AUTHOR CHARGES / PUBLICATION FEE POLICY

(Article Processing Charges (APC) and Publication Fee Disclosure)

For open access transparency and indexing purposes, the publication fee described in this policy is treated as the journal’s open access publishing charge (APC). JSLA applies this charge only to support the costs of producing and maintaining open access publication and does not allow payment status to influence editorial decisions.

Author Charges Policy

The Link journal of Speech, Language and Audiology (JSLA) is committed to transparent, ethical, and fully disclosed publishing practices. The journal clearly declares any charges that may apply from submission through publication and ensures that all editorial and peer review decisions are made independently of any payment considerations. No fees are requested or accepted at submission, and the journal does not impose charges that could be perceived as purchasing editorial outcomes.

Publication Fee (Charged After Acceptance Only)

JSLA charges a Publication Fee (APC) of USD 100 (or equivalent in PKR) per accepted article. This fee is charged only after the manuscript has successfully completed peer review and has received a formal acceptance decision. The publication fee is the same for national and international authors, ensuring consistent treatment across author groups. Payment is required before final production processing begins, including copyediting, formatting, and scheduling for publication, and authors are provided with payment instructions after acceptance through the journal’s official communication channels.

What the Publication Fee Covers

The publication fee supports the services necessary to publish and sustain open access articles at professional standards. These services include editorial and administrative processing after acceptance, professional copyediting and language polishing where required, typesetting and formatting into the journal’s publication layout, online hosting and platform maintenance, preparation and management of article metadata for indexing and discoverability, and long-term digital preservation arrangements. Where DOI registration is applied for published articles, associated metadata handling and registration processes are included within the scope of publication operations. JSLA does not apply additional mandatory charges beyond the stated publication fee.

Fast-Track or Priority Review Fee

JSLA does not charge any fee for fast-track review, accelerated publication, priority handling, or preferential editorial treatment. All submissions follow the same editorial screening and peer review workflow, and all authors are evaluated under the same scientific and ethical criteria regardless of payment capacity. The journal does not offer paid review speed upgrades or paid acceptance services.

No Hidden or Additional Charges

The only mandatory fee charged by JSLA is the publication fee applied after acceptance. JSLA does not charge submission fees, does not charge for peer review, and does not impose pre-acceptance processing charges. The journal also does not levy hidden or supplementary charges such as page charges, color figure charges, excess length charges, supplementary file charges, editorial handling fees, or fees for routine corrections and minor post-publication updates. The journal’s fee structure is intended to be fully transparent so that authors can make informed decisions prior to submission.

Waiver Policy (Case-by-Case)

JSLA may grant partial or full waivers in exceptional circumstances based on demonstrated need, while maintaining strict separation between editorial decision-making and financial considerations. Waiver requests may be considered for authors with genuine financial hardship, early-career researchers or PhD scholars without funding support, authors based in resource-constrained settings, or specific special issues where fee support is explicitly announced by the journal. Waiver requests should be submitted after acceptance and before payment, accompanied by a clear justification. Decisions regarding waivers are final and are handled administratively so that they do not influence peer review outcomes or editorial judgments.

Funding Disclosure

If authors receive grant support or institutional funding that covers publication costs, this information must be disclosed in the manuscript’s funding acknowledgement section. Funding statements are published with the final article to support transparency regarding potential influences and to align with good reporting practice for research support and sponsorship.

Compliance and Transparency

This policy is designed to meet transparency expectations commonly applied to open access journals and indexing evaluations. JSLA publicly declares that a publication fee is required to publish only after acceptance, that the fee is consistent for national and international authors, that no fees are charged during submission or peer review, and that waiver provisions exist on a case-by-case basis as described above.