Article Processing Charges

Why does iMedPub LTD have article-processing charges (APCs)?
Publishing is not without costs. iMedPub LTD Journals defray those costs from article-processing charges (APCs), because it does not have subscription charges for its research content, believing instead that immediate, world-wide, barrier-free, to the full text of research articles is in the best interests of the scientific community. Like most other serious publishers, iMedPub LTD maintains its high quality of service through an ‘author-pay’ model. As such, manuscripts that are accepted for publication following peer review incur a publishing fee.

Can I avoid paying article-processing charges (APCs)?
No, all authors have to pay the charges for publishing their articles. However, authors are considered for waiver or discounts only after encountering a genuine reason.

What do the article-processing charges pay for?

• Immediate world-wide barrier-free open access to the full text
• Developing and maintaining electronic tools for peer review and publication
• Preparation in various formats for online publication
• Securing full text inclusion in a number of permanent archives
• Securing inclusion in CrossRef (enabling electronic citation in other journals that are available electronically)

We were born open and electronic, without legacy costs such as managing subscriptions and print distribution. Our platform makes use of open source software wherever possible, and all of our production work is done inhouse ensuring rapid delivery of services by a highly skilled but cost-effective team. Our fees are fully transparent - you can trust us that every penny goes towards providing a high quality, sustainable publishing service, and not towards sky high publisher profits.

Does iMedPub LTD Journals offer discounts on Article-Processing Charges?
iMedPub LTD Journals offers various discounts on APCs, which are outlined below. The discounts are exclusive of each other and cannot be accumulated.

• Discount reference
• Discount amount
• Notes
• Qualifying journals

Editorial Board Member

• 50% off on full Article-Processing Charges

Reviewer discount only applies to the journal in which the review was undertaken. Submitting author must be the editor to be awarded the discount. Editor discount only applies to the journal in which the editor serves.

Please note that if the submitting author's organization is a iMedPub LTD Journals member, the cost of the article processing charge is covered by the membership, and no further charge is payable. Please check if your institution is an iMedPub LTD Journals member.

To which articles will this charge apply?
To all articles that have been accepted for publication in one of IMedPub LTD online journals with the exception of articles submitted for publication in supplements.

Why a flat charge rather than one based on page numbers?
The size of an article is a poor indicator of the actual amount of work involved in obtaining peer reviews and in preparing the article for publication. A more useful discriminator might be the state an article is in when submitted, and its complexity, but the lack of objective tools to measure these has lead us to conclude that a flat fee is the fairest approach at this stage.

Who is responsible for making the payment?
Whoever submits the manuscript is responsible for making or arranging the payment (for instance, via his or her institution). The submitting author must confirm, at the time of submission, that they will organize payment should the article be accepted for publication.

Which funding agencies explicitly allow direct use of their grants to cover article-processing charges?
Many funding agencies allow the use of grants for this purpose, and an increasing number such as the Wellcome Trust, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and the US National Institutes for Health strongly encourage Open Access publication.

How do I pay?
You will need to arrange payment of the APC unless a waiver has been granted, or your institution has covered the cost through a membership scheme. Following peer review, once a manuscript has received editorial acceptance in principle, the article processing charge becomes payable, and formatting checks on the manuscript will commence. Once formatting checks are completed, and payment of the article processing charge has been received, the article will be published.

Prompt payment is advised, payment can be made via PayPal, online payment or bank transfer.

Article withdrawal policy
An author possess all the rights to withdraw the manuscript after submitting it.
There will be no charge — as long as it is withdrawn within 7 days of its initial submission.