Article Processing Charge Policy
Publication Fee Policy
Purpose and Scope
This policy defines the Article Processing Charge (APC) framework applicable to articles published in the International Interdisciplinary Scientific Journal “Expert”.
It establishes the standard Article Processing Charge, additional page charges, the point at which a payment obligation arises, the relationship between financial arrangements and editorial independence, payment procedures, individual waiver or discount arrangements, and the consequences of failure to fulfil applicable post-acceptance APC obligations.
This policy operates together with the Journal’s Open Access Policy, Publication Conditions, Editorial Policies, Copyright and Licensing, and Administrative Article Withdrawal Policy.
1. Article Processing Charge Model
The International Interdisciplinary Scientific Journal “Expert” operates under a Gold Open Access publishing model.
The Journal does not charge a manuscript submission fee.
An Article Processing Charge may become payable only after a manuscript has received Final Editorial Acceptance for publication.
Submission of a manuscript, initial editorial assessment, external peer review, revision, reassessment, or any other pre-acceptance stage does not itself create an obligation to pay an APC.
Open Access conditions, including immediate reader access and the absence of subscription or pay-per-view charges, are governed separately by the Journal’s Open Access Policy.
2. Standard APC and Additional Page Charges
Standard APC: EUR 150 for an article of up to 10 pages.
Additional pages: EUR 5 per page exceeding 10 pages.
The applicable APC is determined according to the Journal’s published fee conditions.
The standard APC represents the generally applicable publication charge unless an individual waiver, discount, reduced APC, or other special fee arrangement has been expressly approved in accordance with Section 6 of this policy.
An individual fee arrangement does not alter the Journal’s published standard APC and does not establish a generally applicable publication rate.
3. When the APC Becomes Payable
The APC becomes payable only after Final Editorial Acceptance.
For the purposes of this policy, Final Editorial Acceptance means a final editorial decision to Accept the manuscript for publication.
The Journal’s final editorial decision on a manuscript may be:
- Accept;
- Revise;
- Reject.
A decision to Revise does not create an APC payment obligation.
A decision to Reject does not create an APC payment obligation.
Following Final Editorial Acceptance, the corresponding author or other designated payer is informed of the applicable publication charge and payment procedure.
The APC does not determine the article’s volume assignment. Volume assignment is governed independently by the Journal’s Publication Conditions.
4. What the APC Supports
APC revenue supports the Journal’s scholarly publishing operations and may contribute to the costs associated with:
- administrative management of manuscript processing;
- administrative management of peer review;
- editorial production;
- proofreading and language-related production work;
- copyediting, where applicable;
- article layout and technical preparation;
- online publication;
- DOI registration and publication metadata management;
- digital publishing infrastructure;
- dissemination and discoverability;
- archiving and preservation of the published scholarly record.
Payment of an APC does not constitute payment for a favourable editorial decision, peer-review outcome, acceptance, or publication guarantee.
The scholarly evaluation of manuscripts remains independent of the financial arrangements associated with publication.
5. Editorial Independence
Financial arrangements are strictly separated from scholarly editorial decision-making.
The amount, payment, non-payment, waiver, discount, reduced APC, or other financial arrangement applicable to an author or manuscript does not determine or influence:
- initial scholarly editorial assessment;
- reviewer selection;
- external peer review;
- the peer-review outcome;
- requests for revision;
- Final Editorial Acceptance;
- rejection;
- volume assignment;
- any other scholarly editorial decision.
Except where the Editor-in-Chief has a relevant conflict of interest, the final decision to Accept, Revise, or Reject a manuscript is made by the Editor-in-Chief in accordance with the Journal’s applicable Editorial Policies.
Where the Editor-in-Chief has a relevant conflict of interest, decision-making authority is transferred in accordance with the Journal’s applicable Editorial Policies.
Payment of an APC does not guarantee acceptance or publication.
The Publisher’s financial and administrative functions do not confer scholarly editorial decision-making authority.
6. Waivers, Discounts and Individual Fee Arrangements
The Journal recognises that individual authors may, in particular circumstances, request a waiver, discount, reduced APC, or another individual fee arrangement.
Such requests are considered on a case-by-case basis following a direct request from the author or corresponding author.
