Article Processing Charges (APCs) and Author Fees

Journal of Management Entrepreneurship and Tourism (JMET)

The Journal of Management Entrepreneurship and Tourism (JMET) is an open-access scholarly journal published by Sumber Belajar Sejahtera.

JMET is committed to maintaining a transparent, fair, and ethical publication-fee policy. All applicable publication charges are clearly communicated to authors and are kept administratively separate from editorial and peer-review decisions.

The ability or willingness of an author to pay an Article Processing Charge does not influence manuscript evaluation, peer-review outcomes, editorial decisions, or acceptance for publication.

I. Publication Charges

1. Article Processing Charge

For manuscripts formally accepted for publication, JMET currently applies:

The APC applies only after formal acceptance. No payment is required merely to obtain a favorable editorial decision.

2. Submission Fee

JMET does not charge a manuscript submission fee. Authors may submit manuscripts for editorial consideration without payment.

3. Peer-Review Fee

Authors are not charged for the standard peer-review process. Reviewer selection, recommendations, revision requirements, and editorial decisions are independent of financial transactions.

4. Editorial Processing Fee

Authors are not required to pay in order to obtain:

• Initial editorial screening;
• Assignment to reviewers;
• Reviewer comments;
• Revision opportunities;
• An acceptance decision.

II. What the APC Supports

The APC contributes to legitimate scholarly publishing and journal operating costs associated with publication of accepted articles.

These activities may include:

• Journal platform maintenance;
• Open Journal Systems (OJS) administration;
• Editorial administration;
• Manuscript production;
• Copyediting and formatting;
• Layout and typesetting;
• Metadata preparation;
• DOI registration and maintenance;
• Online publication;
• Digital preservation and backup;
• Website and hosting infrastructure;
• Long-term journal development;
• Open-access dissemination.

III. When the APC Is Charged

The APC becomes applicable only after formal manuscript acceptance.

Authors should not make payment before receiving official acceptance.

An official invoice or payment instruction should identify:

• Article title;
• Corresponding author;
• Amount payable;
• Payment purpose;
• Official payment channel;
• Relevant journal or Publisher information.

IV. Editorial Independence

7. Separation of Editorial and Financial Decisions

JMET maintains strict separation between editorial decision-making and financial administration.

Editors and reviewers assess manuscripts solely according to:

• Alignment with the journal's Aims and Scope;
• Originality;
• Scientific contribution;
• Methodological rigor;
• Validity of analysis;
• Research integrity;
• Ethical compliance;
• Quality of presentation.

8. No Guarantee of Acceptance

Payment of any publication-related fee does not guarantee:

• Manuscript acceptance;
• Positive reviewer recommendations;
• Accelerated peer review;
• Preferential editorial treatment;
• Publication in a particular issue;
• Citation;
• Accreditation;
• Inclusion in Scopus or another indexing database.

Every manuscript must complete JMET's established editorial and peer-review procedures.

V. Fee Transparency

9. No Hidden Charges

JMET does not impose undisclosed mandatory:

• Submission charges;
• Standard peer-review charges;
• Acceptance charges additional to the stated APC;
• DOI charges;
• Standard online publication charges;
• Standard metadata-processing charges.

10. Optional Services

If optional services are offered, they must:

• Be clearly identified as optional;
• Have their costs disclosed in advance;
• Not be required as a condition of acceptance;
• Not influence editorial decisions.

Professional language editing, where used, does not guarantee manuscript acceptance.

VI. Waiver and Fee Reduction

11. Waiver and Fee-Reduction Policy

JMET recognizes that publication charges may create barriers for some authors.

APC waiver or reduction requests may be considered in documented circumstances, subject to journal resources and applicable Publisher policy.

Potential grounds may include:

• Demonstrable financial constraints;
• Absence of institutional or research funding;
• Countries or institutions with limited research funding;
• Exceptional circumstances considered reasonable by the Publisher.

Approval of a waiver or reduction is not automatic.

