Article Processing Charges (APC) and Refund Policy – IJMSAR

1. OPEN ACCESS STATEMENT

IJMSAR is a fully open access journal. All articles are published immediately free of charge for readers under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)license. To sustain this publishing model, the journal charges an Article Processing Charge (APC) only for accepted manuscripts.

There is no submission fee. Authors are never charged unless their manuscript is accepted for publication after peer review.

2. ARTICLE PROCESSING CHARGES (APC)

Payment Timing: The APC is due only after acceptance and before publication. Invoices are issued by the editorial office upon acceptance.

Payment of the Article Processing Charge (APC) has no influence on editorial decisions. Editorial evaluation and peer review are completed independently before any APC is requested.

Currency Note: The INR amount is fixed for Indian authors. International authors pay in USD. No additional currency conversion fees are charged.

3. APC WAIVER AND DISCOUNT POLICY

IJMSAR offers transparent, objective, and non-discretionary fee reductions to authors who genuinely need them. All waivers and discounts are granted automatically based on published criteria — no editorial discretion is involved.

A. FULL WAIVER (100% Reduction)

A full waiver is automatically granted without any application to:

1. Authors from World Bank Low-Income Economies

• Determined by the corresponding author's affiliation country at submission

• Based exclusively on the official World Bank classification

• Current list: World Bank Country and Lending Groups

• ✅ No application needed. Automatic upon acceptance.

2. Documented Extraordinary Hardship

• Available to authors from any country who can demonstrate severe financial constraints

• Required documentation: Unemployment certificate, medical/disability proof, natural disaster evidence, or similar official documents

• Application must be submitted at the time of manuscript submission

• ✅ Waivers are granted when the published eligibility criteria are met and the required documentation is provided.

B. PARTIAL WAIVER (20% Discount)

A 20% discount on the APC is automatically granted to:

1. Authors from World Bank Lower-Middle-Income Economies

• Includes India, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Pakistan, Indonesia, etc.

• ✅ No application needed. Automatic upon acceptance.

2. Full-Time Students

• Valid student ID or official enrollment letter required

• Applies only if student is the corresponding author

3. Unemployed or Retired Researchers

• Signed declaration of unemployment status or retirement required

• Institutional email not required

Discounted APC:

• International Authors: 200 USD

• Indian Authors: 12000 INR

C. FULL APC (No Waiver/No Discount)

Authors from the following categories are expected to pay the full APC:

• Upper-middle-income economies (World Bank classification)

• High-income economies (World Bank classification)

• Authors with active research grants or institutional funding

Full APC:

• International Authors: 250 USD

• Indian Authors: 15000 INR

• 4. NO OTHER FEES

  IJMSAR charges no additional fees of any kind. Specifically:

  Fee Type	Status
  Submission fee	❌ NOT CHARGED
  Editorial processing fee	❌ NOT CHARGED
  Page/color charges	❌ NOT CHARGED
  Supplementary material fee	❌ NOT CHARGED
  DOI registration fee	❌ NOT CHARGED (included in APC)
  Reprints/offprints	❌ FREE (electronic PDF)

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  5. REFUND POLICY

  Scenario	Refund Status
  Manuscript rejected before acceptance	✅ Full refund (if any payment was mistakenly made)
  Author withdraws manuscript before acceptance	✅ Full refund
  Author withdraws manuscript after acceptance	❌ Non-refundable (peer review and editorial work already completed)
  Article published	❌ Non-refundable

  Note: The APC is only charged after acceptance. Refunds are therefore extremely rare and processed within 10 working days.

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  6. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)

  Q: Do I need to apply for a waiver if I am from a low-income country?
  A: No. The waiver is applied automatically based on your affiliation country. You do not need to request it.

  Q: Can I request a waiver after my article is accepted?
  A: Waiver requests must be submitted at the time of manuscript submission. Requests received after acceptance cannot be processed.

  Q: What if my country is on the World Bank low-income list but my institution is well-funded?
  A: The waiver is based on country of affiliation, not individual institutional wealth. This ensures consistency and objectivity.

  Q: Is the APC charged per article or per author?
  A: Per article. One APC covers the entire article regardless of the number of co-authors.

  Q: Do Indian authors pay in USD or INR?
  A: Indian authors pay in INR. International authors pay in USD.

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  7. CONTACT AND SUPPORT

  For questions about APCs, waivers, or payments, please contact:

  Editorial Office
  Email: ijmsar@scientificpublications.in
  Subject line: "APC/Waiver Inquiry"

  Payment Queries: ijmsar@scientificpublications.in

  Response time: Within 2 business days.

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