An individual fee arrangement is not an automatic entitlement and does not constitute a generally applicable publication rate unless expressly established and published by the Journal.
Individual fee arrangements are considered on a case-by-case basis by ASPECT-PRO LTD, as Publisher, following a request submitted through the Journal’s Editorial Office.
Any waiver, discount, reduced APC, or other individual financial arrangement is administrative and financial in nature and does not influence:
- scholarly evaluation;
- reviewer selection;
- external peer review;
- requests for revision;
- Final Editorial Acceptance;
- rejection;
- volume assignment;
- any other scholarly editorial decision.
The existence, submission, consideration, approval, or refusal of a request for an individual fee arrangement must remain separate from the scholarly assessment of the manuscript.
An approved individual fee arrangement applies only to the specific case for which it has been granted unless the Journal expressly establishes and publishes a broader applicable fee rule.
7. Payment Procedure
Following Final Editorial Acceptance, the corresponding author or other designated payer is notified of the applicable APC.
An invoice is issued for the applicable amount.
Payment is made by bank transfer using the payment details specified in the invoice.
The invoice and payment procedure form part of the post-acceptance publication process and are separate from scholarly evaluation, peer review, and the editorial decision to accept the manuscript.
Authors or other designated payers are responsible for providing accurate billing information where such information is required for invoicing.
Payment should be completed in accordance with the information and payment terms communicated in the invoice or other applicable payment documentation.
8. Failure to Fulfil APC Obligations
Where an applicable APC obligation arising after Final Editorial Acceptance is not fulfilled, the matter may be handled in accordance with the Journal’s Administrative Article Withdrawal Policy and applicable publishing arrangements.
Administrative action arising solely from failure to fulfil an applicable APC or other applicable post-acceptance publishing obligation is administrative and contractual in nature.
Such action does not constitute:
- a finding of research misconduct;
- a finding concerning the scientific validity of the work;
- a finding concerning the scholarly integrity of the research.
Where administrative withdrawal is applicable, the Journal manages the scholarly and publication record in accordance with its Administrative Article Withdrawal Policy.
Failure to fulfil an APC obligation does not retrospectively alter the scholarly basis on which the manuscript was evaluated or accepted.
9. Relationship with Other Journal Policies
This policy forms part of the Journal’s integrated publishing and editorial framework and should be read together with the following documents.
Open Access Policy
The Open Access Policy governs the Journal’s Gold Open Access model, immediate reader access, absence of embargo, absence of subscription and pay-per-view access charges, and the separation of financial arrangements from editorial independence.
Publication Conditions
The Publication Conditions govern manuscript requirements, submission and review processes, Final Editorial Acceptance, volume assignment, and post-acceptance publication procedures.
Editorial Policies
The Editorial Policies govern scholarly editorial authority, independence, conflicts of interest, and final editorial decisions to Accept, Revise, or Reject manuscripts.
Copyright and Licensing
The Copyright and Licensing provisions govern copyright ownership, the non-exclusive publishing licence granted to ASPECT-PRO LTD following Final Editorial Acceptance, CC BY 4.0, reuse, attribution, and related licensing matters.
Administrative Article Withdrawal Policy
The Administrative Article Withdrawal Policy governs administrative action where applicable post-acceptance contractual or publishing obligations, including applicable APC obligations, are not fulfilled.
Where a matter is regulated in greater detail by a dedicated Journal policy or procedure, that dedicated document provides the applicable detailed requirements.
10. Policy Governance and Review
The Article Processing Charge Policy forms part of the Journal’s publishing, transparency, and Open Access framework.
The Editorial Board of the International Interdisciplinary Scientific Journal “Expert” maintains this policy within the Journal’s policy governance system.
The policy is approved by the Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Board.
ASPECT-PRO LTD, as Publisher, is responsible for implementing invoicing, payment, individual fee arrangements, and other applicable financial and administrative procedures under this policy.
The Publisher does not acquire scholarly editorial decision-making authority through its financial or administrative functions.
The policy may be reviewed and updated where necessary to reflect changes in publication charges, Open Access arrangements, publishing costs, applicable requirements, or the Journal’s publishing model.
Substantive amendments are documented through the Journal’s applicable versioning and review process.