Refund Policy

The Science Media Research Group is committed to maintaining transparency, fairness, and ethical publishing practices. As an open-access scholarly publisher, we charge article processing charges to support editorial management, peer review, production, online hosting, and long-term digital archiving of published content. This Refund Policy outlines the circumstances under which refunds may be considered.

Non-Refundable Payments

The payments made by authors, coauthors, institutions, or universities to The Science Media Research Group are non-refundable, except in cases of verified double or duplicate payments. Once a manuscript has entered any stage of the editorial or production workflow, the associated services are considered initiated and costs are incurred.

Eligibility for Refund

Refunds will be strictly limited to the following condition:

• Double / Duplicate Payment: If an author or payer has mistakenly made more than one payment for the same manuscript, a refund will be issued for the excess amount after verification.

Non-Refundable Circumstances

No refunds will be provided under the following circumstances:

• Withdrawal of the manuscript by the author after submission
• Author’s decision not to proceed after acceptance
• Failure to comply with journal policies, ethical guidelines, or formatting requirements
• Payments made for optional services once initiated

Refund Request Procedure

To request a refund for a duplicate payment, the author or payer must submit a written request to the publisher’s official email address, including:

• Manuscript ID with Journal name
• Author name and corresponding author details
• Proof of both payments (transaction ID, receipt, or bank reference)
• Date and method of payment

All refund requests must be submitted within 7 working days of the payment date. Requests submitted after this period may not be considered.

Refund Processing

Once a duplicate payment is verified, the refund will be processed using the original mode of payment wherever possible. Refunds are typically completed within 10–15 business days, depending on banking or payment gateway procedures. Any transaction or bank charges, if applicable, will be deducted from the refunded amount.