APC & Publishing Policies

IGI Publishing LLC is committed to maintaining transparent, fair, and sustainable publishing practices. Our Article Processing Charges (APCs), refund procedures, and waiver policies are designed to support the publication and dissemination of high-quality scholarly research while providing reasonable assistance to authors who face financial constraints.

1. Article Processing Charges

Article Processing Charge

For articles accepted for publication in our fully open access journals, the standard Article Processing Charge (APC) is:

USD 2,500 per accepted article

The APC is charged only after a manuscript has successfully completed the editorial and peer-review process and has been formally accepted for publication. There is no submission fee or peer-review fee.

Payment of an APC does not influence editorial decisions, peer-review outcomes, or the academic assessment of a manuscript. Editorial decisions are based solely on the scholarly quality, originality, relevance, methodological rigor, and ethical standards of the submitted work.

What the APC Covers?

The APC supports the costs associated with the publication and long-term dissemination of scholarly articles, including:

  • Editorial and publication administration
  • Peer-review coordination and manuscript processing
  • Copyediting and language-quality checks
  • Manuscript formatting and typesetting
  • Preparation of the final published article
  • Digital publication and online hosting
  • DOI registration and article metadata management
  • Long-term maintenance of published content
  • Editorial and technical support
  • Online accessibility and dissemination of the published article

The APC covers the standard publication process. Authors will not be charged additional page or color-figure fees unless a journal specifically states otherwise on its journal homepage or author guidelines.

When Is the APC Due?

Authors are not required to pay an APC when submitting a manuscript.

The APC becomes payable only after the manuscript has been accepted for publication. An invoice or payment request will be provided to the corresponding author or the designated payer.

Publication of the accepted article will proceed after the applicable APC has been received, unless a waiver, discount, institutional arrangement, or other approved payment arrangement has been confirmed.

Who Can Pay the APC?

The APC may be paid by:

  • The corresponding author;
  • Another author;
  • The author's institution;
  • A research funder or grant;
  • An employer or other sponsoring organization.

Where applicable, authors are encouraged to check whether their institution, funder, or research project provides financial support for open access publication.

Taxes and Bank Charges

The APC is stated in U.S. dollars. Any applicable taxes, government charges, bank fees, currency-conversion costs, or payment-processing charges imposed by the author's bank, payment provider, or jurisdiction are the responsibility of the payer unless otherwise stated on the invoice.

2. Refund Policy

IGI Publishing LLC aims to provide clear and fair procedures for APC refunds.

Because publication-related services and production work may begin after acceptance, APC payments are generally non-refundable once substantial publication services have been performed. However, refunds may be considered in the circumstances described below.

Refunds Before Publication

If an author requests withdrawal of an accepted manuscript before publication, the refund request may be considered based on the stage of the publication process.

Where no substantial production or publication services have been performed, IGI Publishing LLC may, at its discretion, provide a full or partial refund.

If copyediting, typesetting, production, DOI registration, publication preparation, or other substantial services have already been performed, the amount of any refund may be reduced to reflect services already provided.

Publisher Error

A full or appropriate partial refund may be provided if an error attributable to IGI Publishing LLC prevents an article from being published in accordance with the publication terms agreed with the author and the error cannot reasonably be corrected.

Examples may include:

  • Failure to publish an accepted article after payment has been received;
  • Significant technical errors in the publication process attributable to the publisher;
  • Failure to provide the agreed open access publication after payment and acceptance of the applicable publishing terms.

IGI Publishing LLC will generally attempt to correct a publishing or technical error before issuing a refund. If the problem cannot reasonably be corrected, an appropriate refund may be considered.

Circumstances Not Normally Eligible for a Refund

APCs are generally not refundable in the following circumstances:

  • The article is retracted because of author misconduct, plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, or other research-integrity violations;
  • The article is withdrawn by the author after substantial editorial or production work has been completed;
  • The author changes their decision regarding publication after acceptance;
  • The author is dissatisfied with an editorial or peer-review decision;
  • Publication is delayed because of author revisions, missing information, author approvals, or other matters outside the publisher's control;
  • The article requires correction or retraction because of an error attributable to the author;
  • The author changes their preferred publication license after publication;
  • The author has obtained or lost external funding after the APC has been paid.

