This policy explains JLPCS’s Article Processing Charge, payment timing, payment handling charge, waiver eligibility, waiver request procedure, review criteria, confidentiality, and editorial independence safeguards.

JLPCS keeps its APC at a modest level to support accessibility for authors while sustaining open access publication operations. Because the APC is already set low, waivers are limited and are intended for authors who genuinely cannot pay due to serious financial hardship.

本政策说明 JLPCS 关于文章处理费、付款时间、支付手续费、减免资格、申请流程、审核标准、保密处理和编辑独立性的规定。由于 JLPCS 的 APC 已保持在较低水平，费用减免资源有限，主要用于帮助确因严重经济困难而无法承担费用的作者。

JLPCS may consider full or partial APC waivers for authors facing genuine and serious financial hardship. Waivers are not automatic, not guaranteed, and not intended as a general discount mechanism.

• Waiver requests are considered individually;
• Waiver resources are limited;
• Full waivers are exceptional and reserved for severe hardship cases;
• Partial waivers may be offered where authors can contribute part of the APC;
• Waiver decisions are independent of editorial decisions;
• Waiver requests must not be used to influence peer review or acceptance.

JLPCS 可为确有真实且严重经济困难的作者考虑全额或部分 APC 减免。费用减免并非自动授予，也不是常规折扣机制。全额减免通常仅适用于特别困难情况。

Waivers are intended for authors who have no realistic access to institutional, grant, departmental, project, employer, sponsor, or personal funds for publication charges.

Eligible hardship situations may include:

• Authors with no institutional support, no grant funding, and no publication budget;
• Independent researchers without stable income or research funding;
• Students or early-career researchers facing serious financial hardship and lacking institutional support;
• Researchers from resource-limited institutions where publication funding is not available;
• Authors experiencing unemployment, displacement, serious illness, family hardship, or other exceptional financial difficulty;
• Authors whose research is academically suitable for JLPCS but who genuinely cannot pay even the modest APC.

减免主要面向确无机构、课题、院系、雇主、资助方或个人资金来源的作者。申请人应说明为什么无法承担已较低的 APC，而不仅仅是希望降低出版成本。

Because JLPCS maintains a low APC, waiver requests should be based on genuine inability to pay, not convenience, preference, or general cost-saving.

The following are not normally sufficient on their own:

• Preference not to use available institutional or grant funds;
• General statement that APCs are inconvenient or undesirable;
• Delay in institutional reimbursement when payment can still be arranged;
• Request for discount after payment has already been made;
• Request based only on manuscript quality, seniority, title, affiliation, or publication urgency;
• Availability of other funding sources that could reasonably cover the APC;
• Use of paid editing, formatting, submission agency, or third-party publication services while claiming inability to pay the APC.

仅因“不想支付”“希望节省成本”“机构报销慢”或“文章质量较高”提出减免，通常不足以支持申请。减免应基于真实经济困难，而非一般性费用偏好。

Authors who believe they may need APC support should contact the JLPCS Editorial Office as early as possible, preferably at submission or before formal acceptance. Late waiver requests may be difficult to accommodate.

• Authors may indicate potential financial hardship at submission;
• Waiver requests may also be submitted during revision or before final acceptance;
• Requests should be submitted before payment is made;
• Requests submitted after invoice issuance may still be considered, but are not guaranteed;
• Requests submitted after payment has been completed are normally not considered for refund;
• Authors should not delay revision or proof correction while waiting for informal fee discussions.

有减免需求的作者应尽早联系编辑部，最好在投稿时或正式录用前提出。付款完成后再申请减免，通常不予退款处理。

Waiver requests should be submitted in writing to the JLPCS Editorial Office. The request should be concise, truthful, and supported by relevant information.

A waiver request should normally include:

• Manuscript title and submission ID, if available;
• Corresponding author name, affiliation, country or region, and contact email;
• Requested support: full waiver or partial waiver;
• Brief explanation of serious financial hardship;
• Statement confirming whether institutional, grant, departmental, employer, sponsor, or project funds are available;
• Information about student, independent researcher, unemployed, unfunded, or resource-limited status where applicable;
• Any supporting document the author wishes to provide;
• Confirmation that the waiver request is truthful and complete.

