Charges Policy

Article Processing Charges (APC)

The Academia Journal of Strategic Management and Finance (AJSMF) is a fully open access journal published by ACADEMIA (PRIVATE) LIMITED, Rawalpindi, Pakistan. AJSMF does not charge readers or institutions any subscription or access fee. To cover the costs of publication, a one-time Article Processing Charge (APC) is payable by the author(s) only after a manuscript has been accepted following peer review.

No Submission or Review Fees

  • Submission fee: None
  • Peer review / editorial processing fee: None
  • Page, colour or figure charges: None
  • Article access fee for readers: None

There are no hidden or additional charges. The APC listed below is the only fee charged by the journal.

What Does the APC Cover?

The APC supports the costs of:

  • Management of the double-blind peer review process
  • Copyediting, typesetting and professional manuscript formatting
  • DOI registration and metadata deposit
  • Long-term digital archiving and preservation
  • Website hosting and online publication on the OJS platform
  • Editorial, technical and administrative services

APC Structure

Corresponding Author AffiliationAPC
Top 100 Universities (QS/THE World Rankings)No APC
Top 500 Universities (QS/THE World Rankings)USD 150
High-Income Countries (World Bank classification)USD 200
Middle-Income Countries (World Bank classification)USD 150
Low-Income Countries (World Bank classification)USD 150 (full waiver available on request)
Institutions in PakistanPKR 30,000

The APC is determined by the affiliation of the corresponding author. It is invoiced only after acceptance, and the article is published once payment is received.

APC for Pakistan

Authors whose corresponding author is affiliated with a Pakistani institution pay PKR 30,000, payable only after acceptance of the manuscript.

Waiver and Discount Policy

AJSMF does not want the APC to be a barrier to publishing high-quality research. Full or partial waivers are available for:

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

Waiver requests must be made by the corresponding author at the time of submission by writing to the editorial office (jawad@academia.edu.pk) with a brief justification. Each request is assessed individually by the publisher.

Editorial Independence

Editorial decisions are based solely on the scholarly merit of the manuscript and the outcome of peer review. Editors and reviewers have no access to information about an author's ability to pay or about waiver requests, and payment or non-payment of the APC has no influence on the acceptance of a manuscript.

Refund Policy

As the APC is charged only after acceptance, refunds are not normally issued. If an article cannot be published for reasons attributable to the journal, the full APC will be refunded. No refund is made for articles retracted because of author misconduct.

Contact

For questions regarding charges, invoices or waivers, please contact the editorial office at jawad@academia.edu.pk.