ARTICLE PROCESSING CHARGES

Article Processing Charges (APC)

There is NO submission fee. An Article Processing Charge (APC) becomes applicable only upon formal acceptance of a manuscript following completion of peer review. Editorial decisions are made exclusively on the basis of academic merit.

1.  What is an Article Processing Charge?

Global Frontier: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Politics is a fully open-access journal. All published articles are freely available to any reader anywhere in the world — without subscription, registration, or paywall. This model ensures the widest possible dissemination of scholarship and maximises the reach and impact of published research.

To sustain this open-access model, the journal levies a modest Article Processing Charge (APC) upon acceptance of a manuscript. The APC is a contribution towards the costs of editorial management, production, and the infrastructure required to make articles freely and permanently available online. This is standard practice across the international open-access publishing landscape and is in accordance with guidelines issued by the University Grants Commission (UGC) of India and international bodies including COPE and DOAJ.

The APC is charged to the corresponding author upon acceptance. Authors are strongly encouraged to seek institutional or funding body support for APC costs, as many universities, research councils, and grant bodies explicitly provide for open-access publication fees.

The APC model is used by the world’s leading open-access publishers, including Springer Nature, Wiley, Taylor & Francis, MDPI, Frontiers, and many UGC CARE-listed Indian journals. It enables journals to provide free, unrestricted access to all published content without relying on reader subscriptions.

2.  What the Article Processing Charge Covers

The APC collected by Global Frontier is applied exclusively to the direct costs of managing and producing the journal. The journal is an independent academic publication and does not receive institutional, governmental, or commercial funding. It is sustained entirely by the APC contributions of authors whose work is accepted for publication.

Global Frontier does not profit from the APC. All funds collected are applied directly to the costs listed above. The journal is committed to full financial transparency and the APC schedule is published openly on this page.

3.  APC Schedule

Global Frontier levies a modest Article Processing Charge upon formal acceptance of a manuscript. The APC is a single, all-inclusive charge per accepted article. There are no additional page charges, colour charges, figure charges, or supplementary fees of any kind.

The applicable APC will be communicated to the corresponding author at the time of acceptance, prior to the commencement of production. The charge is determined on the basis of the corresponding author’s institutional location and is set at a level designed to be accessible to researchers across a range of institutional contexts.

The exact APC applicable to your manuscript will be confirmed in the acceptance letter issued by the Editorial Office. Authors who have concerns about affordability are encouraged to contact the Editorial Office to discuss waiver options before or at the time of submission.

The APC is a one-time charge per accepted manuscript, regardless of article length, number of authors, or number of figures. Authors based in countries with limited research funding infrastructure may be eligible for a waiver or discount. Full details are set out in Section 6 of this page.

4.  When the APC is Charged

The APC is payable only upon formal acceptance of a manuscript. The Editorial Office will issue an APC invoice to the corresponding author upon issuance of the formal acceptance letter. The invoice will confirm the applicable APC amount, the payment deadline, and the available payment methods.

No APC is charged at the submission stage, and no APC payment is requested or accepted during the peer review process. The following timeline applies:

5.  Editorial Independence from APC

Global Frontier maintains a strict separation between editorial decisions and the APC. The ability or willingness of an author to pay the APC has absolutely no bearing on editorial decisions. All manuscripts are evaluated solely on the basis of academic merit, originality, methodological rigour, and relevance to the journal’s scope, through a rigorous double-blind peer review process.

Editors and reviewers involved in the assessment of a manuscript are not informed of the corresponding author’s APC payment status at any stage of the review process. This policy is in accordance with the principles established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ).

This policy is in full compliance with the UGC Guidelines on Open Access and the principles of the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI). Authors who have concerns regarding editorial impartiality may contact the Editor-in-Chief directly.

6.  APC Waiver and Discount Policy

Global Frontier is committed to equitable and inclusive access to academic publishing. The journal recognises that APC costs may present a genuine barrier to authors from under-resourced institutions or countries with limited research funding infrastructure. Accordingly, the journal operates a transparent waiver and discount policy.

6.1  Full Waiver

A full APC waiver (100% reduction) may be granted in the following circumstances:

• Authors based at institutions in Low-Income Countries (World Bank classification) who can demonstrate a lack of institutional or grant funding for publication costs
• Authors who have received a formal waiver recommendation from the Editor-in-Chief based on exceptional circumstances
• Invited contributions from distinguished scholars at the specific request of the Editorial Board

6.2  Partial Waiver / Discount

A partial waiver (discount of up to 50%) may be considered for:

• Doctoral students and early-career researchers (within three years of PhD completion) who lack institutional APC funding
• Authors from Lower-Middle-Income Countries who can provide evidence of the absence of grant or institutional support for publication costs

6.3  How to Apply for a Waiver

Waiver requests must be submitted to the Editorial Office at the time of manuscript acceptance. Requests submitted after the APC invoice has been paid cannot be considered. Authors should submit a brief written statement (no more than 300 words) explaining the grounds for the waiver request, along with any supporting documentation (e.g., confirmation of student status, institutional funding policy, grant rejection letter).

Waiver decisions are made by the Editor-in-Chief in consultation with the Managing Editor and are communicated within 5 working days of the request. Waiver decisions are final. The availability of waivers is subject to the journal’s financial capacity in any given period.

