How the Applicable APC Is Determined

The publication charge depends primarily on:

• the publication route under which the article is accepted;
• the nature and format of the contribution;
• whether the manuscript is intended for a regular journal issue, a thematic Special Issue, or approved conference-related publication; and
• any formally approved waiver, institutional arrangement, or sponsored publishing agreement.

The Editorial Office may reclassify a submission if the article type selected during submission does not accurately reflect the manuscript.

Where reclassification results in a different APC, the corresponding author will be informed before final publication.

Globalmeetx Publication Charge Framework

Regular Issue

Articles published within a journal's normal issue schedule are processed through the journal's standard editorial and production workflow.

The article types accepted by an individual journal may differ according to its aims, scope, discipline, and editorial policy.

Acceptance for a standard journal issue is based on scholarly suitability and the outcome of the applicable editorial and peer-review process.

Special Issue

Globalmeetx journals may publish Special Issues focusing on a defined research topic, emerging discipline, clinical development, interdisciplinary area, or other subject of scholarly importance.

Manuscripts considered for these collections are subject to the journal's normal expectations relating to originality, ethics, authorship, research integrity, editorial oversight, and peer review.

A lower APC for a Special Issue does not indicate a lower editorial or peer-review standard.

Being invited to contribute to a Special Issue, submitting to a Special Issue, or participating in a related academic initiative does not guarantee acceptance.

Where a Special Issue receives approved institutional, academic, society, or sponsorship support, an alternative APC arrangement may apply. Eligible authors will be informed of such arrangements separately.

Conference Proceedings

Globalmeetx Publishing may work with approved conferences, universities, academic societies, research institutions, scientific meetings, workshops, congresses, and professional organizations to publish suitable scholarly contributions.

Conference participation or presentation alone does not qualify a manuscript for journal publication.

Any contribution intended for publication must comply with the journal's requirements relating to scope, authorship, originality, publication ethics, disclosure, and research integrity.

Conference abstracts, posters, extended abstracts, and short-format contributions will be identified according to their actual publication type.

They will not be presented as full research articles unless they have undergone the editorial and peer-review process required for a full scholarly article.

Where an approved conference or institutional publishing agreement provides a different APC, the relevant financial terms will be disclosed to participating authors before publication.

Services Included in the APC

The publication charge contributes to the professional and technical work involved in preparing an accepted article for publication.

Depending on the article and journal, this may include manuscript administration, technical screening, peer-review coordination, editorial workflow management, publication-ethics checks, production preparation, copyediting, formatting, typesetting, reference processing, DOI registration, metadata preparation, online hosting, open-access dissemination, digital preservation activities, supplementary-material handling, author communication, and post-publication metadata maintenance.

The standard APC also includes ordinary publication requirements such as:

• standard colour figures;
• standard tables;
• normal mathematical or scientific notation;
• ordinary supplementary files;
• data-availability statements;
• routine author corrections during production;
• DOI registration where applicable; and
• unrestricted online access to the published article.

Readers are not charged a subscription fee to access open-access articles published by Globalmeetx.

Unusual Production Requirements

Most manuscripts can be processed entirely within the published APC.

Occasionally, however, an article may require work substantially beyond the normal publication workflow. Examples may include exceptionally extensive technical editing requested by the author, reconstruction of highly complex graphical or mathematical material, unusually large files requiring specialized hosting, or exceptionally long manuscripts requiring additional production resources.

Where additional production work could result in a separate charge, Globalmeetx Publishing will:

• inform the corresponding author before the additional service is undertaken;
• explain why the service is required;
• state the proposed charge clearly; and
• obtain the author's agreement before chargeable work proceeds.

No undisclosed production charge will be added after publication.

Routine colour reproduction, ordinary equations, standard figures, normal supplementary material, and ordinary production corrections do not attract additional charges.

Financial Assistance for Authors

Globalmeetx Publishing recognizes that access to publication funding differs significantly across institutions, countries, disciplines, and researchers.

Authors experiencing genuine financial limitations may request:

A full APC waiver, a partial APC waiver, or a reduced publication charge.

Financial assistance is intended to support authors who have limited access to institutional, grant, or other publication funding.

Requests are assessed individually and do not guarantee that a waiver or discount will be granted.

Circumstances Considered for APC Support

Financial assistance may be considered particularly where the corresponding author:

• does not have research-grant or institutional publication funding;
• is affiliated with an institution with limited resources;
• is a student or early-career researcher with limited financial support;
• is an independent researcher without external sponsorship;
• works within a resource-constrained research environment; or
• demonstrates exceptional financial hardship or another legitimate funding limitation.

Where country- or institution-based circumstances are relevant, the primary institutional affiliation of the corresponding author will normally be used for assessment.

The availability of research grants, institutional support, publication funds, sponsorship, or other relevant resources may also be considered.

Authors are expected to provide accurate information when requesting financial assistance.

The scholarly quality of a manuscript is not used as a financial eligibility criterion. Every manuscript must independently satisfy the journal's academic and editorial standards regardless of whether the author pays the full APC, receives a discount, or receives a complete waiver.

Separation of Editorial and Financial Administration

Editorial independence is a fundamental part of the Globalmeetx publishing process.

Editors and peer reviewers assess manuscripts on scholarly grounds. Their evaluation may include originality, relevance, methodological quality, academic contribution, research integrity, ethical compliance, quality of reporting, and suitability for the individual journal.

The following financial matters are handled separately from editorial assessment:

APC payment, waiver requests, discounts, institutional funding, sponsorship arrangements, conference publishing agreements, refunds, and other financial administration.

An author's ability or inability to pay does not determine:

• whether a manuscript is sent for peer review;
• which reviewers are selected;
• the content of reviewer reports;
• editorial recommendations; or
• acceptance or rejection.

