Pricing

Transparent price setting

Eco-Vector publishes journal articles under two separate models to suit author preferences:

Subscription articles funded by payments for reading made by subscribing individuals or institutions.
Open access articles funded by payments for publishing made by authors, their institution or funding bodies, commonly known as Article Publishing Charges (APCs).

We calculate pricing for each of these models separately. Subscription prices are set excluding open access articles; in other words, open access articles are not factored in when setting subscription prices. This fundamental principle is enshrined in our strict no double dipping policy.

Article Publishing Charges (APCs)

Irrespective of the publishing model chosen by the author, our goal is to ensure articles are published as quickly as possible, subject to appropriate quality controls, and widely disseminated.

Where an author has chosen to publish open access, which typically involves the payment of an article publishing charge (APC) by the author, their institution or funding body, we make their article freely available immediately upon publication on Eco-Vector Publishing Platform in perpetuity with the author’s chosen user license attached to it (usually, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International).

Eco-Vector’s APCs are set on a per journal basis, fees range between approximately $300 and $1500 USD, excluding tax, with prices clearly displayed on journal homepages.

Adjustments in Eco-Vector’s APCs are under regular review and are subject to change. We set APCs based on the following criteria which are applied to open access articles only:

Journal quality;
The journal’s editorial and technical processes;
Competitive considerations;
Market conditions;
Other revenue streams associated with the journal.

A small percentage of titles may support more than one APC, for example when a journal supports one or more article types that require different APCs.

We do not vary the APC prices for our proprietary journals based on the user license chosen by the author. However, we also publish journals on behalf of learned societies or other third parties that reserve the right to determine their own prices and pricing policies. Any deviations in pricing from Eco-Vector’s standard APC price list per journal will be clearly displayed on the journal’s homepage.

Fee Waivers to support researchers

Our goal is to effectively bridge the digital research divide and ensure that publishing in open access journals is accessible for authors in developing countries.

We grant waivers in cases of genuine need, therefore we automatically apply APC waivers or discounts to those articles in gold open access journals for which all author groups are based in a country eligible for the Research4Life program. When publishing in fully open access journals, we fully waive all APCs for authors from Editorial Borad and regular Peer-Reviewers of the appropriate journals.

If an author group from a non-Research4Life country cannot afford the APC to publish an article in a gold open access journal and they can demonstrate they had no research funding, we will consider individual waiver requests on a case-by-case basis.

Our waiving policy does not apply to hybrid journals. Authors publishing in hybrid journals can publish under the subscription model at no cost and make use of the Elsevier Eco-Vectorsharing policy.

For patients and caregivers, we will consider individual waiver requests on a case-by-case basis.

Reimbursement policy

To ensure Eco-Vector does not charge twice for the same article, we will fully refund an APC when alternative funding is provided for the open access article. For example, where an open access article is part of a Special Issue which is later made available in its entirety on an open access basis, such as through sponsorship by an organization, we will fully refund individual APCs paid by an author or on their behalf.

Eco-Vector will offer a credit for use against a future open access publication in the following circumstances:

A delay in delivering open access: When an article is not available open access on Eco-Vector Publishing platform by the time the issue in which the article is included is published in its final version, we will offer a credit for use against a future publication with Eco-Vector.
Incorrect licensing: When an article is made freely available on Eco-Vector Publishing Platform in final published form but does not display the author’s chosen user license due to our error, we will offer a credit for use against a future publication with Eco-Vector.

No refund or credit will be offered in the following circumstances:

Article retraction or removal: Eco-Vector has provided publishing services. The later retraction or removal of the article is typically for reasons beyond our control, and does not detract from the publishing services provided, nor from our ongoing maintenance of the scientific record, e.g., corrections to the record.
Delays resulting from editorial decisions or author changes: These are a standard part of the publishing process.
License changes: Where an author requests a change to the user license they initially chose we will endeavour to respond to these within 5 working days.
Circumstances beyond our control: This may include, for example, where natural or other disasters prevent us from fulfilling our obligations.
Article unavailable on another platform: Eco-Vector’s responsibility is to ensure that the definitive published versions of articles we publish are available on Eco-Vector Publishing Platform, or any successor platform, in ways that are accessible to all. We provide APIs to enable third party platforms to manage this process themselves, for example to identify and pull gold open access articles or to update their platforms to reflect changes subsequently made to the article, such as author license choice changes, errata, and retractions. Eco-Vector is not responsible for ensuring third party repositories maintain accurate metadata and full-text.

