Full launch-period fee waiver

No submission fee, editorial processing fee, article processing charge (APC), page charge, colour charge or publication fee will be charged for a manuscript originally submitted to JBSS on or before 31 December 2027.

Eligibility determined by submission date

The full waiver is determined by the original manuscript submission date. An eligible manuscript will remain free of charge even if peer review, revision, acceptance, production or publication occurs after 31 December 2027.

Rejected and withdrawn manuscripts

JBSS does not charge authors for rejected manuscripts. No fee is payable merely for editorial screening or peer review. A withdrawal request does not create an undisclosed publication charge.

Editorial independence

Editors and reviewers assess manuscripts exclusively on scientific, scholarly and ethical grounds. Ability to pay, nationality, institutional affiliation, funding status or eligibility for a waiver does not influence peer review, editorial decisions, acceptance or publication.

Possible future charges

If JBSS introduces an APC or another author charge from 1 January 2028 or later, the amount, currency, applicable taxes, services covered, waiver and discount criteria, payment procedure and effective date will be published clearly before the policy takes effect.

• A future charge will apply only to manuscripts originally submitted on or after its publicly announced effective date.
• No future charge will be imposed retrospectively on a manuscript submitted under the current full waiver.
• Authors will never be asked to pay an undisclosed mandatory charge after submission or acceptance.
• Payment administration will remain separate from editorial assessment and decision-making.

Policy changes

Any change to this policy will be dated and published prospectively on the JBSS website. The terms displayed on the original submission date will govern that manuscript unless a later change is more favourable to the author.