APC, Publication Charges & Waivers

Author charges may differ between Macaw Publications journals.

Macaw Publications does not prescribe one Article Processing Charge that automatically applies to every journal in its portfolio.

Individual journals may operate under different publishing and financial models. Accordingly, a journal may charge an APC, operate without an APC, or apply another author-facing charge only where that charge is clearly and accurately disclosed.

A charge applicable to one Macaw Publications journal must not be assumed to apply to another journal.

Where an individual Macaw Publications journal does not charge authors for manuscript submission, editorial processing, or publication, that no-fee status should be stated explicitly on the journal website.

The absence of an APC should not be described ambiguously. Authors should be able to determine readily whether publication is free of author-facing charges.

Where a journal's fee model changes, the public information should be updated before the revised charge is applied to new submissions.

Financial arrangements and scholarly editorial decisions are separate.

A manuscript should be evaluated according to its scholarly relevance, originality, methodological quality, research integrity, ethical acceptability, clarity, evidence, and suitability for the journal.

The existence, amount, payment, waiver, reduction, or absence of an APC or other author charge must not determine reviewer recommendations or editorial acceptance decisions.

Payment of an APC does not guarantee peer review, acceptance, publication, accelerated editorial treatment, citation, indexing, or any particular scholarly outcome.

Waiver and fee-reduction arrangements are determined at the individual journal level and should be stated only where such arrangements are genuinely offered.

Where a journal provides waivers or reductions, the journal should explain the applicable eligibility conditions clearly and consistently.

Waiver availability should not be implied where no waiver programme exists.

An individual journal may use different legitimate fee categories where such a structure forms part of its actual publishing model.

Where different charges apply according to author category, location, membership status, institutional arrangement, article type, or another defined condition, the criteria and applicable amounts should be communicated clearly.

Fee categories should not be described in a manner that is misleading, discriminatory without legitimate justification, or inconsistent with the published policy.

Macaw Publications does not prescribe a universal manuscript-withdrawal charge across its journal portfolio.

If an individual journal applies a withdrawal-related charge, the existence and conditions of that charge must be disclosed clearly before submission and must comply with applicable journal policies and recognised transparency requirements.

A withdrawal-related charge must not be introduced retrospectively where the author was not informed of the condition at the relevant stage.

Any optional publishing-related service should be distinguished clearly from mandatory charges required for publication.

Where optional services such as language editing, formatting, print copies, or other support are offered, purchasing such a service must not guarantee manuscript acceptance or favourable editorial treatment.

Charges associated with optional services should be communicated before the author orders the service.

Payment and scholarly acceptance are independent processes.

Manuscripts remain subject to the journal's applicable editorial screening, peer review, revision, research-integrity requirements, ethical assessment, and final editorial decision.

Authors must not be promised acceptance merely because they are willing or able to pay an APC.

Likewise, payment should not be requested or represented as a mechanism for obtaining favourable reviewer recommendations or bypassing legitimate editorial assessment.

APCs and other legitimate publishing revenue may support journal operations, but financial considerations must not replace scholarly editorial judgement.

Publication volume should not be increased merely to maximise fee revenue at the expense of peer-review quality, journal scope, research integrity, or editorial standards.

Publisher financial administration should therefore remain appropriately separated from decisions concerning the scholarly merit of individual manuscripts.

For a journal that charges an APC

The individual journal should provide a concise statement containing the exact APC amount, currency, applicable author category, payment stage, other mandatory charges, and waiver conditions.

APC, waiver, and publication-charge information displayed on journal websites should correspond with the financial arrangements actually applied to authors.

Where a material fee policy changes, relevant journal pages, submission information, author guidelines, and associated communications should be updated accordingly.

Inconsistent fee information appearing on different parts of a journal website should be corrected to prevent confusion or misleading communication.

Journal-specific fee enquiries

Questions concerning the APC, no-APC status, waiver, reduction, payment, refund, invoice, or other author-facing charge applicable to a particular journal should normally be directed to the editorial office of that journal.

Publisher-level questions concerning financial transparency or unresolved publication-charge matters may be directed to:

Macaw Publications
H.No. 4-123/8/172, Road No. 1, Indraprastha Colony,
Hathiguda, Hayath Nagar, Hyderabad,
Telangana – 501505, India

Email: publisher@macawpublications.com