Terms of Use

Platform purpose

The platform supports submission, editorial assessment, peer review, production, publication, indexing, and public dissemination of scholarly work.

Accounts and eligibility

• Users must provide accurate account information and protect their login credentials.
• Accounts may not be impersonated, shared improperly, or used to circumvent platform controls.
• Suspected misuse, unauthorised access, or security concerns should be reported promptly.

Acceptable use

• Do not upload malicious code, interfere with availability, or attempt to extract data beyond authorised access.
• Do not submit fabricated, plagiarised, fraudulent, or otherwise unethical content.
• Do not use the platform in a way that breaches law, academic norms, or research integrity standards.

Submission and editorial terms

Submission does not guarantee acceptance. Editorial decisions are based on scope fit, scholarly quality, originality, reporting quality, ethical compliance, and the judgment of the editorial process.

Fees and APCs

Applicable Article Processing Charges are disclosed at journal or platform level where relevant. Payment obligations, discount eligibility, and waivers are administered separately from editorial decision-making.

Refund and Cancellation Policy

All APC payments are made voluntarily after an explicit acceptance decision by the editorial team. Payments are non-refundable once peer review or post-acceptance processing has commenced, except in the circumstances described below.

• Desk rejection before review: If a submission is rejected during initial editorial assessment — before external peer review begins — and an APC has already been collected, a full refund may be requested within 14 days of the rejection notice.
• Duplicate payment: If you are charged more than once for the same submission due to a payment processing error, the duplicate charge will be refunded in full.
• Waivers: Waiver applications must be submitted before payment. Approved waivers reduce or eliminate the APC obligation; they do not entitle a retrospective refund of amounts already paid.
• Withdrawal: Withdrawal of a submission after APC payment has been made does not entitle the author to a refund, as editorial and production resources will already have been committed.

To request a refund or report a billing issue, contact the editorial office via the Support portal. Refund requests are reviewed within 5 business days.

Scholarly record integrity

We may issue corrections, expressions of concern, removals, or retractions when necessary to preserve the reliability of the published record and comply with research integrity expectations.

Liability and service limits

The platform is provided on an as-available basis. While we aim for reliability and accuracy, we cannot guarantee uninterrupted service or the absence of dependency-related outages, third-party issues, or user-generated errors.

Updates and contact

These terms may be updated from time to time. Continued use after publication of an updated version indicates acceptance of the revised terms.