Refund Policy

1. Purpose

This Refund Policy explains the circumstances under which payments made to the Kashf Journal of Multidisciplinary Research (KJMR) may be refunded.

It applies to:

  • Article Processing Charges;
  • Optional print-copy charges; and
  • Any duplicate or erroneous payments made to the journal.

2. Open Access and Reader Charges

KJMR is a fully open access journal. All published articles are available online immediately and freely without subscription, registration, or payment by readers.

KJMR does not charge subscription fees or online access fees.

Article Processing Charges are publication-related charges paid by authors and do not restrict public access to published articles. Articles for which a full or partial fee waiver has been granted receive the same open access status as all other published articles.

3. Article Processing Charge

KJMR charges an Article Processing Charge only after a manuscript has successfully completed peer review and has been formally accepted for publication.

The current Article Processing Charge, available waivers, and payment details are stated on the journal’s Fee page.

No Article Processing Charge is payable for a manuscript rejected before acceptance. Therefore, no refund is applicable in such cases.

Payment of the Article Processing Charge does not influence the peer-review process or editorial decision. Payment also does not prevent the journal from withdrawing an acceptance where plagiarism, duplicate publication, research misconduct, false information, authorship problems, legal concerns, or another serious policy violation is identified.

4. Cases Eligible for an Article Processing Charge Refund

A full refund may be issued when:

  • The same payment has been made more than once;
  • An incorrect amount has been collected because of an administrative or payment error;
  • KJMR withdraws publication for reasons attributable solely to the journal and not to the authors;
  • KJMR is unable to publish the accepted manuscript after receiving payment; or
  • The authors withdraw the manuscript after payment but before production work has started.

Any non-refundable bank, transfer, currency-conversion, or payment-processing charges may be deducted from the refunded amount.

5. Non-Refundable Article Processing Charges

The Article Processing Charge will normally not be refunded when:

  • The authors withdraw the manuscript after production work has started;
  • The article has already been published;
  • Acceptance is withdrawn because of plagiarism, duplicate submission, fabricated or falsified data, authorship manipulation, undisclosed conflicts of interest, ethical violations, or false information supplied by the authors;
  • The authors fail to respond to editorial or production communications within a reasonable period;
  • The authors fail to approve proofs or provide required publication documents;
  • The authors request removal of a published article without grounds requiring formal retraction or removal;
  • The authors are dissatisfied with the article’s readership, citations, indexing, visibility, or academic impact;
  • A fee waiver was granted, because no corresponding payment was received; or
  • A delay occurs for reasons outside the journal’s reasonable control and publication remains possible.

6. Start of Production

For the purpose of this policy, production is considered to have started when KJMR begins one or more of the following activities:

  • Copyediting;
  • Formatting or typesetting;
  • Preparation of publication proofs;
  • Metadata preparation;
  • Digital Object Identifier processing;
  • Issue scheduling; or
  • Final online publication preparation.

Authors who wish to withdraw an accepted manuscript should submit their request as early as possible in accordance with the journal’s Withdrawal Policy.

7. Fee Waivers

Full or partial fee waivers are governed by the conditions stated on the journal’s Fee page.

A waiver:

  • Does not constitute a payment;
  • Cannot be exchanged for cash;
  • Does not create eligibility for a refund; and
  • Does not influence peer review, acceptance, licensing, copyright, or open access status.

8. Optional Printed Copies

KJMR publishes articles online under its open access model. Printed copies are optional and may be supplied on a print-on-demand basis.

Printing and delivery charges are separate from the Article Processing Charge.

A print-copy payment may be refunded or the order may be replaced when:

  • The journal cannot fulfil the order;
  • The requester makes a duplicate payment;
  • The copies are materially damaged or defective upon delivery; or
  • The shipment is confirmed as lost or undelivered.

The requester may be required to provide photographs, payment evidence, delivery details, or other supporting documentation.

A print-copy order cannot normally be refunded after printing has started or the order has been dispatched, except where the copies are defective, damaged, lost, or not delivered.

9. Refund Request Procedure

A refund request must be submitted in writing through the journal’s official contact channel and should include:

  • The manuscript or article title;
  • Manuscript identification number, where applicable;
  • Name of the corresponding author or payer;
  • Payment date and amount;
  • Transaction or payment reference;
  • Reason for requesting the refund; and
  • Relevant supporting documents.

The journal will assess the request and communicate its decision in writing. Additional evidence may be requested where necessary.

Approved refunds will be returned, where reasonably possible, through the original payment method. Processing time may depend on the relevant bank or payment service.

10. Editorial Independence

Payments, refund requests, fee waivers, or financial circumstances will not influence peer-review reports, editorial decisions, or the academic treatment of a manuscript.

KJMR reserves the right to reject or retract work and take appropriate ethical action where research or publication misconduct is established, regardless of whether an Article Processing Charge has been paid.

11. Policy Consistency

This Refund Policy must be read together with the journal’s:

  • Fee and Waiver Policy;
  • Open Access Policy;
  • Withdrawal Policy;
  • Publication Ethics Policy; and
  • Copyright and Licensing Policy.

Where the Article Processing Charge is changed, the updated amount will be displayed on the Fee page. The applicable charge will be the amount communicated to the author for the relevant accepted manuscript.