Subscription prices

Eco-Vector publishes subscription articles whose publication is funded by payments that are made by subscribing individuals or institutions. Subscription prices are set independent of open access articles and open access articles are not included when calculating subscription prices. Subscription prices are calculated and adjusted based on the following criteria:

Article volume
Journal quality
Journal usage
Editorial processes
Competitive considerations
Other revenue streams such as commercial contributions from advertising, reprints and supplements

These criteria are applied only to subscription articles, not to open access articles, when setting list prices.

Purchasing options

Eco-Vector provides a range of purchasing options for subscription articles which are tailored for a wide variety of people. These include:

For libraries and institutions: There are a number of subscription options available which are tailored according to the specific customer situation and reflect a number of factors. For customers who purchase collections these considerations include competitive considerations, market conditions, the number of archival rights they purchase, and agreement specific factors like agreement length, currency and payment terms. Collection prices are adjusted on an annual basis, and any adjustment is based on factors including competitive considerations, market conditions, the number, quality, and usage of subscription articles published, and on technical features and platform capabilities. Open access articles are not included in these calculations.
Individuals: Researchers who are not affiliated to an institution, or who would simply like convenient access to a title not available from their library, can take advantage of our personal access options. These options include credit card based transactional article sale and article rental.

No double dipping

Eco-Vector does not charge subscribers for open access articles; when calculating subscription prices, we only take into account subscription articles — we do not double dip.

Concerns around double dipping are often premised on the expectation that open access articles are replacing the number of subscription articles being published and therefore that prices should be changing to correspond to this.

List prices for journals that publish both open access and subscription articles

Adjustments in individual journal subscription list prices will be based only on criteria applied to subscription articles. Open access articles will not be considered in the individual journal list price. Similarly, the APC per journal will only be determined based on the criteria applied to open access articles.

Collections

As with journal list prices, collection prices reflect subscription articles only; they are linked to the prices of individual titles in a collection, which do not count open access articles when setting prices.

Retrospective open access

To ensure we uphold our no double dipping policy and separate calculations regarding list prices from open access articles, we do not offer authors the option to make a subscription article gold open access retrospectively after publication as a general rule.

However, we appreciate that there are sometimes exceptional circumstances and we want to assist authors where possible. In such instances, authors can make a subscription article, published in a hybrid journal, gold open access up until 31 January of the following year. For example, if the article is published in March 2022, the author can make it open access up until the 31 January 2023. This cut-off date is necessary to accurately assess the open access uptake in each individual hybrid journal for the previous year which ensures we do not charge subscribers for open access content. To request retrospective open access or for further details, please contact us.

Article-related Paid Services for Authors

Fast-Track

The Fast-Track is a special time-schedule for peer-review process and editorial workflow to authors seeking a very fast editorial decision and rapid publication at a higher submission fee to compensate the extreme fast referees and editorial work. Not all journals can offer this service to authors For the Fast-Track users:

the guaranteed response time (report and decision letter) is 21 days, starting the count from the first business day on which valid payment information has been received from the submitting author;
the guaranteed issue for publication (in case of manuscript acceptance) is a nearest upcoming issue of the journal.

The “Fast-Track” option does not guarantee a positive peer-review and acceptance of a manuscript itself. It's only brings an extreme fast time scedule for manuscript processing thrue all editorial procedures. Thus, if the manuscript receives negative reviews, and if the editorial board will take the side of peer-reviewers, the manuscript will be rejected. If the reviewers recomend revisions of the manuscript, the final decision on publication will be only after revised manuscript submission and the second (third, fourth ...) round of peer-review.

In opposite to the Fast-Track option authors can use the standart protocol for manuscript selection in any Eco-Vector journal (peer-review and editorial workflow).