The fee also covers the costs of hosting the final published article on secure, high-availability dedicated servers, ensuring perpetual access and fast download speeds for readers worldwide.
Payment of APC
Upon submission of a manuscript to our journal, the submitting author is required to confirm and attest that the designated corresponding author accepts full financial responsibility for the applicable Article Publication Charge (APC), net of any eligible discounts. In cases where multiple corresponding authors are listed, one individual must be explicitly designated as the responsible corresponding author who will be the primary point of contact for all financial and licensing matters pertaining to the publication.
Following the final acceptance of the manuscript, the article will proceed into the production workflow. At that stage, the responsible corresponding author will receive formal notification and will be required to complete two key actions: (i) sign the appropriate open access license agreement, and (ii) arrange for payment of the APC. It is important to note that the corresponding author bears sole accountability for ensuring that the publication charge is settled in full. We operate a strict no‑refund policy, and consequently, no refunds will be issued under any circumstances once payment has been processed, regardless of subsequent changes to the article’s status or the author’s circumstances.
Discounts
Discounts are available for low-income countries (50% off) that are defined by the World Bank, middle-income countries (25% off) or reviewers (25% off) If an author qualifies for multiple discounts, only the single highest-value concession will be applied. All discounts are mutually exclusive and cannot be combined with any other offer.