APC & Fee

Article Processing Charges (APC) & Fees

For open-access transparency, ethical publishing, and indexation compliance, this publication fee is designated as the journal’s official Article Processing Charge (APC).

Author Charges Policy

The Journal of Exact Community Health & Rehabilitation Sciences (JECH), published by EXACT RESEARCH SOLUTIONS (SMC-PRIVATE) LIMITED, is committed to complete financial transparency and ethical publishing practices. The journal clearly declares all applicable charges governing manuscript processing from initial submission through to online publication.

Publication Fee (Charged After Acceptance Only)

  • JECH charges an Article Processing Charge (APC) of PKR 26,000 for national authors / USD 100 for international authors per accepted article.

  • This publication fee is levied only after the manuscript has successfully passed double-blind peer review and received formal editorial acceptance.

  • There are zero submission fees and zero pre-acceptance evaluation charges.

  • Payment must be completed prior to the commencement of final production, typesetting, and online publishing.

What the Publication Fee Covers

The Article Processing Charge directly supports operational activities, infrastructure, and publishing production, including:

  • Professional copyediting and technical language refinement.

  • XML formatting, layout design, and full-text PDF typesetting.

  • Platform maintenance, cloud hosting, and continuous online journal operations on Open Journal Systems (OJS).

  • Long-term digital preservation and permanent archiving through the PKP Preservation Network (PKP-PN).

  • Administrative support, double-blind peer review coordination, and editorial workflows.

No additional or supplementary charges are levied beyond the stated APC.

Fast-Track or Priority Review Fee

JECH maintains strict scientific integrity and editorial independence:

  • The journal does not offer or charge any fee for fast-track processing, accelerated peer review, or priority handling.

  • Every manuscript undergoes the exact same rigorous double-blind peer review process regardless of financial or institutional standing.

No Hidden or Additional Charges

The only fee charged by JECH is the post-acceptance Article Processing Charge (PKR 26,000 / USD 100). The journal strictly prohibits hidden, secondary, or unexpected fees, including:

  • Submission or preliminary screening fees (0 PKR / 0 USD).

  • Color figure or high-resolution image processing fees.

  • Page-count, excess length, or word-limit surcharge fees.

  • Supplementary material hosting charges.

  • Editorial handling or re-review fees.

  • Minor post-publication corrections or Errata publishing fees.

Waiver Policy (Case-by-Case)

To promote global health research equity and ensure financial constraints do not hinder high-quality clinical contributions, JECH provides partial or full APC waivers on a case-by-case basis. Waiver consideration is available for:

  • Authors originating from low-income or lower-middle-income economies.

  • Independent researchers, PhD candidates, and early-career investigators lacking institutional funding.

  • Authors demonstrating genuine financial hardship supported by institutional documentation.

Waiver Application Procedure: Waiver requests must be submitted formally to the editorial office (Admin@jech.exactresolution.com) following manuscript acceptance and prior to invoice issuance. All waiver decisions are made independently by the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief; fee status has zero influence on editorial decisions or peer-review outcomes.

Funding Disclosure

If research work or publication costs are supported by external grants, institutional funds, or research councils, authors must disclose all funding details in the designated Funding Statement of the manuscript. Complete funding references (including grant numbers and funding agency names) are published in the final Version of Record.

Compliance and Transparency

This fee policy fully complies with open-access publishing guidelines and international transparency standards. JECH publicly affirms:

  • Is a publication fee required? Yes — Publication Fee / APC applies.

  • Fee Structure: PKR 26,000 (National Authors) / USD 100 (International Authors).

  • Are fees charged at submission or during review? No — APC applies exclusively after formal acceptance.

  • Are fee waivers available? Yes — Evaluated on a case-by-case basis upon request.