Charges Policy

The Academia Journal of Global Social and Economic Studies (AJGSES) is a fully open access journal. Readers are never charged to read, download or reuse any article. To cover the costs of peer review management, production, DOI registration, hosting and long-term preservation, the journal charges a one-time Article Processing Charge (APC), payable by the author(s) only after a manuscript has been accepted for publication.

Article Processing Charge (APC)

The APC depends on the affiliation of the corresponding author, using the World Bank country classification:

Corresponding author affiliation APC (USD)
Top 100 universities (QS World University Rankings) No APC
Top 500 universities (QS World University Rankings) USD 150
High-income countries USD 200
Upper- and lower-middle-income countries USD 150
Low-income countries USD 150
Institutions in Pakistan PKR 30,000

The APC is a single, all-inclusive fee per accepted article. It does not depend on article length, number of authors, figures or tables.

No Other Charges

  • No submission fee is charged.
  • No peer review, page, colour, figure, language or reprint charges are applied.
  • No fees are charged to readers or institutions for access to any content.
  • Manuscripts that are rejected or withdrawn before acceptance are never charged.

What the APC Covers

  • Management of the double-blind peer review process
  • Copy-editing, formatting, layout and typesetting
  • DOI registration with Crossref and metadata distribution
  • Website hosting, online publication and platform maintenance
  • Long-term digital preservation of published content
  • Editorial office and technical support

Payment and Editorial Independence

An invoice is issued to the corresponding author after acceptance. Payment of the APC, or a request for a waiver, has no influence on editorial decisions. Editors and reviewers are not involved in, and are not informed about, payments or waivers; all decisions are based solely on the scholarly quality of the manuscript.

Waiver Policy

AJGSES does not want the APC to be a barrier to publication. Full or partial waivers may be granted to:

  • Authors based in low-income countries (World Bank classification)
  • Students and early-career researchers without research funding
  • Authors who can demonstrate genuine financial hardship

Waiver requests should be made at the time of submission (in the "Comments for the Editor" field) or by email to jawad@academia.edu.pk, and no later than the time of acceptance. Waivers are decided by the publisher's office, separately from and without affecting the editorial evaluation.

Withdrawal of Manuscripts

Authors may withdraw a manuscript free of charge at any time before acceptance. Authors are asked to submit only manuscripts they genuinely intend to publish and to ensure that funding for the APC (or a waiver request) is in place before submission. Submissions made only to obtain reviewer feedback may lead to restrictions on future submissions.

Contact

For questions about the APC, invoices or waivers, please contact jawad@academia.edu.pk.