Refund Policy

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The Archives of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (APPS) maintains a transparent Refund Policy for Article Processing Charges (APCs). Refunds are rare and handled only under clearly defined circumstances, in line with industry standards and the COPE principles of fairness.

Source: APPS Payment & Policy pages; COPE guidelines on transparency.

1) Non-Refundable Cases

APC payments are generally non-refundable once an article has been accepted for publication, as the editorial and production costs have been incurred. Refunds are not applicable in cases of:

  • Author withdrawal after acceptance.
  • Retraction due to author misconduct (plagiarism, falsification).
  • Failure to comply with journal guidelines or ethical standards.

2) Refundable Cases

Refunds may be considered in exceptional circumstances, such as:

  • Duplicate payment: If authors are charged more than once for the same article.
  • Editorial withdrawal: If the journal withdraws an article due to an error not attributable to the author.
  • Failure to publish: If accepted articles are not published due to publisher fault.

3) Partial Refunds

In cases where only part of the editorial process has been completed, partial refunds may be issued on a case-by-case basis, deducting administrative and processing fees.

4) Process for Requesting Refunds

  1. Authors must email a formal refund request to the editorial office.
  2. The request should include payment proof, article ID, and justification.
  3. The finance team reviews and confirms eligibility within 30 working days.
  4. Refunds are processed through the original payment method.

5) Timeframe for Refunds

Eligible refunds are typically processed within 4–6 weeks of approval, subject to bank and payment gateway timelines.

6) Author Obligations

Authors are advised to carefully review APCs, Waiver Policies, and journal guidelines before submission to minimize refund disputes. Queries should be raised with the editorial office before making payments.

7) Contact Information

For refund-related queries, please contact: