All ARCC Journals publish their scholarly content on an Open Access basis, making published articles freely available online to readers worldwide. An Article Processing Charge (APC) is payable for an accepted manuscript to support the services required to prepare, publish, host, preserve, and disseminate the article.

The APC may be paid by the author, the author's institution, a research organisation, or a funding agency. The current APC for each journal is displayed on the relevant journal homepage and should be reviewed by authors before submission.

An APC is a publication charge and is not a payment for acceptance. No APC is charged for manuscripts that are rejected.

Payment of an APC, approval or refusal of a waiver or discount, institutional support, sponsorship, or funding status does not influence editorial screening, reviewer selection, peer review outcomes, acceptance decisions, or publication priority.

All manuscripts are evaluated solely on their scientific quality, originality, relevance to the journal, methodological rigour, ethical compliance, and contribution to the field. Editorial acceptance is decided and recorded independently before any request for APC payment is issued.

ARCC does not provide paid priority in peer review or editorial decision-making. Any optional post-acceptance production service, where offered, must be described separately and cannot affect the editorial outcome.

APCs contribute to the costs associated with the publication process, including:

• Initial editorial screening and quality checks.
• Peer review administration and editorial workflow management.
• Manuscript production, copy preparation, typesetting, and formatting.
• XML and metadata preparation.
• DOI registration through Crossref.
• Proof preparation and author correction management.
• Online publication, platform hosting, and technical maintenance.
• Digital preservation and archiving activities.
• Metadata distribution to relevant indexing and discovery services, where applicable.
• Article dissemination and scholarly communication activities.
• Ongoing journal development and publishing infrastructure.

The APC is based on publishing and service costs rather than the perceived importance, expected citation performance, or outcome of the research.

APC amounts may vary by journal because publication requirements, production workflows, article volumes, and journal services may differ. The applicable charge and currency are displayed on each journal homepage.

The APC displayed for the selected journal at the time of submission will be recorded for the manuscript. If the manuscript is accepted, the recorded APC will apply even if ARCC subsequently revises its fee schedule, unless a different amount is agreed with the author in writing.

Any applicable tax, payment-gateway charge, bank charge, currency-conversion cost, or administrative fee will be disclosed before payment. ARCC will not apply undisclosed publication charges.

No APC payment is required when a manuscript is initially submitted or while it is undergoing editorial assessment and peer review.

The APC becomes payable only after the manuscript has received final editorial acceptance. Following acceptance, ARCC will issue an acceptance communication and payment or invoice instructions. Publication and production processing may proceed after payment has been received or an approved waiver or payment arrangement has been confirmed.

Payment should be completed within the period stated in the invoice or official payment communication. Authors who require additional time should contact the ARCC accounts or editorial office before the due date.

Payment may be made using the methods made available in the official ARCC payment communication, including:

• Credit or debit card through an authorised secure payment gateway.
• Bank transfer using the account details supplied in the official payment instructions.
• PayPal, where available.
• Invoice payment by the author, institution, research organisation, or funding agency.

Authors should use only payment instructions provided through official ARCC channels. The invoice will state the amount, currency, due date, and any applicable tax or additional transaction charge.

ARCC Journals assess manuscripts on scholarly merit and not on an author's ability to pay. Partial waivers or discounts may be available to eligible authors where financial support for Open Access publication is limited.

Waiver or discount eligibility may consider:

• The country classification or affiliation criterion stated in the current ARCC waiver schedule.
• Availability of institutional, library, research-organisation, or funder support.
• Documented financial hardship.
• Journal-specific waiver availability or exclusions.

The current eligible-country list and any journal-specific conditions should be maintained as a separate, clearly linked resource so that they can be reviewed and updated without making the main policy difficult to use.

1. Submit the waiver or discount request before or at the time of initial manuscript submission.
2. Provide the manuscript title, selected journal, corresponding-author details, institutional affiliation, country, funding information, and a short explanation of the need for support.
3. Provide supporting documentation if requested by ARCC.
4. Wait for written confirmation of the waiver decision before making payment.

Requests made after editorial acceptance are not normally considered unless exceptional circumstances are documented. A waiver or discount is not automatically granted and remains subject to the eligibility criteria and availability stated by ARCC.

Waiver and payment information is handled separately from peer review and editorial decision-making. Reviewers are not informed of an author's payment or waiver status.

Authors are encouraged to consult their institution, university library, research organisation, grant administrator, or funding agency regarding Open Access publication support. Where a third party will pay the APC, authors should provide the correct billing and purchase-order information as early as possible after acceptance

Refund eligibility 

A refund may be considered where: 

• A duplicate or incorrect payment has been made. 

• ARCC is unable to proceed with publication after receiving payment for reasons not attributable to the author. 

• An author requests withdrawal after payment but before production work has begun, subject to review of costs already incurred. 

• Another exceptional circumstance is accepted by ARCC following written review. 

Non-refundable circumstances 

An APC will normally not be refunded where: 

• Production, typesetting, XML preparation, DOI registration, or online publication work has begun. 

• The author withdraws an accepted article after production has started. 

• The manuscript or published article is rejected, withdrawn, corrected, or retracted because of plagiarism, duplicate submission, fabricated or falsified data, authorship misconduct, ethical non-compliance, or another action attributable to the author(s). 

• Publication is delayed because the author has not supplied revisions, proofs, permissions, ethics documents, copyright or licence forms, or other required materials on time. 

• Non-refundable bank, payment-gateway, currency-conversion, administrative, or tax costs have already been incurred. 

Events outside the control of ARCC or the author will be assessed individually according to the publication stage and costs already incurred. 

Refund requests must be submitted in writing through the official ARCC support channel and should include the manuscript ID, journal title, payment reference, proof of payment, reason for the request, and relevant supporting documents. ARCC will review the request and communicate its decision in writing.

ARCC periodically reviews APC amounts, waiver criteria, payment methods, and refund procedures to reflect changes in publishing costs, legal or tax requirements, technology, and internationally recognised scholarly publishing practices.

Fee revisions apply prospectively. The APC recorded for an existing manuscript at submission will not change unless a revised amount is agreed with the author in writing. The latest version published on the ARCC website represents the current policy for new submissions.

Last reviewed: June 2026

For questions regarding APC amounts, invoices, waivers, payment methods, taxes, refunds, or institutional funding arrangements, authors should contact ARCC through the official support details provided on the ARCC Journals website.