Article Processing Charges (APC) & Publication Fee Policy

Plant Science Horizons (PSH) currently operates under a full Article Processing Charge waiver. Authors are not charged an APC under the current waiver policy through 2029. The journal does not charge a manuscript submission fee, peer-review fee, or mandatory fast-track fee.

Full APC waiver through 2029

Plant Science Horizons currently waives Article Processing Charges for authors through 2029. Authors are therefore not required to pay an APC for publication under the current waiver policy.

The journal's current Author Guidelines use the wording “APC waived through 2029”. PSH does not presently publish a more specific day-and-month cutoff on that page, so this policy intentionally uses the same wording.

Current standard publication cost to authors: zero

Under the current waiver, PSH does not charge authors for the standard journal publication workflow.

The current waiver applies without a financial-need application

Because the current APC is fully waived, authors do not need to submit a waiver or discount request, disclose personal financial circumstances, or demonstrate eligibility based on country, institution, career stage, or funding status.

Open access does not currently require author payment

PSH publishes articles on an open-access basis, but the journal's current open-access model does not require authors to pay an APC. Published articles remain freely accessible to readers according to the license displayed on each article.

The absence of an APC does not change the journal's current copyright and licensing framework.

Submission is free

Authors are not charged merely to submit a manuscript to PSH. There is no payment requirement for a manuscript to enter technical checking, editorial assessment, or normal peer review.

Review decisions are not purchased

PSH does not charge authors a fee to obtain external peer review or an editorial decision.

Reviewer selection, editorial evaluation and scientific decisions are governed by journal policy rather than payment.

No paid route to faster acceptance or publication

PSH does not offer a mandatory or optional payment that guarantees accelerated peer review, preferential editorial treatment, acceptance, or publication. Manuscripts are processed according to editorial readiness, reviewer availability and scientific requirements.

Publication is not conditional on purchasing optional services

Authors are not required to purchase language editing, graphical design, citation editing, statistical consulting, promotional services, or other third-party services as a condition of editorial consideration.

Authors remain responsible for submitting a manuscript that meets PSH's scientific, language, formatting and reporting standards.

Fees must be disclosed before they can apply

PSH does not support undisclosed publication charges. Authors should not be surprised after acceptance by a charge that was not clearly disclosed under the applicable journal policy.

Any future fee that becomes applicable must be communicated transparently through official PSH channels.

Policy changes should not create unexpected financial obligations

If PSH changes its fee policy in the future, the journal should identify the effective date and explain which manuscripts are covered.

A future fee should not be imposed unexpectedly on an article that was already accepted under an explicitly applicable full-waiver arrangement unless the authors were clearly informed of the change and agreed before publication.

Financial circumstances do not determine publication decisions

Acceptance, rejection, reviewer selection, revision requirements and editorial decisions are based on scientific and editorial considerations.

Authors' funding status, institutional resources, nationality, career stage, ability to pay, or eligibility for a future waiver must not influence the scientific decision.

Current APC waiver applies consistently

Under the current full-waiver policy, regular articles, invited articles and manuscripts submitted to Special Issues or Thematic Collections should not be charged a routine APC unless a clearly disclosed, formally adopted policy states otherwise.

Guest Editors do not have authority to create separate undisclosed author charges.

No separate author charge for standard publication metadata

Under the current waiver, authors are not separately charged by PSH for the article DOI or routine publication metadata associated with the journal's standard publication process.

PSH does not sell or guarantee indexing in external databases as an author-purchased service. Inclusion in external discovery or indexing services is determined by those services and their criteria.

Removing financial barriers during the current waiver period

The current no-APC model allows authors to be evaluated without a publication charge, including researchers from institutions with limited publication funding, independent researchers, students and early-career scientists.

Editorial standards remain the same for all manuscripts regardless of authors' financial or institutional circumstances.

Current publication costs are not passed to authors as APCs

Publishing involves editorial, platform, production, DOI, preservation and administrative costs. Under the current waiver policy, PSH does not recover those standard costs from authors through an APC.

This policy does not require PSH to publish detailed internal financial arrangements, and it should not be interpreted as a claim about a specific funding source unless separately disclosed by the publisher.

No assumption that an APC will automatically begin after 2029

The present full APC waiver is stated as running through 2029. After that period, PSH may continue the waiver, adopt a different fee model, or introduce an APC depending on the journal's formally approved publishing policy.

Authors should rely on the fee policy displayed on the official PSH website at the relevant time rather than assume that a charge will automatically begin after 2029.

Transparency requirements for any future charge

Before a future APC becomes applicable, PSH should publish clearly:

• The amount and currency of the APC.
• The effective date and which manuscripts are covered.
• When payment becomes due.
• What the charge covers.
• Available waiver or discount categories, if any.
• How authors request a waiver or discount.
• Confirmation that editorial decisions remain independent of payment.
• Any applicable taxes or additional mandatory charges.

Not currently needed under the full waiver

A separate waiver or discount program is unnecessary while the standard APC is US$0.

If PSH introduces a fee in the future, any waiver or discount system should be described transparently, applied consistently and handled separately from editorial decision-making.

Verify invoices before making payment

Because PSH currently waives APCs through 2029, authors receiving an unexpected request for an APC should verify the request using contact details published on the official PSH website before making payment.

Do not rely solely on payment instructions contained in an unsolicited email, messaging application, or unofficial website.

Official account-related correspondence

Questions about legitimate invoices, receipts, payment records, or future financial-administration matters may be directed to:

Current policy reminder: PSH waives Article Processing Charges through 2029.

Check the current policy when submitting

Authors should review the current PSH Author Guidelines and publication policies before submission, particularly if submitting near a future policy transition.

The journal should notify authors clearly if a fee policy applicable to their manuscript differs from the public policy they reasonably relied upon when the manuscript entered the relevant publication stage.

Related author and publication information

Current PSH author-charge position

Current publication fee: US$0

Plant Science Horizons currently waives Article Processing Charges through 2029. Authors are not charged submission, peer-review or fast-track fees, and no waiver application is necessary while the full waiver remains in effect. Any future change to author charges should be announced transparently before it becomes applicable and must remain independent of editorial decision-making.