申请材料应真实、简明、具体。作者不必披露过度私人信息，但应提供足以说明“确实无法承担费用”的基本情况。

中文申请可使用中文说明。申请人应根据真实情况修改示例，不得提交虚假经济困难声明。

Waiver requests are reviewed administratively and independently from editorial evaluation. The assessment focuses on financial need, availability of alternative funding, and the limited waiver resources of the journal.

JLPCS may consider:

• Whether the author has access to institutional, grant, project, or sponsor funding;
• Whether the corresponding author or author group can reasonably share the APC cost;
• Whether the author is an unfunded student, independent scholar, unemployed researcher, or researcher from a resource-limited institution;
• Whether the stated hardship is specific, credible, and directly related to inability to pay;
• Whether the request is submitted before payment;
• Whether full waiver or partial waiver is more appropriate;
• Whether waiver funds remain available at the time of request.

减免审核重点是经济困难真实性、替代资金可得性和期刊有限减免资源，而非作者身份、头衔、机构声誉或文章录用可能性。

Waiver requests are handled confidentially. Information provided in a waiver request is used only for APC support assessment and administrative processing.

• Waiver information is not shared with peer reviewers;
• Waiver information is not used to assess scholarly merit;
• Waiver information is not used to influence acceptance or rejection;
• Waiver information is handled by appropriate editorial or administrative personnel;
• Sensitive personal information should be limited to what is necessary to support the request;
• The journal may request clarification when information is incomplete or inconsistent.

减免申请内容将尽可能保密处理，不向审稿人披露，也不用于学术质量评估。作者应避免提交不必要的敏感个人信息。

Waiver requests have no influence on editorial screening, peer review, reviewer selection, revision decisions, acceptance decisions, rejection decisions, or publication ethics decisions.

• Authors may request a waiver without affecting the manuscript’s scholarly evaluation;
• Reviewers are not informed of waiver requests;
• Editors must not accept or reject manuscripts because of APC payment capacity;
• Waiver approval does not guarantee acceptance;
• Waiver denial does not justify rejection;
• Publication ethics and research integrity requirements apply equally to waived and non-waived manuscripts.

减免申请、作者支付能力或费用状态不得影响编辑决定。获批减免不代表稿件一定录用；未获减免也不得成为拒稿理由。

If a waiver or partial waiver is approved, the JLPCS Editorial Office will issue a payment notice or invoice reflecting the approved reduction.

• For full waiver, no APC payment is required unless otherwise stated;
• For partial waiver, the reduced APC amount will be stated in the payment notice;
• The 10% handling charge is normally calculated on the reduced payable amount;
• Authors should not pay before receiving updated payment instructions;
• Waiver approval applies only to the specific manuscript and cannot be transferred to another manuscript;
• Waiver approval may be withdrawn if the request is found to contain false or misleading information.

减免获批后，编辑部将根据批准结果发出更新后的付款说明或发票。作者应以正式付款说明为准，不应提前自行付款。

If a waiver request is not approved, the standard APC and applicable payment handling charge remain payable after formal acceptance. The author may still proceed with publication by completing payment according to the official payment notice.

• Waiver denial does not affect the scholarly evaluation of the manuscript;
• Waiver denial does not change the peer review record;
• Authors may ask for clarification of the payment amount or deadline;
• Authors may request consideration of a partial waiver if full waiver is not possible;
• Repeated requests without new information may not be reconsidered;
• Failure to complete required payment after acceptance may delay production or publication.

未获减免不影响稿件的学术评价。若正式录用后未能按付款通知完成应付费用，可能影响后续出版制作进度。

Authors must provide truthful information in waiver requests. False, misleading, incomplete, or manipulated financial hardship statements may be treated as an ethical concern.

• The journal may request clarification or supporting information;
• The journal may decline or withdraw a waiver if false information is identified;
• The journal may pause production or publication while concerns are assessed;
• Serious misrepresentation may be handled under publication ethics or research integrity policies;
• Authors remain responsible for the accuracy of all declarations submitted to the journal.

减免申请应真实完整。虚构贫困、隐瞒可用资金或提交误导性材料，可能被视为伦理问题，并可能导致撤销减免或暂停出版流程。

Questions about APC, waiver requests, financial hardship support, invoices, payment handling charges, or payment instructions may be directed to the JLPCS Editorial Office.

有关 APC、费用减免、经济困难支持、发票、支付手续费或付款说明的问题，可联系 JLPCS 编辑部。

Email: [email protected]