Refund Policy

1 Article Processing Charges (APC)

Communeglobal is a fully open-access journal platform. To sustain our publishing operations — including peer review management, editorial services, typesetting, hosting, and global indexing — accepted manuscripts are subject to an Article Processing Charge (APC).

• The APC is charged only after a manuscript has been formally accepted for publication following peer review.
• Submission of a manuscript does not require any payment, nor does it guarantee acceptance.
• APC rates vary by journal and are clearly published on our Registration & APC page.
• All charges are quoted and processed in the currency stated at the time of invoicing.

2 General Refund Policy

As a general rule, Article Processing Charges are non-refundable once an article has been published or the production process (typesetting, formatting, and DOI assignment) has commenced. This is because significant editorial and production resources are invested in processing accepted manuscripts.

However, we recognise that exceptional circumstances may arise. Refund requests will be assessed individually and fairly in accordance with the specific situations outlined in this policy.

3 Situations Eligible for a Refund

A full or partial refund may be granted in the following circumstances:

• Duplicate Payment: If you have made more than one payment for the same article due to a technical or banking error, the duplicate amount will be refunded in full.
• Incorrect Charge: If our system charged an amount different from the published APC applicable at the time of your acceptance, the difference will be corrected and refunded.
• Withdrawal Before Production: If an author formally requests withdrawal of an accepted manuscript before the production process (typesetting, formatting, DOI assignment) has commenced, a full refund will be issued.
• Journal-Side Retraction: If a published article is retracted solely due to an editorial or administrative error on the part of Communeglobal — and not due to any misconduct by the author — a full APC refund will be issued.
• Unapplied Fee Waiver: If a fee waiver or discount was formally approved by our editorial office prior to payment but was not applied at the time of checkout, the corresponding amount will be refunded.
• Payment Gateway Error: In the event of a verified technical failure by our payment processor resulting in an unintended charge, a full refund will be processed.

4 Non-Refundable Situations

Refunds will not be issued in the following circumstances:

• Post-Publication Withdrawal: Once an article has been published online with a DOI assigned, the APC is non-refundable regardless of the reason for the withdrawal request.
• Author Misconduct: If an article is retracted due to plagiarism, data fabrication, duplicate publication, authorship disputes, or any other form of publication misconduct attributable to the author(s), no refund will be issued.
• Change of Mind: Dissatisfaction with the journal's impact factor, indexing status, or any other subjective reason after publication does not qualify for a refund.
• Formatting or Style Preferences: Minor formatting decisions made during the production process that conform to our editorial standards are not grounds for a refund.
• Processing Fees: Any transaction or banking fees charged by third-party payment processors are non-refundable and outside our control.
• Delayed Processing: Delays in the editorial or peer-review process, while undesirable, do not constitute grounds for a refund of any fees paid.

5 Manuscript Withdrawal Policy

Authors may request to withdraw a manuscript at any stage. The following conditions apply:

• Before Acceptance: Manuscripts may be withdrawn at any time before acceptance at no charge. No APC is payable.
• After Acceptance, Before Production: A full refund of any APC paid will be issued, provided production has not yet commenced. The withdrawal request must be submitted in writing to our editorial office.
• After Production Begins: If typesetting, DOI assignment, or formatting has commenced, a partial refund may be considered at our discretion, based on the stage of production reached.
• After Online Publication: Withdrawal is not possible once an article has been published. A formal retraction process must be initiated instead.

6 Fee Waivers & Discounts

Communeglobal is committed to ensuring that financial constraints do not prevent the publication of quality research. Fee waivers or reductions may be available in the following circumstances:

• Authors from low-income or lower-middle-income countries as classified by the World Bank.
• Researchers without institutional or grant funding who can demonstrate financial hardship.
• Special issue editors or guest reviewers, at the discretion of the editorial office.
• Promotional or institutional partnership arrangements.

Fee waiver requests must be submitted before payment is made by emailing our editorial office at editor@communeglobal.com. Waivers are granted at the sole discretion of Communeglobal and are not guaranteed. Retroactive waiver applications will not be accepted.

7 How to Request a Refund

To submit a refund request, please follow these steps:

• Step 1: Email editor@communeglobal.com with the subject line: "Refund Request – [Manuscript ID]".
• Step 2: Include the following details in your email: manuscript title, manuscript ID, author name(s), date of payment, amount paid, payment reference/transaction ID, and the reason for your refund request.
• Step 3: Attach proof of payment (e.g., payment receipt or bank statement excerpt).
• Step 4: Our team will acknowledge your request within 5 business days and provide a decision within 15 business days.

8 Currency & Taxes

All refunds will be issued in the same currency as the original payment. Communeglobal is not responsible for any currency conversion losses or bank charges incurred during the refund process.

Where applicable taxes (such as GST, VAT, or service tax) were included in the original charge, refunds will be processed in accordance with local tax regulations. Authors are responsible for any applicable tax implications in their jurisdiction.

9 Changes to This Policy

We reserve the right to update this Refund Policy at any time. Changes will be reflected by updating the "Last Updated" date at the top of this page. We encourage authors to review this policy before making any payment. Continued use of our services after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.

10 Contact Us

For any refund-related queries, fee waiver requests, or payment disputes, please get in touch with our team: