APC Payment/Refund Policy

APC Payment, Refund & Withdrawal Policy (GPHHS – EcoScribe Publishers)

Global Public Health & Health Systems (GPHHS) is published by EcoScribe Publishers. The journal charges an Article Processing Charge (APC) of USD 50 for accepted manuscripts to support peer-review administration, editorial processing, production, online hosting, archiving, and long-term journal operations.

1) When the APC is Payable

• No submission fee: Authors are not charged at submission.

• APC is charged only after acceptance: Payment is requested only after the editorial decision “Accept” has been issued.

• DOIs are assigned after payment: GPHHS assigns a DOI only after the APC has been received and confirmed.

2) Key Principle

Because APC payment occurs after acceptance, and because production steps begin after payment, APC payments are generally non-refundable once payment has been made, except in the limited cases described below.

3) Refund Eligibility

Refunds may be issued only in the following circumstances:

A. Duplicate or erroneous payment

• If the APC is paid more than once for the same manuscript, the extra amount will be refunded.

B. Payment recorded in error

• If payment is received for a manuscript that was not accepted, or the wrong manuscript ID was used and the error is confirmed, EcoScribe Publishers will correct the record and refund/transfer the payment as appropriate.

C. Journal inability to proceed (rare)

• If EcoScribe Publishers is unable to proceed to publication for reasons attributable to the journal/publisher (e.g., a confirmed administrative or technical failure), a full refund may be considered.

4) No-Refund Situations (Strict)

APC payments will not be refunded in any of the following cases:

• Author withdrawal after acceptance (since acceptance triggers the APC request and editorial handling has already occurred).

• Delays in peer review, editorial processing, copyediting, proofing, or scheduling.

• Author dissatisfaction with editorial decisions, reviewer comments, or required revisions.

• Failure to complete requested revisions, proof corrections, or publication forms after payment.

• Retraction, withdrawal of acceptance, or article removal due to confirmed policy breaches or misconduct, including but not limited to:

  • plagiarism or redundant publication

  • fabricated/falsified data

  • unethical research or missing ethics approval where required

  • undisclosed conflicts of interest

  • inappropriate authorship practices or serious authorship disputes

• Removal requests after publication (including “online first” publication).

5) Chargebacks and Payment Disputes

If a payer initiates a chargeback or payment reversal after payment has been made:

• GPHHS may suspend publication of the manuscript/article until the dispute is resolved, and

• EcoScribe Publishers may restrict future submissions from the author(s) involved if the matter remains unresolved.

6) How to Request a Refund

Refund requests must be submitted in writing to the editorial office and include:

• manuscript ID and title

• proof of payment (receipt/transaction reference)

• payer name and contact details

• reason for the request

Where a refund is approved, it will normally be processed to the original payment method. Any non-recoverable transaction charges imposed by banks/payment processors may be deducted where applicable.