Article Processing Charges, Submission, and Payment Procedure

Social Sciences Journal (SSJ)  |  e-ISSN 3047-7646

1. Manuscript Submission Through OJS

Before completing any payment procedure, authors must submit their manuscript through the official OJS platform of Social Sciences Journal. The external administrative form provided by Publikasi Jurnal is used solely to record and verify payments after an official journal notification. It does not constitute manuscript submission and does not replace any editorial stage.

• Authors must obtain a valid OJS submission identification number.
• The article title, author names, correspondence email, and other information entered in the payment form must match the metadata recorded in OJS.
• A manuscript without a valid OJS record cannot be evaluated, invoiced, or published.
• Editorial communication, revisions, reviewer reports, decisions, and production discussions must remain documented in OJS whenever technically possible.

2. Regular Article Processing Charge

The Regular Article Processing Charge is IDR 750,000 per accepted article. It becomes payable only after the manuscript has:

1. completed the journal's editorial screening and double-blind peer-review process;
2. completed the revisions required by the editor;
3. received a formal acceptance decision recorded through OJS; and
4. received an official invoice or payment notification identifying the article and amount due.

No Regular APC is charged for a manuscript that is rejected before or after peer review. An editorial acceptance decision must not be delayed, accelerated, changed, or made conditional on the author's ability to pay.

3. What the APC Supports

The APC supports the journal's publication services and digital infrastructure, including, where applicable:

Peer reviewers serve independently and are not paid from an individual author's APC to produce a particular recommendation. Payment does not purchase a particular editorial outcome or indexing result.

4. Optional Priority Administrative Processing

The journal may offer an optional Priority Administrative Processing service, sometimes described administratively as “fast-track”. The total charge for an accepted article using this service is IDR 1,500,000. This is the total publication charge and is not added to the Regular APC.

4.1 Request and Approval

An author may request priority processing only after:

1. the manuscript has been submitted through OJS;
2. the manuscript has passed the initial technical and scope screening;
3. the author has submitted a written request through an official channel; and
4. the journal has confirmed that administrative capacity is available.

Approval of a priority request creates no obligation to accept the manuscript and no payment is due at the request stage. If the manuscript is subsequently accepted, the journal issues an invoice for the total priority-service charge.

4.2 Permitted Scope

Priority processing is limited to administrative scheduling and coordination, which may include earlier technical checking, prompt assignment reminders, prioritized correspondence, revision tracking, and production scheduling, subject to editorial capacity.

Reviewers are not informed of an author's fee status or priority-service request. If priority processing cannot be provided, the author may continue under the regular process without disadvantage.

5. Official Invoice and Payment Notification

Payment must be based on an official invoice or payment notification issued after acceptance. The notification should identify:

• the journal and publisher;
• the article title and OJS submission identification number;
• the corresponding author;
• the applicable Regular APC or total Priority Administrative Processing charge;
• the payment deadline and designated method; and
• the official channel for questions or verification.

Authors should confirm any unclear or inconsistent invoice through the journal's official contact page before transferring funds.

6. Official Payment Form

After receiving the official invoice or notification, authors must complete payment administration through the following form:

The payment form is an administrative service and is not part of the editorial decision system. Through the form, authors must:

1. select the correct journal;
2. select Regular APC or Priority Administrative Processing as stated on the invoice;
3. enter an active WhatsApp number and correspondence email;
4. enter author names in the same order as the accepted OJS record;
5. enter the OJS submission identification number;
6. enter the complete accepted article title;
7. verify the invoiced amount and designated payment method;
8. complete payment only through the official method;
9. upload valid proof of payment in the specified format and size; and
10. submit the payment-confirmation form.

7. Payment Tutorial

A supplementary tutorial is available through the journal management's social media channel:

View the Payment Tutorial on Instagram

The tutorial is provided for technical guidance. If the tutorial conflicts with the current journal website, official invoice, or payment form, the current written policy and invoice prevail. Authors should contact the journal before acting on inconsistent information.

8. Payment Verification and Receipt

The administrative team verifies the payer's identity, selected journal, article title, OJS identification number, acceptance status, service type, amount, payment destination, and proof of payment. A payment is confirmed only when these records can be matched reliably.

• Confirmation will be communicated through OJS, the registered correspondence email, or another official institutional channel.
• The author should receive or retain an official receipt or confirmation record.
• Incomplete, altered, duplicated, or unverifiable proof may be returned for clarification.
• A temporary verification delay does not change the manuscript's acceptance status.

9. Editorial Independence and Confidentiality

Fee administration is separated from editorial evaluation. Reviewers do not receive information about payment, waiver, funding, or priority-service status. Editors make decisions based on originality, contribution, methodological or analytical quality, ethical compliance, clarity, and relevance to the journal's Focus and Scope.

The Editor-in-Chief or assigned editor retains independent responsibility for the final decision. Payment, non-payment, waiver status, or the use of an administrative service must not influence reviewer selection, review reports, acceptance, rejection, correction, or retraction.

10. Waivers, Discounts, and Additional Charges

Any waiver, discount, institutional arrangement, or additional charge must be published transparently or stated in the official invoice before payment. The journal does not recognize undisclosed surcharges, private negotiations for acceptance, payments to secure authorship, or payments to obtain a favourable review.

When a waiver or discount is available, eligibility, application procedure, amount, and timing must be applied consistently. A request for or receipt of a waiver must not influence editorial consideration. If no waiver programme is announced on the journal website, authors should not assume that an informal waiver is available.

11. Refunds and Payment Corrections

A refund request must identify the article, OJS number, payer, amount, date, transaction evidence, reason, and destination permitted under financial controls. Refund and payment disputes may be submitted through the Appeals and Complaints procedure. Withdrawal itself is not subject to a punitive withdrawal fee.

12. Payment Security and Fraud Prevention

• Pay only through the method displayed in the current payment form or official invoice.
• Do not transfer funds to a personal account or intermediary that cannot be verified through the journal or publisher.
• Do not disclose passwords, one-time codes, full banking credentials, or unrelated personal documents.
• Verify unexpected changes in account details through a second official channel before payment.
• Report suspected impersonation, fraudulent invoices, unauthorized requests, or payment diversion immediately.

The journal can verify only payments made through authorized channels. When an unofficial or fraudulent instruction is reported, the journal will preserve relevant evidence and provide reasonable administrative assistance, but recovery may depend on the payment provider, bank, or competent authority.

13. Personal Data and Payment Records

Payment administration should collect only information reasonably necessary to verify the payer, article, amount, and transaction. Payment information is not shared with peer reviewers. Access is limited to authorized administrative, financial, editorial, audit, or legal personnel when required for legitimate purposes.

Payment evidence and financial records are retained according to applicable institutional, accounting, audit, privacy, and legal requirements. Authors should redact unrelated sensitive account information before uploading proof when the form permits.

14. Policy Changes and Inconsistent Information

The journal may revise fees or administrative procedures prospectively. Changes must be dated and published clearly. The amount stated in the official invoice issued after acceptance governs the individual payment, provided it is consistent with the publicly available policy communicated to the author.

If information on the journal website, external payment form, tutorial, social media, or invoice is inconsistent, authors should suspend payment and request written clarification through the official journal contact page. No author should be disadvantaged for seeking verification.