Where practicable, financial-support requests are handled by publishing or finance personnel rather than by the Editor responsible for the final manuscript decision.

For questions concerning peer review, editorial decisions, manuscript status, or journal policies, authors should contact:

Editorial Office: editorial@globalmeetx.com

Institutional and Sponsored Publication Support

Globalmeetx Publishing may establish publishing arrangements with universities, research institutes, academic societies, professional organizations, scholarly associations, conference organizers, research networks, funding organizations, or other approved academic partners.

Such arrangements may provide eligible authors with:

• full APC support;
• partial APC support;
• discounted publication charges;
• institution-funded publication; or
• another formally agreed funding arrangement.

Institutional or sponsored support concerns publication costs only.

It does not provide any organization, sponsor, institution, or conference organizer with authority to determine whether a manuscript is accepted.

All manuscripts remain subject to the editorial, ethical, and scholarly requirements of the applicable Globalmeetx journal.

APC Treatment for Invited Scholarly Works

Globalmeetx journals may occasionally invite Editorials, Perspectives, Commentaries, Opinion Articles, or other scholarly contributions from Editorial Board members or recognized specialists.

An invited author may receive a full or partial APC waiver where this has been approved as part of the invitation.

An invitation does not guarantee publication.

Where an Editor or Editorial Board member submits a manuscript as an author or co-author, that person will not take part in the editorial decision concerning their own submission. Appropriate independent editorial handling will be arranged.

Supporting Files and Research Materials

Authors are encouraged to provide relevant supplementary material where it strengthens transparency, reproducibility, interpretation, or understanding of the research.

Appropriate supplementary content may include additional figures, tables, datasets, appendices, protocols, multimedia material, reporting checklists, or supporting research information.

Standard supplementary material is normally covered by the article's APC.

Where unusually large or technically complex supplementary material requires specialized hosting or another exceptional technical arrangement, the author will be informed before any additional cost is incurred.

Open-Access Availability and Licensing

Articles published through Globalmeetx are made openly available online upon publication.

This enables researchers, healthcare professionals, educators, institutions, students, policymakers, and other readers to access scholarly material without a subscription barrier.

All articles published by Globalmeetx Publishing are made openly accessible upon publication and distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), unless a different licensing arrangement is expressly stated for a particular publication.

Authors should refer to the relevant journal's Copyright and licensing information for the licence applicable to their publication.

Withdrawal of a Manuscript

Authors who wish to withdraw an unpublished manuscript must submit a written request from the registered corresponding-author email address.

The request should include the manuscript number, article title, author details, and reason for withdrawal.

Authors are encouraged to notify the Editorial Office promptly if a manuscript was submitted in error. Authors are encouraged to submit withdrawal requests as early as possible. Where a manuscript is withdrawn before completion of peer review, no withdrawal charge will ordinarily apply. Once peer review has been completed or formal acceptance has been granted, an administrative or processing charge may apply in accordance with the Globalmeetx Terms & Conditions.

For withdrawal enquiries, authors should contact: editorial@globalmeetx.com

Withdrawal after Peer Review or Acceptance

Once a manuscript has been formally accepted, publishing and production activities may begin.

Where a withdrawal request is made after completion of peer review or after formal acceptance, an administrative or processing charge may apply to reflect editorial, peer-review, administrative, and production resources already committed. Any applicable charge, together with the relevant payment instructions, will be communicated to the corresponding author in writing.

Where exceptional circumstances exist, Globalmeetx Publishing may review the matter individually.

A withdrawal involving an authorship dispute, duplicate submission, ethical concern, suspected misconduct, or another research-integrity issue may also require editorial review before the manuscript record is closed.

Requests for an APC Refund

Article Processing Charges (APCs) are normally payable only after formal manuscript acceptance.

Once an article has entered substantive production following acceptance, including preparation of final publication files or generation of final proofs, APC payments are normally non-refundable.

A refund may nevertheless be considered in exceptional administrative circumstances, including:

• duplicate payment;
• payment made in error;
• an incorrect invoice issued by Globalmeetx Publishing;
• inability of Globalmeetx Publishing to complete the agreed publication process; or
• another exceptional circumstance approved following financial review.

After an article has been formally published and the applicable APC has been paid, an ordinary APC refund is not normally available.

Any unavoidable banking, currency-conversion, or payment-processing costs associated with an approved refund may be treated according to the requirements of the applicable payment provider.

Refund requests should be directed to:

Finance Office: finance@globalmeetx.com

Refund decisions are administrative and financial matters and do not alter the editorial decision or scholarly record.

Published Articles and the Scholarly Record

After an article has been formally published as the Version of Record, it is part of the permanent scholarly literature and is no longer handled as an ordinary manuscript withdrawal.

Where a significant error, authorship problem, ethical concern, or research-integrity issue is identified after publication, Globalmeetx Publishing will consider the matter under the applicable journal policies.

Depending on the circumstances, an appropriate scholarly notice may include a Correction, Addendum, Expression of Concern, Retraction, or another recognized post-publication action.

Financial considerations do not prevent Globalmeetx Publishing from taking necessary action to maintain the integrity of the published record.

Transparency in Author Charges

Globalmeetx Publishing aims to ensure that authors understand the financial conditions of publication before completing the publishing process.

Accordingly:

• APCs are publicly stated;
• no separate submission fee is charged;
• payment for peer review is not required;
• publication charges become applicable following formal acceptance;
• approved waivers or discounts are confirmed in writing;
• exceptional charges are disclosed before additional work is undertaken;
• financial-assistance requests are handled separately from scholarly decisions; and
• authors may contact the appropriate Globalmeetx office whenever clarification is required.

These principles support transparent open-access publishing while preserving editorial independence, research integrity, fair treatment of authors, and appropriate scholarly publishing standards.