Refund Policy

Article Processing Charges (APCs)

Article Processing Charges (APCs) are levied only after a manuscript has completed peer review and has been formally accepted for publication by the Editorial Board. The invoice is generated once the manuscript has undergone editorial assessment, peer review, copyediting, formatting, and production preparation.

By submitting a manuscript, the corresponding author confirms acceptance of responsibility for payment of the applicable APC, as per the journal’s Terms and Conditions. Once an article is accepted, the APC becomes due.

Ethical Publishing Commitment

The journal adheres to the ethical standards and best practices outlined by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). All editorial, peer review, and publication decisions are governed by principles of transparency, integrity, accountability, and fairness.

Manuscript Withdrawal Policy

Authors may request withdrawal of their manuscript by submitting a formal written request to the editorial office. Withdrawal requests are considered based on the stage of the editorial and publication process, as outlined below:

Withdrawal Prior to Peer Review

If a manuscript is withdrawn at the initial stage, before peer review has commenced, and payment has been made in advance, the APC will be refunded within fourteen (14) days, subject to a 6% administrative and processing charge.

Withdrawal during Early Publication Processing

If an author chooses to withdraw a manuscript for personal or institutional reasons during the early publication stage, after editorial handling and preliminary production activities have begun, a refund may be considered after deducting 10% of the APC to cover editorial coordination, peer review management, and proof preparation costs.

Withdrawal after Acceptance

Once a manuscript has been formally accepted by the Editorial Board, no refunds will be issued, as substantial editorial, peer review, and production resources have already been allocated.

Post-Publication Policy

No refunds will be issued after fourteen (14) days of publication, once the article has been assigned a DOI and allocated to a volume and issue.

Once an article is published with final bibliographic details, the APC is non-refundable under any circumstances.

Retraction and Ethical Misconduct

In cases where an article is retracted due to ethical violations, including but not limited to plagiarism, data fabrication or falsification, duplicate submission, authorship disputes, or other forms of scholarly misconduct, the publisher is not responsible for refunding any fees.

Retractions are handled in accordance with COPE Retraction Guidelines, and no APC refund will be issued in cases of proven malpractice or breach of publication ethics.

Rejection by Reviewers

If a manuscript is rejected following peer review due to scientific, technical, or methodological concerns, and payment was made prior to the editorial decision, the APC will be refunded within fourteen (14) days, subject to a 6% processing charge.

Editorial and Production Costs

The journal undertakes all editorial, peer review, and production activities in a timely and professional manner. These processes involve significant academic, technical, and administrative resources. Once such services have been rendered, the associated costs are non-recoverable.

Final Declaration

Following final submission or publication, cancellation of publication is not permitted. Any APC paid at this stage is non-refundable, in accordance with the Terms and Conditions accepted by the author at the time of submission.

Authors are strongly advised to review this policy carefully prior to submission. For further clarification, authors may contact the editorial office.