Refund Policy

Purpose
This policy outlines the conditions under which payments made to Digital & Social Review are eligible for a refund. It applies to all fees, including Article Processing Charges (APCs), submission fees, or any other published charges.

General Principle
All fees are generally non-refundable once a payment has been processed, as they are applied to cover the costs of manuscript administration, peer review, and production. Refunds are considered only under the specific circumstances outlined below.

Eligible Circumstances for Refund

  1. Duplicate Payment: If a duplicate payment is made in error for the same service (e.g., APC paid twice), the duplicate amount will be refunded in full upon verification.

  2. Administrative Error: If the journal makes an error in charging a fee (e.g., charging an incorrect amount or charging for a service not rendered), the erroneous charge will be refunded in full.

  3. Article Rejection Prior to Peer Review: If a manuscript is administratively rejected by the editorial office before it is sent for external peer review, any paid APC or submission fee will be refunded in full.

Non-Refundable Circumstances

  1. Article Rejection After Peer Review: No refund will be issued for an APC if a manuscript undergoes the full editorial and peer review process and is subsequently rejected. The fee covers the costs incurred during this process.

  2. Author-Initiated Withdrawal: If an author chooses to withdraw a manuscript after it has entered the peer review or production stages, no refund will be issued.

  3. Change of Author Decision: Refunds are not provided if an author simply changes their mind about publication after payment.

Refund Request Procedure

  • Requests must be submitted in writing by the corresponding author or payer to the journal's Editorial Office.

  • The request must include the manuscript ID, the reason for the refund request, and proof of payment.

  • Requests will be reviewed by the editorial management, and a decision will be communicated within 30 business days.

  • Approved refunds will be issued via the original method of payment.

Policy Review
This policy is reviewed periodically and is subject to change.