Waiver applications must be submitted to the Editorial Office at: 📧  [Insert Journal Email Address]

Subject line: APC Waiver Request — [Manuscript Reference Number]

7.  Payment Methods

Upon acceptance, the corresponding author will receive a formal APC invoice from the Editorial Office specifying the exact amount payable and the payment deadline. The following payment methods are available.

7.1  Bank Transfer

7.2  Wire Transfer

7.3  Online Payment

Online payment options are available for authors who prefer to pay by card or digital transfer. Payment links and instructions will be included with the APC invoice issued upon acceptance. Authors are requested not to make payment until an official invoice has been received from the Editorial Office.

• Domestic payments: UPI, NEFT, IMPS, and debit/credit card via the online payment portal
• Overseas payments: Debit/credit card (Visa, Mastercard) and PayPal via the online payment portal

Authors must email a copy of the payment receipt or transaction confirmation to the Editorial Office at [Insert Journal Email Address] within 24 hours of making payment, quoting their Manuscript Reference Number. Production of the article will commence only upon confirmation of payment.

8.  Refund Policy

The APC paid to Global Frontier covers the costs of editorial processing, production, and publication of a specific accepted manuscript. The following refund policy applies:

8.1  Refund Eligibility

• Full Refund — A full refund will be issued if the journal is unable to publish the manuscript for reasons attributable to the journal (e.g., the journal ceases publication, a technical error results in the permanent loss of the manuscript).
• Partial Refund — A partial refund of 50% of the APC will be considered if the author formally withdraws the manuscript after APC payment but before the commencement of the production process (copyediting stage).
• No Refund — No refund is available once the manuscript has entered the production process (copyediting, typesetting, or proofing stage). No refund is available where withdrawal or retraction is due to author error, misconduct, or a change of mind.

8.2  Post-Publication Retraction

If an article is retracted after publication due to confirmed research misconduct by the authors (including plagiarism, data fabrication, or falsification), no refund of the APC will be issued. If a retraction is initiated by the journal on grounds not attributable to the authors, the APC may be refunded in full at the discretion of the Editorial Board.

8.3  How to Request a Refund

Refund requests must be submitted in writing to the Editorial Office within 30 days of the date of APC payment. Requests should state the manuscript reference number, the grounds for the refund request, and the original payment method. Refunds will be processed within 15 working days of approval and returned via the original payment method where possible.

Refund requests submitted more than 30 days after the APC payment date, or after an article has been published online, will not be considered under any circumstances.

9.  Regulatory Compliance & Transparency

The APC policy of Global Frontier has been designed in compliance with the following regulatory and policy frameworks:

• University Grants Commission (UGC) Guidelines on Open Access Publication — which permit Indian journals to levy an APC to cover legitimate publication costs
• Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) — which requires that APC payment does not influence editorial decisions
• Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) — which requires journals to publish their APC policy transparently and to make all content freely available
• Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI) — open access principles under which all content is freely available to all readers without restriction
• Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) — under which all published articles are licensed

Global Frontier is committed to full transparency regarding the use of APC funds. The journal confirms that all APC revenues are applied exclusively to the direct costs of journal production and infrastructure, as detailed in Section 2. No APC funds are distributed as profit to editors, editorial board members, or any individual associated with the journal.

The APC schedule on this page is reviewed annually and may be revised for future volume years. Authors are advised to consult the current APC page at the time of submission. The APC applicable to a given manuscript is that in force at the time of acceptance, not submission.

10.  Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a fee to submit a manuscript?

No. Submission to Global Frontier is entirely free of charge. No fee is payable at the submission stage or during the peer review process.

When exactly will I be asked to pay?

The APC invoice will be issued only after the Editor-in-Chief has communicated the formal acceptance decision. You will not be asked to pay until your manuscript has been accepted.

Can my institution or funder pay on my behalf?

Yes. The APC may be paid by a university, research institution, funding body, or grant agency on behalf of the author. Authors should arrange institutional payment in advance of the payment deadline and inform the Editorial Office accordingly.

What if I cannot afford the APC?

The journal operates a waiver policy for authors who genuinely cannot afford the APC. Authors in this situation should contact the Editorial Office at the time of acceptance to request a waiver. Full details are set out in Section 6 of this page.

Will paying the APC guarantee publication?

No. The APC is payable only after a manuscript has been accepted following peer review. Payment of the APC does not guarantee acceptance and plays no role whatsoever in editorial decisions.

Are there any additional charges beyond the APC?

No. The APC is a single, all-inclusive charge. There are no additional page charges, colour charges, figure charges, supplementary material fees, or any other publication fees.

How will I know the exact APC amount?

The exact APC applicable to your manuscript will be confirmed in the formal acceptance letter issued by the Editorial Office. The amount will be clearly stated in the APC invoice along with the payment deadline and available payment methods.

How do I confirm that my payment has been received?

Authors must email a copy of their payment receipt or bank transaction confirmation to the Editorial Office, quoting their Manuscript Reference Number. The Editorial Office will confirm receipt of payment within 2 working days and will notify the production team to commence processing.

Contact for APC Queries

For all queries relating to the Article Processing Charge, payment, waivers, or refunds, please contact the Editorial Office. The team is committed to responding to all APC-related queries within 3 working days.

📧  [Insert Journal Email Address]

This APC page is reviewed annually. The APC applicable to a manuscript is that in force at the time of formal acceptance. Global Frontier reserves the right to revise its APC schedule for future volume years. Authors are advised to consult the current version of this page before submitting a manuscript.