12. Waiver Decisions and Editorial Independence

Waiver and fee-reduction decisions are administrative matters and must remain separate from scientific evaluation.

Editors and reviewers must not be influenced by whether an author:

• Requests a waiver;
• Receives a waiver;
• Does not receive a waiver;
• Is able or unable to pay the APC.

VII. Special Publishing Circumstances

13. Invited Articles

Invited manuscripts are subject to the same academic quality, ethical, editorial, and peer-review standards as unsolicited submissions.

An invitation does not guarantee acceptance.

14. Special Issues

Articles submitted to special issues, thematic collections, or special sections must follow JMET's established peer-review and ethical standards.

Unless clearly stated otherwise in advance, the standard APC policy applies.

15. Withdrawal of Manuscripts

Authors wishing to withdraw a manuscript should follow JMET's manuscript withdrawal procedure.

Authors should not be charged an APC for a manuscript that has not been formally accepted under the standard publication process.

VIII. Post-Publication and Refunds

16. Corrections, Retractions, and Post-Publication Notices

Ethically necessary post-publication actions must not be prevented because of financial considerations.

Authors should not be required to pay a fee merely for JMET to issue an ethically necessary correction or retraction notice.

17. Refunds

Once substantive production and publication services have been provided, APCs are generally non-refundable except where:

• Payment was made in error;
• Duplicate payment occurred;
• The journal or Publisher determines that a refund is appropriate under exceptional circumstances.

Refund decisions are administrative and do not affect editorial independence.

IX. Payment Security and Financial Administration

18. Authorized Payment Channels

Authors should make payments only through payment instructions officially issued by JMET or Sumber Belajar Sejahtera.

Authors should disregard requests that:

• Originate from unauthorized individuals;
• Use unexplained payment channels;
• Promise guaranteed acceptance;
• Offer expedited acceptance in exchange for additional payment;
• Differ materially from fees published on the official JMET website.

19. Receipts and Financial Records

Authors who pay an APC should receive appropriate confirmation or evidence of payment.

Financial records must remain administratively separate from confidential peer-review reports and editorial recommendations.

X. Changes, Currency, and Third-Party Payments

20. Changes to the APC

If the APC changes:

• The new amount will be published clearly on the official JMET website;
• The effective date should be stated;
• Authors should not be unexpectedly charged a materially different amount.

21. Currency and International Payments

Applicable currency, payment arrangements, transfer requirements, and instructions must be communicated clearly to authors.

22. Third-Party Payments

Publication charges may be paid, where permitted, by:

• Authors;
• Universities;
• Research institutions;
• Research grants;
• Funding agencies;
• Sponsors;
• Other authorized organizations.

XI. APC, Open Access, Copyright, and Author Responsibility

23. Relationship Between APC and Open Access

The APC supports JMET's open-access publishing model.

Readers are not required to pay subscription or pay-per-view charges to access published JMET articles.

24. Copyright and Licensing

Payment of an APC does not transfer copyright ownership from authors to the Publisher.

JMET articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0), unless another lawful license is explicitly stated.

25. Author Responsibility

Before submission, authors are responsible for reviewing the current:

• Article Processing Charge;
• Author Fees Policy;
• Waiver information;
• Copyright and License Statement;
• Open Access Statement;
• Peer Review Process;
• Publication Ethics and Malpractice Policy.

XII. Transparency Commitment

JMET is committed to ensuring that publication fees are:

Transparent — authors can identify applicable charges before publication.

Fair — charges do not determine scholarly outcomes.

Independent — editorial decisions remain separate from financial administration.

Predictable — authors are not subjected to undisclosed mandatory publication charges.

Accountable — payments are administered through authorized journal or Publisher channels.

JMET maintains transparent publication charges and strict separation between financial administration and scholarly editorial decisions.

Submission Fee: None   •   Peer-Review Fee: None   •   APC: After Formal Acceptance   •   Hidden Mandatory Charges: None