APC and Waiver Policy

Health Nexus: Digital Health and Medical AI is a fully open-access journal. To support peer review, editorial management, copyediting, production, online publication, digital preservation, metadata preparation, and long-term journal operations, the journal charges an Article Processing Charge for articles accepted for publication.

The standard Article Processing Charge is:

USD 400 per accepted article

The Article Processing Charge applies only after a manuscript has successfully completed peer review, received formal editorial acceptance, and entered the publication process.

1. Standard Article Processing Charge

The standard Article Processing Charge is USD 400 for each article accepted for publication.

The charge is assessed per article and is not calculated according to:

  • The number of authors
  • The number of pages
  • The number of figures or tables
  • The author’s institutional affiliation
  • The author’s country of residence
  • The manuscript’s article type, except where an exemption is stated explicitly below

The standard USD 400 charge includes the journal’s ordinary publication services and is intended to represent the complete publication charge for a normally prepared article.

2. Services Covered by the APC

The Article Processing Charge supports the following publication services:

  • Editorial administration and manuscript management
  • Double-anonymous peer-review coordination
  • Technical and ethical compliance checks
  • Similarity and reference-integrity assessment where applicable
  • Copyediting and production preparation
  • Article layout and typesetting
  • Proof preparation and author proof review
  • Online publication of the Version of Record
  • Assignment and registration of a Digital Object Identifier where available
  • Preparation and dissemination of article metadata
  • Open-access hosting and long-term accessibility
  • Digital preservation and archiving arrangements
  • Indexing and discovery-service preparation
  • Publication under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence

The APC is not a fee for peer review, editorial acceptance, favourable treatment, rapid acceptance, or citation promotion.

3. No Submission or Review Fee

The journal does not charge authors for:

  • Manuscript submission
  • Initial editorial screening
  • External peer review
  • Resubmission following revision
  • Editorial rejection
  • Withdrawal before formal acceptance

Authors whose manuscripts are rejected are not required to pay an Article Processing Charge.

4. No Additional Standard Publication Charges

For a normally prepared article, the journal does not impose separate charges for:

  • Page length
  • Colour figures
  • Tables
  • Supplementary files
  • Reference formatting
  • Digital Object Identifier registration
  • Open-access publication
  • Standard copyediting or typesetting

The USD 400 APC is therefore the journal’s standard publication charge.

Authors may be asked to correct files, references, language, figures, permissions, data documentation, or other materials that do not meet the journal’s requirements. Such corrections are the authors’ responsibility and do not ordinarily create an additional journal charge.

5. Articles Exempt from the APC

The following content may be published without an Article Processing Charge when commissioned or approved by the editorial office:

  • Editorials written or commissioned by the journal
  • Corrections, retraction notices, expressions of concern, and other record-maintenance notices
  • Obituaries or memorial notices commissioned by the journal
  • Publisher or editorial announcements
  • Invited responses required to address a published correction or ethics matter

Invited status does not automatically exempt a research article, review article, perspective, commentary, or other substantive scholarly article from the APC unless the exemption is confirmed in writing by the editorial office before publication.

6. Waiver and Discount Principles

The journal recognises that some authors may lack sufficient institutional, grant, or personal resources to pay the full Article Processing Charge.

Waivers and discounts are intended to support equitable participation in scholarly publishing. They are considered according to transparent financial and geographic criteria and are independent of the manuscript’s scholarly assessment.

Available support may include:

  • Full waiver: 100% reduction of the standard APC
  • Partial waiver: normally a 50% reduction of the standard APC
  • Exceptional discretionary reduction: another proportion approved in documented exceptional circumstances

Approval of a waiver or discount is subject to the journal’s available publication-support resources and is not automatic unless the applicant meets a category explicitly designated for automatic support.

7. Full Waiver Eligibility

A full waiver may be granted where:

  • The corresponding author is primarily affiliated with an institution in a country or economy classified by the World Bank as low income at the time of submission;
  • The research was conducted principally in that country or economy;
  • The authors do not have access to institutional, grant, governmental, commercial, or other publication funding; and
  • No author or sponsor has an available source of funding that can reasonably cover the APC.

The editorial office may request reasonable documentation confirming institutional affiliation, research location, or absence of publication funding.

A full waiver may also be considered in exceptional circumstances involving severe financial hardship, humanitarian crisis, displacement, institutional disruption, or another documented barrier to publication.

