Article Processing Charges (APC) Policy

Commitment to Ethical Publishing
UOL Publisher strives to adhere to the ethical boundaries set forth by COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) concerning publishing ethics and maintains ethical publishing practices. We aim to support the educational and scholarly community by making high-quality academic materials readily available.

Current APC Policy
The Journal of Law, Justice and Human Rights, published by UOL, has not yet implemented Article Processing Charges (APCs) or submission fees for the actions of manuscript submission, processing, peer review, and publication. The absence of APCs is intended to advance the goals of open access and remove financial barriers to scholarly communications.

This remains in place until the journal is indexed in Scopus or another international database of comparable stature. Suppose such a policy is to be modified in the future. In that case, authors will be informed well in advance, along with an elaborate explanation of the modifications, which will be made available on the official journal website.

Future APC Implementation Guidelines
If APCs are introduced, UOL Publisher will implement the following transparency measures:

  • Advance Notification: Any introduction of APCs will be clearly announced on the journal homepage, author guidelines, and submission system before implementation.
  • Detailed Fee Disclosure: The specific amount of the APC, along with what it covers (e.g., editorial services, digital archiving, indexing support), will be published clearly.
  • Waiver and Discount Policies: Information about APC waivers or discounts for students, early-career researchers, or authors from low-income countries will be transparently outlined with eligibility criteria.
  • Timing of Fee Notification: Authors will be notified of any applicable fees at the time of submission or acceptance, never post-publication.
  • Editorial Independence: All editorial and peer review decisions are based solely on the scholarly merit of the manuscript. These processes are entirely independent of any APC payments or waivers, ensuring fairness and integrity.
  • Ethical Compliance
    Any APC-related policy updates will comply with COPE’s Core Practices and standards for ethical and transparent publishing.

Contact
For further information, questions, or clarification about APCs, please get in touch with the editorial office at: research.journals.oric.uol.edu.pk.