Article Processing Charge (APC)

Editorial Policies

Article Processing Charge (APC)

The Review of Studies on Criminology, Sociology, and Law (RSCSL) is committed to providing high-quality, ethical, and fully open-access scholarly publishing while maintaining rigorous editorial standards and an independent double-blind peer review process. To support the costs associated with editorial management, manuscript processing, copyediting, typesetting, digital publication, long-term preservation, and the dissemination of scholarly research, the journal applies an Article Processing Charge (APC) only after a manuscript has successfully completed peer review and has been formally accepted for publication.

Editorial decisions are made independently of any financial considerations. The ability or inability of an author to pay publication fees does not influence editorial evaluation, peer review outcomes, or publication decisions.

 

Submission Fee

RSCSL does not charge any fee for:

  • Manuscript submission;
  • Initial editorial screening;
  • Editorial assessment;
  • Double-blind peer review;
  • Manuscript rejection.

Authors may submit manuscripts for consideration without any financial obligation.

 

Payment Procedure

Authors will receive payment instructions only after receiving formal notification that their manuscript has been accepted for publication.

Payment should be completed within the timeframe specified by the Editorial Office.

Publication will proceed after:

  • Receipt of the APC;
  • Completion of all required revisions;
  • Final copyediting and proofreading;
  • Author approval of publication proofs;
  • Completion of all publication requirements.
The APC is not required at any stage before editorial acceptance.
 

Article Processing Charge Details

An Article Processing Charge (APC) becomes payable only after a manuscript has:

  • Successfully completed editorial evaluation;
  • Passed the double-blind peer review process;
  • Been formally accepted for publication by the Editor-in-Chief.

APC: USD 50.00 per accepted article

The APC supports services including, but not limited to:

  • Editorial management;
  • Manuscript tracking and administration;
  • Double-blind peer review management;
  • Professional copyediting;
  • Language editing, where applicable;
  • Typesetting and layout preparation;
  • Proofreading;
  • DOI registration (where applicable);
  • Website hosting and maintenance;
  • Long-term digital archiving and preservation;
  • Metadata preparation;
  • Online publication;
  • Open-access dissemination;
  • Permanent public accessibility of published articles.

The official Letter of Acceptance and the complete peer review report will be issued after the applicable Article Processing Charge (APC) has been paid. This policy has been implemented to address recurring cases in which manuscripts, although accepted after undergoing the full editorial and peer review process, are subsequently withdrawn or abandoned without proceeding to publication. Such practices consume significant editorial and reviewer resources, delay publication schedules, and reduce the efficiency of the journal's editorial operations. The APC is collected only after a manuscript has been accepted based solely on its scholarly merit and does not influence the editorial decision or the outcome of the peer review process.

 

Waivers and Discounts

RSCSL is committed to promoting equitable access to scholarly publishing.

The journal may consider requests for full or partial APC waivers or discounts under exceptional circumstances, including:

  • Authors from low-income or lower-middle-income countries;
  • Authors who demonstrate genuine financial hardship;
  • Invited articles or special editorial contributions;
  • Other cases approved by the Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Board.

Requests for APC waivers must be submitted to the Editorial Office before payment and should include sufficient justification.

Applications for waivers are evaluated independently and confidentially.

The granting or denial of a waiver has no influence on editorial decisions.
 

Refund Policy

Because editorial and production services begin immediately after manuscript acceptance, APC payments are generally non-refundable.

Refunds may be considered only under exceptional circumstances, such as:

  • Duplicate payment;
  • Administrative or billing errors by the journal;
  • Other situations approved by the Publisher or Editor-in-Chief.

Requests for refunds will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

 

Fee Transparency

REABMS is committed to complete transparency regarding publication charges.

Unless otherwise announced, the journal does not charge additional fees for:

  • Manuscript submission;
  • Editorial evaluation;
  • Peer review;
  • Online publication;
  • Article access or downloads;
  • Color figures in the online version;
  • Supplementary materials.

Should publication fees change in the future, revised fees will be announced on the journal website before implementation and will apply only to new submissions received after the effective date.

 

Editorial Independence

The payment of an APC does not guarantee publication.

Acceptance decisions are based exclusively on:

  • Scholarly quality;
  • Originality;
  • Methodological rigor;
  • Ethical compliance;
  • Legal and academic integrity;
  • Relevance to the journal's aims and scope;
  • Recommendations from independent peer reviewers.
Editorial staff, reviewers, and editors are prohibited from allowing financial considerations to influence editorial decisions.
 

Financial Sustainability

Revenue generated through APCs is used exclusively to support the journal's publishing operations, including:

  • Editorial management;
  • Peer review administration;
  • Production services;
  • Website maintenance;
  • Digital preservation;
  • DOI registration;
  • Metadata management;
  • Long-term accessibility of published research;
  • Continuous improvement of journal quality and publishing infrastructure.

The journal is committed to maintaining a sustainable publishing model while ensuring unrestricted public access to scholarly research.

Commitment to Fair and Transparent Publishing

The Review of Studies on Criminology, Sociology, and Law (RSCSL) is committed to maintaining a fair, transparent, ethical, and sustainable open-access publishing model. The Article Processing Charge supports the journal's mission of providing rigorous peer review, high editorial standards, professional publication services, permanent digital preservation, and unrestricted global access to high-quality scholarship. Editorial decisions remain entirely independent of financial considerations, ensuring that every manuscript is evaluated solely on its academic merit, originality, ethical integrity, and contribution to criminology, sociology, law, criminal justice, forensic science, governance, public policy, and related interdisciplinary disciplines.

 

Alignment with International Standards

This Article Processing Charge (APC) Policy has been developed in accordance with internationally recognized principles of ethical publishing, fee transparency, editorial independence, and responsible open-access publishing and is aligned with:

  • Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) – Guidance on publication ethics, editorial independence, transparency, and responsible publishing practices:
    https://publicationethics.org/
  • International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) – Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work, including recommendations on editorial independence, transparency, and conflicts of interest:
    https://www.icmje.org/recommendations/
  • Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) – Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing, including requirements for transparent publication fees, editorial independence, and open-access publishing practices:
    https://doaj.org/apply/guide/

RSCSL periodically reviews and updates this policy to ensure continued alignment with evolving international standards for publication ethics, transparent fee policies, editorial independence, research integrity, and responsible open-access scholarly publishing.