8. Partial Waiver Eligibility

A partial waiver, normally reducing the APC by 50%, may be considered where:

  • The corresponding author is primarily affiliated with an institution in a lower-middle-income country or economy;
  • The research has no dedicated publication funding;
  • The authors’ institution does not provide APC support; and
  • Payment of the full charge would create a substantial and documented barrier to publication.

Partial waivers may also be considered for:

  • Independent researchers without institutional support
  • Early-career researchers without grant funding
  • Research groups affected by temporary institutional or humanitarian emergencies
  • Authors whose available funding is materially lower than the standard APC

Early-career status or lack of institutional affiliation alone does not guarantee a waiver. The request must explain the absence of other available publication funding.

9. Which Author Must Meet the Eligibility Requirements

Waiver eligibility is normally assessed primarily according to the circumstances of the corresponding author.

The editorial office may also consider:

  • The affiliations of all authors
  • The country or countries in which the research was conducted
  • The availability of grant or institutional funding to any author
  • The involvement of a commercial sponsor
  • The financial resources of the research consortium

A waiver may be declined where another author, institution, funder, or commercial sponsor has reasonable access to publication funding, even if the corresponding author individually lacks such funding.

10. How and When to Apply

Authors seeking a waiver or discount must submit their request:

  • During the initial submission process; or
  • Before a final editorial decision is issued.

A request submitted after formal acceptance may be considered only in exceptional circumstances.

The request should include:

  • The manuscript title
  • The manuscript identification number, where available
  • The name and affiliation of the corresponding author
  • The type of support requested
  • A concise explanation of financial need
  • Confirmation that no grant, institution, employer, sponsor, or co-author can provide APC funding
  • Any relevant supporting information requested by the editorial office

Waiver requests should be sent to the journal’s editorial office or submitted through the designated OJS workflow.

11. Confidentiality of Waiver Requests

Information provided in connection with a waiver or discount request will be handled confidentially and used only for administrative assessment of the request.

Reviewers will not be informed whether an author has:

  • Requested a waiver
  • Received a waiver
  • Received a discount
  • Paid the full APC

Financial information will not ordinarily be included in the manuscript files provided to reviewers.

12. Independence from Editorial Decision-Making

The ability or inability of an author to pay the APC must not influence:

  • Initial editorial screening
  • Reviewer selection
  • Peer-review reports
  • Editorial recommendations
  • Acceptance or rejection
  • The application of publication-ethics standards

Editors and reviewers responsible for the scholarly assessment of a manuscript should not make decisions on the basis of an author’s financial status.

Approval or refusal of a waiver does not guarantee acceptance or imply any judgement concerning the academic quality of the manuscript.

13. Invoice and Payment Procedure

Following formal acceptance, the publisher or editorial office will issue an invoice or payment notice identifying:

  • The article title
  • The manuscript identification number
  • The corresponding author or responsible payer
  • The standard APC
  • Any approved waiver or discount
  • The final amount payable
  • The accepted payment method or methods
  • The payment deadline

Payment should be made only through an authorised payment channel identified by Panorama Scholarly Group or the journal.

Authors should not make payment in response to unofficial messages, personal accounts, unverifiable payment instructions, or communications that do not originate from an authorised journal or publisher address.

14. Payment Currency

The standard APC is denominated in United States dollars.

Where payment is made in another currency, the converted amount may be determined by the payment platform, financial institution, or authorised payment provider at the exchange rate applicable when the transaction is processed.

The journal does not control currency-conversion rates imposed by banks or payment providers.

15. Bank and Payment-Provider Charges

The journal’s standard APC is USD 400.

Any independent bank-transfer charge, foreign-exchange charge, card charge, intermediary-bank deduction, or payment-provider charge imposed directly on the payer by the payer’s bank or payment provider is not part of the journal’s APC and remains the responsibility of the payer.

The journal will not impose an undisclosed administrative, handling, page, colour, DOI, or publication surcharge.

The amount invoiced by the journal, including any approved waiver or discount, will be stated clearly before payment.

16. Payment Deadline

The invoice or payment notice will specify the applicable payment deadline. Payment is normally expected before final publication of the Version of Record.

Where additional time is needed because of institutional payment procedures, grant administration, international transfer delays, or another legitimate reason, the corresponding author should contact the editorial office before the deadline.

Reasonable extensions may be granted where publication arrangements and production schedules permit.

17. Non-Payment

Failure to pay an invoiced APC does not permit the journal to alter the scholarly record or misrepresent the editorial outcome.

