Article Processing Charge (APC)

Scifood is a fully Open Access scientific journal. All articles are published with immediate and permanent open access. To cover the costs associated with editorial handling, peer review, production, online publication, indexing, and long-term digital archiving, the journal applies an Article Processing Charge (APC).

The Article Processing Charge (APC) is a fee applied to manuscripts that have passed the initial editorial assessment and proceed to external peer review. The APC covers the costs of editorial management, peer review, production, online publication, indexing, and long-term digital archiving.

When is the APC charged?

· No submission fee is charged.

· The APC is not charged at the time of submission.

· The APC is requested only after the manuscript has successfully passed the initial editorial assessment, which includes:

o scope relevance,

o originality check,

o basic scientific and ethical quality evaluation.

· The manuscript enters peer review based on the editorial decision. APC invoicing is handled administratively and does not influence the initiation or outcome of peer review.

· Editorial decisions remain fully independent of payment status and reviewers do not have access to any information regarding APC payment.

This approach ensures that editorial decisions are fully independent of the author’s ability to pay and are fully compliant with the DOAJ Principles of Transparency and Best Practice.

What is included in the APC?

Service	Included
Initial editorial assessment (scope & quality)	✔
Administrative and technical processing of the manuscript	✔
Independent peer review by qualified external reviewers	✔
DOI assignment and registration (Crossref)	✔
Verification and linking of references (DOI-based sources)	✔
Layout editing and typesetting	✔
Technical corrections (SI units, symbols, terminology, formatting)	✔
Plagiarism screening using professional anti-plagiarism software	✔
Professional language proofreading prior to publication	✔
Online publication on the journal website	✔
Immediate Open Access availability	✔
XML metadata creation for indexing services	✔
Long-term digital archiving	✔
Editorial and journal staff work	✔
Publication of funding information	✔
Authors retain the copyright	✔

APC

800 EUR without VAT, 984 EUR with VAT 23% / article

APC waiver

Scifood operates a transparent APC waiver policy, fully compliant with DOAJ requirements.

APC waivers or discounts may be granted in the following cases:

· Invited or editorially solicited articles.

· Authors from low-income or developing countries.

· Exceptional scientific or societal relevance of the manuscript.

· Institutional or strategic cooperation with the journal.

· Selected conference papers officially partnered with Scifood.

APC waiver requests must be submitted before or during the initial editorial assessment.

· The granting of an APC waiver does not influence editorial decisions.

· The final decision on APC waivers is made by the Publisher in consultation with the Chair of the Scientific Editorial Board.

APC Refund Policy

· If a manuscript is rejected after peer review, the APC is partially refunded.

· The APC refund amount equals the APC minus the actual costs of peer review and manuscript processing.

· The APC refund is processed after the final editorial decision.

This approach ensures transparency and fairness and reflects the actual costs of editorial management and peer-review services.

Article Processing Charge (APC)