Overview
ASTESJ is an open-access journal. Articles accepted for publication are made available online for readers without subscription access. To support this publication model, ASTESJ charges an Article Processing Charge after a manuscript has been accepted for publication.
There is no submission fee, no charge for rejected manuscripts, and no color charge. Authors are billed only after editorial acceptance. Payment of an Article Processing Charge does not guarantee acceptance and does not influence peer review or editorial decisions.
Online Publication Fee
Article Processing Charge
The online publication fee applies to accepted manuscripts. The fee is calculated according to the income economy category of the corresponding author’s country or territory.
| Manuscript Type | High Income | Upper Middle Income | Lower Middle Income | Low Income |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Research Article | 800 USD | 10% discount | 20% discount | 30% discount |
| Review Article | 800 USD | 10% discount | 20% discount | 30% discount |
Country income categories are normally based on recognized economy classifications such as the World Bank Country and Lending Groups. ASTESJ may verify the country category before issuing the invoice.
Page Charges
The online publication fee covers accepted articles up to 20 pages. Additional pages are charged at 25 USD per page.
The corresponding author is responsible for checking the final page count during proof review. If production changes the final page count, the final invoice may be adjusted before publication.
Country Discounts, Waivers, and Vouchers
Country-Wise Discount
Country-wise discounts are applied according to the corresponding author’s primary affiliation at the time of acceptance and invoice preparation. If the corresponding author changes country, adds a higher-income country affiliation, or changes the primary affiliation before publication, ASTESJ may recalculate the applicable publication fee.
Country-wise discounts apply before reviewer vouchers, editor vouchers, or other voucher-based reductions.
Waiver Requests
Authors who cannot pay the Article Processing Charge may request a waiver or additional discount before submission or as early as possible during editorial handling. Waiver requests are assessed case by case and may consider country, institution, funding status, author resources, and manuscript quality.
Waiver or discount approval does not influence editorial screening, peer review, or acceptance. Editors and reviewers do not make decisions based on an author’s payment status.
Reviewer and Editor Vouchers
ASTESJ may issue reviewer or editor vouchers as service recognition. Vouchers may be used only toward the Article Processing Charge of a manuscript accepted for publication in ASTESJ.
- A reviewer voucher of 15 USD is issued for each completed and approved review report; vouchers may be used only toward the article processing charge of an accepted ASTESJ publication and become usable after the reviewer has completed at least five approved reviews.
- Editors may receive a 50 USD voucher toward the ASTESJ publication fee after the country-wise discount has first been applied.
- Vouchers are linked to the eligible reviewer or editor record and may require verification through the registered email address.
- Vouchers do not guarantee acceptance, faster peer review, favorable review, special issue approval, or any preferential editorial treatment.
Order of Discount Application
The fee is normally calculated in this order:
- Base Article Processing Charge.
- Country-wise discount, where applicable.
- Approved waiver or additional discount, where applicable.
- Eligible reviewer or editor voucher, where applicable.
- Additional page charges, if the article exceeds 20 pages.
- Optional hard-copy charge, if requested.
Optional Hard-Copy Charges
Online publication does not require a printed copy. Authors may request a color printed copy to be posted to a designated address. Hard-copy charges are separate from the online publication fee and may vary by manuscript type and country category.
| Manuscript Type | High Income | Upper Middle Income | Lower Middle Income | Low Income |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Research Article | 50 USD | 50 USD | 40 USD | 35 USD |
| Review Article | 60 USD | 60 USD | 50 USD | 40 USD |
Shipping availability, delivery time, and address requirements may vary by country. Authors should confirm hard-copy requests with the billing department before payment.
Fee Calculator
Authors may use the calculator below to estimate the online publication fee. The final invoice is issued after acceptance and may reflect article type, country category, page count, approved waivers, and eligible vouchers.
Payment Instructions
Payment instructions are sent by the billing department after acceptance. Billing questions may be sent to billing@astesj.com.
Authors are encouraged to use Stripe where available. Stripe provides secure online payment processing and payment receipts without requiring authors to share financial information directly with ASTESJ.
The invoice should be reviewed carefully before payment. The corresponding author should contact the billing department if the article type, country category, waiver, voucher, page count, or hard-copy request appears incorrect.
Refund, Withdrawal, and Post-Publication Corrections
Refund Conditions
The Article Processing Charge is not refundable once the article has been published online. Refund requests before online publication are reviewed case by case and may depend on production status, payment processing costs, and whether publication services have already been completed.
If authors withdraw an accepted manuscript after production work has begun, ASTESJ may charge reasonable administrative or production costs. Manuscript withdrawal during review or after acceptance must be requested in writing by the corresponding author.
Discretionary Corrections
Authors must check proofs carefully before publication. If an author requests a correction after publication because an error was missed during proof review, ASTESJ may treat the request as a discretionary correction.
Examples include missed acknowledgment text, incorrect author name spelling, affiliation changes, minor metadata corrections, or small author-responsible errors that do not affect the validity of the article. ASTESJ may charge 30 USD per discretionary correction.
Corrections required because of production error, publication integrity concerns, or editorial responsibility are assessed separately under the Publishing Ethics and Editorial Process policies.
Publication Fee Breakdown
The following breakdown shows how the 800 USD base online publication fee is allocated across ASTESJ publication services.
| Service Function | % of Total | Amount (US Dollars, USD) |
|---|---|---|
| Publishing Operations and Projects | 19% | 152 USD |
| Journal Publication | 29% | 232 USD |
| Marketing and Communication | 5% | 40 USD |
| General | 8% | 64 USD |
| Discounts and Waivers | 30% | 240 USD |
| Surplus | 9% | 72 USD |
| Total Publication Fee per Article | 100% | 800 USD |
The percentages are shown for transparency and are based on the high-income base publication fee of 800 USD. Actual paid amounts may be lower when country-wise discounts, waivers, or eligible vouchers are applied.
What the APC Covers
Publishing Operations and Projects
The Article Processing Charge supports the operation and maintenance of the online submission system, peer-review workflow tools, website infrastructure, publication systems, and journal development projects.
Journal Publication
The APC supports technical screening, submission administration, reviewer invitation coordination, communication with authors and reviewers, revision handling, editorial workflow management, copy-editing, typesetting, PDF preparation, metadata preparation, proofreading coordination, final online publication, and minor language editing where appropriate.
Marketing and Communication
The APC supports journal communication, author support, reviewer support, editorial announcements, publication visibility, and responsible dissemination of published articles.
General Operations
The APC supports non-editorial administration, secure payment processing support, policy maintenance, record keeping, membership or service costs where applicable, and operational expenses required to maintain publication services.
Discounts, Waivers, and Surplus
A defined share of the APC supports country-wise discounts, waivers, reviewer and editor voucher programs, and a limited surplus used for journal sustainability, service continuity, and future publication infrastructure improvements.
APC transparency principles may be compared with resources from the Fair Open Access Alliance and Plan S.
Editorial Independence
Payment status, waiver requests, voucher eligibility, country category, hard-copy requests, or institutional relationships do not influence editorial screening, reviewer selection, peer-review reports, editorial decisions, or publication outcomes.
Editors and reviewers assess manuscripts according to scope fit, originality, technical quality, reporting clarity, ethics compliance, reviewer comments, and author responses. More information is available on the Editorial Process and Publishing Ethics pages.
Billing Contact
Billing questions, invoice corrections, payment receipts, voucher verification, waiver status, and hard-copy requests may be sent to billing@astesj.com.
General journal contact information is available on the Contact ASTESJ page.