Publication Fee Policy
INDUSTRICS
Publication Fee Policy
INDUSTRICS charges a single article processing charge (APC) of 300 US dollars for each article accepted for publication. This is the journal's only charge. It funds what publication actually costs — management of peer review, copyediting and production, online hosting, DOI registration, indexing and long-term digital preservation — and it is what makes every article immediately and permanently free to read under the journal's open access policy.
What is charged and what is not
| Item | Charge |
|---|---|
| Article processing charge, payable only on acceptance | USD 300 |
| Submission fee | None |
| Page, colour, figure or supplementary material charges | None |
| Charges for rejected or withdrawn manuscripts | None |
| Faster handling, priority review or any expedited route | Not offered at any price |
The APC is flat: it does not vary with article length, number of figures, or article type among externally reviewed content. Nor does it vary with who the author is — an industrial author pays what a university author pays. Items the journal does not send to external review, such as editorials and corrections, carry no charge. There are no hidden costs, and no service affecting editorial treatment can be purchased at any price.
Separation from editorial decisions
Payment and editorial judgement never meet. Editors and reviewers have no access to billing, waiver or payment information at any stage, and the editorial office staff who administer fees have no authority over acceptance. A manuscript's fate is decided entirely on scholarly grounds; ability to pay plays no role in it, in either direction.
Two consequences of that principle matter particularly in an industrial journal. A manuscript submitted by, or funded by, a well-resourced manufacturer receives no faster or more favourable handling than one from a small supplier or a regional laboratory. And where a sponsor pays the charge on an author's behalf, the sponsor acquires nothing beyond the invoice: no influence over the decision, no sight of the reviews, no say in when or whether the article appears.
Waivers and discounts
- Authors based in low-income economies, as defined by the current Research4Life country lists, receive an automatic full waiver; no application is needed.
- Authors elsewhere who lack institutional, employer or funder support may request a waiver or discount on grounds of demonstrated hardship. Requests are made at submission, decided by the editorial office before review begins, and the outcome is never visible to editors or reviewers.
- Waiver decisions are final for that manuscript and set no precedent; each request is assessed on its own circumstances.
Invoicing and payment
- The invoice is issued on acceptance and may be settled by the author, their institution, their employer or their funder. Where a company requires a purchase order, a specific billing entity, a VAT or tax registration number or particular invoice wording, the corresponding author should tell the editorial office at acceptance so the invoice is issued correctly the first time.
- Payment is due within 30 days and before publication. Non-payment delays publication but never triggers re-review, and the editorial decision stands. Where an employer's procurement cycle needs longer, say so and it will be accommodated.
- Where withholding taxes or bank charges apply, they are the payer's responsibility; the journal receives the net amount stated on the invoice.
- If an author withdraws an accepted article before publication, any APC already paid is refunded in full. After publication the APC is not refundable, including in cases of correction or retraction, since the costs it covers have been incurred.
Fraudulent payment requests
The only legitimate request for money is the APC invoice issued after acceptance, sent from the journal's official addresses and quoting your manuscript identifier. Any other request for payment in the name of INDUSTRICS — at submission, during review, for expedited handling, or to an account named on a message that reached you outside the submission system — is fraudulent. Report it to the editorial office with the message headers preserved, and pay nothing.
Fee changes
Any change to the APC or to waiver criteria is announced on this page at least 60 days before taking effect, and the fee in force on the date of submission is the fee that applies to that manuscript, whatever the date of acceptance.