However, where no waiver has been approved and payment remains outstanding, the journal may delay final production or publication until:

  • Payment is completed;
  • A formal payment arrangement is approved; or
  • A waiver or discount is granted.

An accepted manuscript should not be treated as published until the Version of Record has been released formally by the journal.

18. Refund Policy

APC payments are normally refundable where:

  • The journal is unable to publish the accepted article;
  • The payment was duplicated;
  • An incorrect amount was collected because of an administrative error; or
  • The article is withdrawn before substantive production work begins and the publisher approves the refund.

APC payments are normally non-refundable where:

  • The article has been published;
  • Substantial copyediting, typesetting, proof preparation, metadata preparation, DOI registration, or production work has been completed;
  • The authors withdraw the article after approving publication proofs;
  • The article is corrected, retracted, or subject to an expression of concern because of author error, research misconduct, ethical non-compliance, or unreliable findings;
  • The article receives fewer views, downloads, citations, media mentions, or indexing outcomes than expected;
  • An indexing service declines, delays, or later discontinues coverage of the journal or article.

Any approved refund may be reduced by non-recoverable bank, payment-platform, currency-conversion, or transaction charges actually incurred.

19. Withdrawal Charges

The journal does not charge authors for withdrawing a manuscript before formal acceptance.

Authors who request withdrawal after formal acceptance should provide a clear written explanation. The journal may decline to refund an APC where substantial publication work has already been completed.

No withdrawal charge will exceed the standard Article Processing Charge applicable to the article.

20. Changes to the APC

The journal may revise the Article Processing Charge in response to changes in publication costs, infrastructure, preservation requirements, service provision, or the journal’s funding model.

Any revised APC will:

  • Be published clearly on the journal website
  • State the date on which the revised charge takes effect
  • Apply prospectively rather than retrospectively
  • Not alter the fee already confirmed for a manuscript unless the author agrees otherwise

The APC applicable to a manuscript is normally the amount displayed on the journal website on the date of initial submission.

21. Special Issues and Sponsored Collections

Articles submitted to special issues, thematic collections, supplements, or conference-related collections are ordinarily subject to the same standard APC.

Where a sponsoring organisation agrees to cover some or all publication costs:

  • The sponsorship arrangement must be disclosed transparently
  • Authors must be informed whether the APC is covered
  • The sponsor must not control peer review or editorial decisions
  • The same research-integrity and publication-ethics standards must apply

A special-issue editor or sponsor cannot guarantee acceptance or waive editorial requirements.

22. Institutional and Funder Payments

The APC may be paid by:

  • An author
  • An author’s institution
  • A research funder
  • A governmental agency
  • A scholarly society
  • A project or research consortium
  • Another authorised third party

Payment by a commercial entity, sponsor, or other third party must be disclosed where the payer has a relevant interest in the research or publication.

The identity of the payer does not confer any right to influence the manuscript, peer review, editorial decision, article conclusions, publication timing, or post-publication record.

23. Taxes and Legally Required Charges

The journal’s standard APC is USD 400.

Where a tax, withholding obligation, or other governmental charge is legally required in the payer’s jurisdiction, the responsible institution or payer should comply with applicable law.

Any tax or legally required charge collected by the publisher will be identified separately and transparently on the invoice where applicable.

Authors or institutions requiring specific tax, institutional-vendor, purchase-order, or invoice documentation should contact the editorial office before payment.

24. False or Misleading Waiver Information

Authors must provide accurate information when requesting a waiver or discount.

The journal may revoke an approved waiver or take other proportionate action where the application contains:

  • Materially false information
  • Undisclosed publication funding
  • Misrepresented affiliations
  • Concealed commercial sponsorship
  • Another deliberate attempt to obtain an ineligible reduction

An honest error should be corrected promptly and will not automatically be treated as misconduct.

25. Relationship to Open Access and Copyright

Payment of the APC supports publication services but does not transfer copyright from the authors to the publisher.

Under the journal’s standard publishing model:

  • Authors retain copyright in their articles.
  • The journal publishes the Version of Record.
  • Published articles are made immediately available on an open-access basis.
  • Articles are normally distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence.

The APC does not purchase authorship, peer-review approval, ownership of the journal, or control over editorial content.

26. Policy Transparency

The journal will display the applicable APC, waiver conditions, payment arrangements, and relevant exemptions clearly on its website and as early as practicable in the submission process.

Authors should consult the current version of this policy before submission. Questions concerning fees, waivers, invoices, institutional payments, or payment methods should be directed to the journal’s editorial office.