Article Processing Charge

Food Systems, Safety & Sustainability (FSSS) is a fully open-access journal. To support peer-review administration, editorial management, professional production, digital publication, metadata services, long-term accessibility, and journal infrastructure, an Article Processing Charge (APC) of USD 500 applies to each accepted article.

The APC is charged only after a manuscript has successfully completed editorial assessment and peer review and has received a formal acceptance decision. Authors are not required to pay an APC when submitting a manuscript or while the manuscript is under review.

APC Amount

Standard Article Processing Charge USD 500 per accepted article
Submission Fee None
Peer-Review Fee None
Open-Access Licence CC BY 4.0, unless otherwise stated
Payment Stage After formal acceptance and before final publication

The APC is assessed per accepted article and is not calculated according to the number of authors, manuscript length, number of pages, number of figures, or number of supplementary files, unless exceptional production requirements are agreed with the authors in advance.

What the APC Supports

The APC contributes to the costs associated with the journal’s publication process, including:

  • online manuscript-submission and editorial-management infrastructure;
  • technical checks and peer-review administration;
  • editorial coordination and correspondence;
  • copyediting and production preparation;
  • typesetting and preparation of the Version of Record;
  • online publication and open-access dissemination;
  • article metadata preparation and distribution;
  • registration and maintenance of digital object identifiers, where applicable;
  • website hosting and journal-platform maintenance;
  • digital preservation and long-term accessibility arrangements;
  • publication-ethics and post-publication procedures; and
  • general administrative and technical support.

No Submission or Review Charges

FSSS does not charge authors a manuscript-submission fee or a separate peer-review fee. Authors are not required to make any payment for a manuscript to receive initial editorial assessment or external peer review.

A request for payment before a formal acceptance decision should be treated as unauthorised unless it concerns an optional service separately requested by the author and confirmed in writing.

When the APC Becomes Payable

The APC becomes payable only after:

  1. the manuscript has completed the required editorial and peer-review process;
  2. all required revisions have been approved;
  3. the authorised editor has issued a formal acceptance decision; and
  4. the Editorial Office has issued an official invoice or payment notice.

Acceptance is not conditional upon advance payment. However, the accepted article will not normally proceed to final publication until the applicable APC has been paid or an approved waiver, discount, or institutional arrangement has been confirmed.

Editorial Independence

Payment of an APC does not guarantee acceptance or publication. Editorial decisions are based exclusively on:

  • the manuscript’s relevance to the journal’s aims and scope;
  • originality and scholarly contribution;
  • methodological soundness;
  • research integrity and ethical compliance;
  • the quality and transparency of reporting;
  • the outcome of peer review; and
  • the judgement of the journal’s authorised editors.

Editors and reviewers are not informed of an author’s ability or willingness to pay when evaluating the scholarly merits of a manuscript, except where administrative information is necessary after acceptance.

The publisher, sponsors, institutional partners, advertisers, and payment-service providers must not influence peer review or editorial decision-making.

Waivers and Discounts

Authors who are unable to pay the full APC may apply for a waiver or discount in accordance with the journal’s separate Waiver and Discount Policy.

Waiver or discount requests should normally be submitted during the initial submission process or before a final editorial decision is issued. Requests submitted only after acceptance may be considered where exceptional circumstances can be demonstrated, but approval cannot be guaranteed.

Waiver and discount decisions are administrative decisions and are made separately from the academic assessment of the manuscript. Applying for financial assistance does not disadvantage a manuscript during editorial screening or peer review.

Articles That May Be Exempt

The following content may be exempt from the standard APC at the discretion of the journal:

  • editorials formally commissioned by the Editor-in-Chief;
  • publisher or editorial-office announcements;
  • correction notices;
  • retraction notices;
  • expressions of concern;
  • responses requested by the editors in connection with published correspondence; and
  • other non-research content formally designated as exempt before publication.

Unsolicited research articles, reviews, perspectives, policy analyses, case studies, methods papers, data papers, and other peer-reviewed submissions are normally subject to the standard APC.

Special Issues

Articles submitted to a special issue are normally subject to the same APC as articles submitted to a regular issue.

Guest editors do not have authority to promise or approve fee waivers unless the arrangement has been formally authorised by FSSS and Panorama Scholarly Group.

