APC and Refund Policy

Article Processing Charges and Refunds

Last updated: 21 August 2026

Transparent Publication Pricing

The Journal of Robotics and Intelligent Systems (JRIS) is committed to clear and fair publication pricing.

JRIS does not impose undisclosed publication fees. Authors are informed of the applicable Article Processing Charge and any approved waiver or discount before payment is requested.

No Submission or Peer-Review Fee

JRIS does not charge:

  • A manuscript-submission fee;

  • An initial editorial-assessment fee; or

  • A separate peer-review fee.

Authors are not required to pay merely to submit a manuscript, receive peer review, or obtain an editorial decision.

Inaugural-Issue Waiver

All articles accepted and formally assigned by JRIS to its inaugural issue receive a complete Article Processing Charge waiver.

The APC for eligible inaugural-issue articles is: £0 GBP — No Article Processing Charge

This waiver does not affect editorial or peer-review standards. Every manuscript must satisfy the Journal’s scope, quality, originality, ethical, and peer-review requirements.

Possible Second-Issue Waiver

JRIS may extend the complete APC waiver to articles accepted and formally assigned to the second issue.

If this waiver is extended, an announcement will be published on the Journal website and eligible authors will receive written confirmation before payment becomes due.

Unless a second-issue waiver is formally announced, authors should not assume that it applies.

Standard Article Processing Charge

After the introductory waiver period, the standard APC is: £200 GBP per accepted article

The standard APC is not calculated according to the article’s length, number of authors, number of figures, or number of supplementary files.

What the APC Supports

The APC supports publication activities that may include:

  • Editorial administration;

  • Management of peer review;

  • Copyediting and production preparation;

  • Article layout and typesetting;

  • Online publication;

  • DOI registration and metadata distribution;

  • Website hosting and maintenance;

  • Digital-preservation arrangements; and

  • Immediate open-access availability.

Editorial Independence

Payment does not purchase acceptance and does not influence editorial or peer-review decisions.

Manuscripts are assessed according to academic quality, originality, relevance, methodology, ethical compliance, and peer-review reports.

Editors and reviewers responsible for academic evaluation should not base their decisions on an author’s ability to pay.

When Payment Becomes Due

An APC becomes payable only after:

  • The manuscript has completed the applicable editorial and peer-review process;

  • The manuscript has been formally accepted;

  • The applicable APC has been confirmed;

  • Any approved waiver or discount has been applied; and

  • Official payment instructions have been issued.

Authors should not make a payment during submission or peer review.

Payment Methods

Payments may be handled by a bank, financial institution, or payment service provider selected by Birmand Scientific Publishing Ltd.

The applicable payment method, provider, amount, currency, and instructions will be disclosed before payment is requested.

JRIS does not normally receive or store complete payment-card or online-banking credentials. These are normally processed directly by the relevant provider under its own security and privacy terms.

Additional Waivers and Discounts

After the introductory waiver period, authors experiencing genuine financial difficulty may request an APC waiver or discount.

Requests should be sent to: [email protected]

Requests should include the manuscript title, manuscript identification number, corresponding author, affiliation, country, and a brief explanation.

Waiver and discount requests do not influence editorial evaluation or peer review.

Any approved waiver or discount must be confirmed in writing before payment is completed.

Refund Eligibility

A refund may be approved where:

  • The same APC was paid more than once;

  • An incorrect amount was collected because of an administrative or payment error;

  • Payment was collected despite a waiver or discount that JRIS had already confirmed in writing;

  • JRIS is unable to provide the paid publication service for reasons not caused by the author; or

  • A refund is required by applicable law.

Once substantive production work has started, a paid APC is normally non-refundable unless one of the circumstances above applies.

Production work may include copyediting, typesetting, article layout, proof preparation, DOI preparation, metadata preparation, file conversion, or final publication processing.

A refund will not normally be issued where:

  • An author withdraws the article after formal acceptance or after production has started;

  • The payer changes their mind after authorising payment;

  • Funding becomes unavailable after payment;

  • The author later receives funding from another source;

  • Publication is delayed because required author responses or documents remain outstanding; or

  • The article is withdrawn or retracted because of plagiarism, duplicate publication, fabrication, falsification, authorship misconduct, ethical non-compliance, or another breach attributable to the authors.

Nothing in this policy limits statutory rights that cannot lawfully be excluded.

Requesting a Refund

Refund requests must be sent to: [email protected]

The request should include:

  • Manuscript identification number;

  • Article title;

  • Corresponding author’s name;

  • Payer’s name and email address;

  • Payment date;

  • Amount and currency;

  • Invoice, receipt, or transaction reference; and

  • Reason for the request.

Approved refunds will normally be returned through the original payment route where technically and legally possible.

Complete Refund Procedure

The detailed eligibility, review, and payment-dispute procedure is provided in the JRIS Article Processing Charge and Refund Policy.

Contact

For questions about charges, waivers, payment arrangements, or refunds, contact:

Journal of Robotics and Intelligent Systems

Birmand Scientific Publishing Ltd