General Rule

APCs are payable after acceptance of a manuscript for publication. As editorial and production costs are incurred at multiple stages, refunds are only considered under specific circumstances as outlined below.

Eligibility for Refunds

• Duplicate Payment: If an APC is paid more than once for the same manuscript, the extra payment will be refunded in full.
• Technical Error: If a payment error results in an incorrect charge, the surplus amount will be refunded.
• Withdrawal Before Processing: If authors withdraw their manuscript prior to editorial processing, APC payments may be refunded minus minimal administrative fees.

Non-Refundable Circumstances

• APCs are not refunded once peer review or production work has commenced, even if the authors later withdraw.
• No refunds are issued for rejections, as costs are incurred during peer review.
• Refunds are not provided if publication is delayed due to author inaction or incomplete responses.

Post-Publication Cases

In rare cases where articles must be retracted or removed for ethical or legal reasons, APCs are not refunded as the publication process has been completed and resources expended.

Processing of Refunds

Approved refunds are processed within 30 business days of confirmation. Refunds are made through the same method as the original payment, unless otherwise agreed with the author.