ARTICLE PROCESSING CHARGES (APC)

The International Journal of Surgical and Medical Research (IJSMR) operates under an open-access publishing model designed to ensure immediate and unrestricted global access to high-quality surgical and medical research. To support the operational costs associated with maintaining this model, the journal applies an Article Processing Charge (APC) system that covers essential publishing services, including manuscript management, peer review administration, professional copyediting, typesetting, formatting, digital infrastructure hosting, long-term preservation, and indexing and dissemination across international scholarly databases.

The standard Article Processing Charge (APC) for an accepted manuscript is USD 250 for international authors and PKR 30,000 for authors affiliated with institutions in Pakistan. This fee applies only after a manuscript has successfully completed peer review and has been formally accepted for publication by the editorial board. IJSMR does not impose any additional charges for color figures, tables, supplementary datasets, or manuscripts of extended length, ensuring that publication costs remain transparent and predictable for authors.

The journal maintains a strict no-submission-fee policy, meaning that authors are not required to pay any charges when initially submitting their manuscript. Fees are only applicable after acceptance. In addition, manuscripts that are rejected at any stage of editorial screening or peer review incur no financial obligation whatsoever, ensuring that authors are not charged for unsuccessful submissions.

Editorial independence is a core principle of IJSMR. Payment of the APC does not guarantee acceptance or influence editorial decisions in any way. All manuscripts are evaluated exclusively on the basis of scientific quality, methodological rigor, clinical relevance, originality, and adherence to ethical standards. Editors and peer reviewers remain completely independent of financial processes, and they have no access to billing or payment information during the review process.

Upon acceptance of a manuscript, the corresponding author receives an official invoice from the journal’s administrative office. The APC must be paid in full before the manuscript proceeds to final production stages, including typesetting and online publication. Publication will only proceed once payment is confirmed. However, post-payment removal or suppression of published articles will only occur in exceptional cases involving serious ethical violations, in accordance with the journal’s Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement.

IJSMR also offers APC waivers and discounts to support researchers facing financial constraints, including authors from low-income and lower-middle-income countries as well as individuals without institutional or grant funding. Detailed eligibility criteria and application procedures are provided in the journal’s Waiver Eligibility Policy.

This Article Processing Charges and Fees Policy is current as of June 2026. It is reviewed periodically to reflect changes in operational costs, digital publishing infrastructure, and global economic classifications. Any updates to this policy are made transparently to ensure fairness, sustainability, and continued support for the international research community.