Author Charges / Publication Fee Policy

Authors are not asked to pay an APC merely to submit a manuscript, obtain editorial screening, or receive peer review.

The normal sequence is:

1. manuscript submission;
2. administrative and editorial screening;
3. external peer review where applicable;
4. revision and editorial reassessment;
5. formal acceptance;
6. APC notification and payment processing; and
7. production and publication.

The journal does not require payment merely for a manuscript to enter peer review.

Payment instructions should be issued only through official JPMHR or publisher communication channels after acceptance.

Publication-related costs may include:

• journal platform operation and maintenance;
• editorial administration;
• post-acceptance production processing;
• copyediting and language-quality procedures where required;
• typesetting and article formatting;
• proof preparation and author proofing;
• online hosting and publication;
• metadata preparation and distribution;
• DOI and related metadata operations where applicable;
• website and technical maintenance;
• backup and continuity arrangements;
• preservation operations where verified and operational; and
• other legitimate costs associated with maintaining the journal's open-access publishing infrastructure.

Payment of the APC is not payment for a favourable scientific assessment or an acceptance decision.

JPMHR does not impose mandatory charges for:

• manuscript submission;
• initial editorial screening;
• ordinary external peer review;
• reviewer assignment;
• editorial decision-making;
• resubmission of a revision requested by the journal; or
• receipt of an acceptance or rejection decision.

An author whose manuscript is rejected owes no APC merely because the manuscript underwent editorial assessment or peer review.

JPMHR does not charge an additional fee for:

• priority reviewer assignment;
• accelerated scientific assessment;
• guaranteed rapid acceptance;
• preferential handling by an editor;
• waiver of scientific or ethical requirements; or
• protection from rejection.

Administrative efforts may be made to process time-sensitive manuscripts efficiently where justified, but payment does not buy editorial priority or alter scientific standards.

Ability or willingness to pay an APC must not determine:

• whether a manuscript receives external review;
• which reviewers are selected;
• the content of reviewer reports;
• whether revision is requested;
• whether the manuscript is accepted or rejected;
• whether an ethics investigation is initiated;
• whether a correction is published; or
• whether an article is retracted.

Editors should not make scientific decisions based on an author's financial circumstances.

Publisher and administrative personnel responsible for invoicing or payments must not use those functions to direct scientific editorial outcomes.

JPMHR does not ordinarily impose separate mandatory charges for:

• standard page length;
• colour figures in the online article;
• ordinary supplementary files;
• standard metadata preparation;
• routine DOI processing where applicable;
• ordinary copyediting or typesetting;
• routine author proofing; or
• minor post-publication corrections initiated through the journal's normal scholarly-record process.

If the journal introduces a new mandatory author charge in the future, it should be publicly disclosed before it becomes applicable to new submissions.

A mandatory fee should not be unexpectedly introduced after submission where it was not disclosed when the author made the submission decision.

Possible grounds for consideration may include:

• demonstrated financial hardship;
• authors without institutional or grant support;
• researchers working in resource-constrained settings;
• eligible early-career or student researchers;
• specific journal-supported initiatives; or
• other exceptional circumstances accepted by the journal.

Waivers are not an entitlement and may depend on available financial capacity.

Waiver decisions must be handled separately from scientific assessment so that:

• requesting a waiver does not prejudice peer review;
• receiving a waiver does not guarantee acceptance;
• declining a waiver does not convert payment into a scientific criterion; and
• reviewers are not expected to determine waiver eligibility.

Authors seeking fee assistance should contact the journal through its official communication channel and provide a concise explanation of the circumstances supporting the request.

Where practical, waiver matters should be resolved after the scientific acceptance decision so that editorial assessment remains independent of the author's payment position.

The journal may request reasonable supporting information where necessary to assess a waiver request fairly.

Financial information supplied for a waiver request should be handled only for legitimate administrative purposes and with appropriate confidentiality.

A refund or payment correction may be considered where, for example:

• a duplicate payment was made;
• an incorrect amount was charged;
• payment was attributed to the wrong manuscript;
• the journal cannot complete publication for an administrative reason for which the author is not responsible; or
• another documented billing error occurred.

Refunds are not ordinarily due merely because:

• an author later changes their mind after publication;
• an article receives criticism after publication;
• a correction is required;
• an article is later subject to an integrity investigation; or
• a retraction becomes necessary under the journal's ethical policies.

Payment does not purchase immunity from post-publication editorial action.

Because the APC becomes payable only after acceptance, authors do not ordinarily incur an APC when withdrawing a manuscript before acceptance.

After acceptance, withdrawal requests are considered under the journal's Retraction & Withdrawal Policy and must not be used to:

• avoid an integrity inquiry;
• conceal duplicate submission;
• escape an adverse editorial outcome; or
• remove an article from the scholarly record after publication without appropriate justification.

APC payment may be made by:

• the corresponding author;
• another author;
• a university or research institution;
• a research grant or funder;
• an employer;
• a sponsor where ethically appropriate and transparently disclosed; or
• another authorised payer.

Payment by a funder or sponsor does not grant that organisation authority over:

• reviewer selection;
• editorial decisions;
• article conclusions;
• post-publication correction; or
• retraction decisions.

Relevant research funding and sponsor roles must still be disclosed in the manuscript according to the journal's funding and competing interest requirements.

Authors should be cautious about:

• payment requests received before formal acceptance;
• messages promising guaranteed acceptance in return for payment;
• unofficial personal payment accounts presented as journal accounts;
• requests from domains or email addresses unrelated to JPMHR or its publisher;
• unexpected changes in payment instructions; or
• requests for confidential financial credentials.

Where the authenticity of a payment request is uncertain, authors should verify it with the journal before transferring funds.

JPMHR does not sell manuscript acceptance.

Published JPMHR articles are made freely and immediately available to readers regardless of how the APC was funded.

An APC waiver or discount does not alter:

• the article's open-access status;
• its CC BY 4.0 licence;
• author copyright ownership; or
• its editorial status.

When the journal changes its APC, the website should clearly state:

• the new charge;
• the currency or applicable conversion basis;
• when the new charge takes effect;
• which submissions are affected; and
• any associated waiver or exception arrangements.

Authors whose manuscripts were submitted under a previously disclosed fee arrangement should not ordinarily be subjected to an undisclosed retrospective increase.

Fee-related complaints should identify:

• the manuscript or article;
• the invoice or payment concerned;
• the nature of the dispute;
• relevant payment records; and
• the requested clarification or correction.

Administrative payment disputes must not be used to alter scientific editorial decisions.

The journal aims to ensure consistency between:

• this Author Charges Policy;
• the Open Access Policy;
• the Author Guidelines;
• the submission interface;
• acceptance communications; and
• actual invoices issued to authors.

Where conflicting fee information is identified on the website, it should be corrected promptly so that authors are not misled.