Retraction or removal of an article due to author misconduct does not create an entitlement to an APC refund.

Refund Requests

Refund requests should be submitted by the corresponding author to the journal's editorial or publishing office and should include:

  • Article title;
  • Manuscript or article ID;
  • Corresponding author's name and email address;
  • Payment or invoice reference;
  • Reason for the refund request;
  • Supporting documentation, where applicable.

Refund requests will be reviewed individually. Where a refund is approved, the refund will normally be made to the original payment method.

3. APC Waiver Policy

IGI Publishing LLC recognizes that authors may have limited access to funding for open access publication. We therefore provide a waiver mechanism for authors who can demonstrate genuine financial need.

Our waiver policy is intended to promote broader participation in scholarly publishing while maintaining a sustainable publishing model.

Who May Request a Waiver?

Authors may request a full or partial APC waiver when they can demonstrate that:

  • No institutional or research-funder support is available to cover the APC;
  • The research project has no available publication funding;
  • The corresponding author does not have reasonable access to institutional funding for the APC; or
  • Payment of the APC would create a significant financial hardship.

Requests are assessed individually and are not guaranteed.

When Should a Waiver Be Requested?

Authors should request an APC waiver at the time of manuscript submission or before the manuscript enters peer review.

Waiver requests should be submitted before an editorial decision has been made whenever possible.

Requests made only after acceptance may be considered in exceptional circumstances, but authors should not assume that a waiver will be available after an APC has become due.

Waiver and Editorial Independence

APC waiver decisions are completely separate from editorial and peer-review decisions.

Requesting a waiver will not negatively affect:

  • Editorial consideration;
  • Peer-review;
  • Acceptance or rejection decisions;
  • Publication priority;
  • The academic assessment of the manuscript.

Editors and reviewers should not make publication decisions based on an author's ability or inability to pay an APC.

How to Apply

Authors requesting a waiver should contact the journal or publishing office before or at the time of submission.

A waiver request should normally include:

  1. Manuscript title;
  2. Corresponding author's name and affiliation;
  3. Country of the corresponding author;
  4. A brief explanation of the financial circumstances;
  5. Information regarding available institutional or research funding;
  6. Any relevant supporting documentation, where appropriate.

Authors should explain whether they have attempted to obtain APC support from their institution, research funder, employer, or other available sources.

Full and Partial Waivers

Depending on the circumstances, IGI Publishing LLC may provide:

  • Full APC waiver: 100% of the standard APC;
  • Partial APC waiver: A specified percentage or amount deducted from the standard APC.

The level of assistance is determined on a case-by-case basis.

Waivers and discounts are generally not cumulative. Where an author qualifies for more than one reduction, the highest applicable reduction will normally be applied.

Country-Based Considerations

When assessing waiver requests, IGI Publishing LLC may consider the corresponding author's country or region, local research-funding environment, institutional resources, and relevant international development classifications.

Country-based eligibility does not automatically guarantee a waiver. Each discretionary waiver request remains subject to review.

Funding Availability

Authors are encouraged to investigate available APC funding before requesting a waiver. Potential sources may include:

  • Research grants;
  • Institutional open access funds;
  • University libraries;
  • Research institutes;
  • Government-funded research programs;
  • Employers or sponsoring organizations.

Waiver Requests and Research Quality

A waiver is a financial-support decision and is not an indication of the scientific quality of a manuscript.

The decision to grant or decline a waiver is independent of the editorial decision concerning the manuscript.

Transparency and Fair Publishing

IGI Publishing LLC is committed to transparent publication fees and equitable access to scholarly communication.

All authors are encouraged to review the APC, refund, and waiver policies before submitting a manuscript. Questions regarding publication charges or financial assistance may be directed to the relevant journal or publishing office before submission.

These policies may be updated periodically to reflect changes in publishing practices, operational requirements, and the needs of the scholarly community. The applicable policy will be the version in effect at the relevant stage of the publication process.