Payment Policy

 

No Article Processing Charges (APCs) – 2026

Advances in Science, Engineering and Society (ASES) is fully committed to eliminating financial barriers to high-quality open-access scholarly publishing, particularly during its launch phase.

Zero APC Policy for Volume 1 (2026)

For the entire year 2026 (Volume 1)—covering all issues published from January 2026 to December 2026—ASES will operate under a zero Article Processing Charges (APCs) policy.

No publication fees, submission fees, page charges, or processing fees will be levied during this period.

This policy applies equally to all authors, regardless of geographic location, institutional affiliation, funding status, or career stage.

This Means:

  • There is no fee to submit a manuscript

  • There is no fee if a manuscript is accepted after peer review

  • There is no fee for the publication of accepted articles

  • There is no fee for authors from low-income, lower-middle-income, or upper-middle-income countries (or any other region)

  • There is no fee for color figures, supplementary materials, or additional pages

How Publication Costs Are Covered

All costs associated with the publication process are fully covered by Synergy Publications, in line with its mission to promote equitable knowledge sharing and support transformative scholarship in science, engineering, and society.

Covered costs include:

  • Editorial management and peer-review coordination

  • Copyediting, typesetting, and layout design

  • Online hosting and website maintenance

  • Long-term digital preservation and archiving (e.g., LOCKSS / CLOCKSS)

  • Indexing, discoverability, and visibility initiatives

  • Open-access dissemination of published research

Future Policy (Post-2026)

The journal’s leadership will review its financial sustainability model on an annual basis. Should the introduction of Article Processing Charges (APCs) or other publication-related fees be considered in the future, the following principles will apply:

  • Any changes will be announced at least six (6) months in advance

  • All fee-related information will be clearly stated on the journal website

  • Fees will never be applied retroactively

If a fee structure is introduced after 2026:

  • Full waivers or substantial discounts will be automatically available for authors from low-income and lower-middle-income countries (as classified by the World Bank)

  • Case-by-case hardship waivers will be considered for authors without institutional or grant funding

  • The journal will maintain the principle that ability to pay will never be a barrier to the publication of high-quality scholarly work

Current Status

As of December 29, 2025 (Launch Year 2026):

  • No fees of any kind are charged to authors or their institutions for submission, peer review, acceptance, or publication in ASES during 2026.

This no-APC model reflects the journal’s core values of equity, inclusion, accessibility, and support for early-career researchers, practitioners, and scholars from diverse global contexts.

Authors are encouraged to focus exclusively on the quality, originality, and scholarly contribution of their work—without financial concerns.

For questions regarding this policy, authors may contact the editorial office through the journal platform (available upon launch in January 2026).