Any special funding arrangement, institutional sponsorship, or approved APC reduction associated with a special issue must be disclosed clearly to authors and must not affect peer-review standards or editorial decisions.

Institutional or Funder Payment

The APC may be paid by:

  • an author;
  • the author’s university or research institution;
  • a research funder;
  • a scholarly society;
  • an authorised project or department; or
  • another approved third party.

Responsibility for arranging payment remains with the corresponding author unless the Editorial Office confirms another arrangement in writing.

Authors are encouraged to verify whether their institution, library, research funder, grant, or open-access publishing programme can cover the APC.

Invoices and Payment Information

After acceptance, the corresponding author or designated payer will receive an official invoice or payment notice containing:

  • the journal title;
  • the manuscript title;
  • the manuscript identification number;
  • the amount and currency payable;
  • the payer information available to the journal;
  • the approved waiver or discount, where applicable;
  • the payment deadline;
  • the authorised payment method; and
  • the official payment instructions.

Authors should make payments only through payment channels formally identified by the Editorial Office or Panorama Scholarly Group. The journal is not responsible for payments made to unauthorised individuals, personal accounts, unofficial intermediaries, or fraudulent websites.

Currency, Taxes, and Transaction Costs

The standard APC is stated in United States dollars. Where payment is made in another currency, the amount received must be equivalent to the invoiced USD amount after currency conversion.

Applicable taxes, statutory charges, banking fees, currency-conversion costs, intermediary-bank charges, and third-party payment-platform fees are not included in the standard APC unless expressly stated on the invoice.

The payer is responsible for ensuring that the full invoiced amount is received. Any additional charge will be disclosed before payment where it is known to the journal or publisher.

Payment Deadline

The payment deadline will be stated on the official invoice. Authors who require additional time should contact the Editorial Office before the deadline.

Failure to pay the APC or obtain an approved waiver may delay production and publication. Prolonged non-payment without communication may result in administrative closure of the accepted manuscript, subject to prior notice to the corresponding author.

Refunds

Because the APC is charged only after formal acceptance, payments are generally non-refundable once production work has begun.

A refund may be considered where:

  • a duplicate payment has been made;
  • an incorrect amount has been charged;
  • the journal is unable to publish the accepted article for reasons attributable to the journal or publisher; or
  • another exceptional administrative error has occurred.

A refund will not normally be issued where:

  • the authors withdraw the article after production has begun;
  • publication is delayed because the authors do not provide required files, corrections, permissions, or responses;
  • a published article is subsequently corrected, retracted, or withdrawn because of an author error, ethical breach, research-integrity concern, or legal problem;
  • the authors are dissatisfied with indexing, citation performance, media attention, or article usage;
  • the authors fail to obtain reimbursement from their institution or funder; or
  • currency-conversion or payment-provider charges differ from the payer’s expectations.

Approved refunds may be reduced by non-recoverable banking, payment-processing, currency-conversion, or administrative costs.

Withdrawal after Acceptance

Authors requesting withdrawal after acceptance must provide a written explanation approved by all authors.

If substantial editorial, copyediting, typesetting, metadata, or production work has already been completed, the journal may retain all or part of the APC to cover costs already incurred. The applicable amount will be determined according to the stage of production and communicated to the authors.

Changes to the APC

The journal may revise the APC to reflect changes in publishing, infrastructure, preservation, production, regulatory, or administrative costs.

The APC normally applicable to a manuscript is the amount publicly displayed on the journal website at the time of the manuscript’s initial submission, unless:

  • a different amount was agreed in writing;
  • the manuscript was withdrawn and later submitted as a new submission;
  • an institutional or special-issue arrangement applies; or
  • the authors were notified of a revised fee before completing submission.

Changes to the APC will not be applied retrospectively to accepted articles without prior notice and written justification.

Transparency

FSSS is committed to transparent author-fee practices. The standard APC, applicable exemptions, waiver arrangements, payment stage, and principal conditions are published openly on the journal website.

No editor, reviewer, guest editor, agent, or external representative may impose an undisclosed publication fee or request payment outside the journal’s authorised procedures.

Contact

Questions concerning invoices, payment arrangements, institutional funding, waivers, discounts, refunds, or authorised payment methods should be directed to the FSSS Editorial Office.

Authors contacting the Editorial Office about an accepted manuscript should include the manuscript title, submission identification number, corresponding author’s name, and invoice number where available.