Copyright Policy

This Journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. All articles in the Journal are published open access under a Creative Commons Attribution license (CC BY 4.0). Authors transfer the copyright to Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia. This copyright transfer enables the Journal to protect the copyrighted material for the authors but does not relinquish the authors’ proprietary rights. The copyright transfer covers the exclusive rights to reproduce and distribute the article, including reprints, photographic reproductions, microfilm or any other reproductions of similar nature and translations. Authors are responsible for obtaining from the copyright holder permission to reproduce any materials for which copyright exists.

The works are released under a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0), which provides unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium provided the original work is properly cited. Users have the right to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of articles in this Journal and to use them for any other lawful purpose.

 

Open Access Policy

Tropical Life Sciences Research published by Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia is an open access journal. All articles are published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY). All articles are freely available to read, share and download. In accordance with publication ethics and best practices of scholarly publishing, authors and journals must be properly credited. All articles are accessible via the Journal's website and selected indexing and abstracting databases.

 

Article Publishing Charge (APC)

Item	Before 1 June 2026	From 1 June 2026 onwards
Manuscript ID Journal abbrev.-article type-year-month-submission no.	05-2026 e.g.: TLSR-OA-05-2026-0220	06-2026 onwards e.g.: TLSR-OA-06-2026-0220
APC Rate	MYR650/USD250	MYR1,500/USD400
APC Discount	Not applicable	Discounted rate: MYR1,000 (Applicable to Corresponding Author from Universiti Sains Malaysia)

 

With effect from 1st June 2026 onwards, an Article Publishing Charge (APC) of MYR1,500/USD400 will be imposed on authors upon acceptance of a manuscript for publication (for submission starting 1st June 2026).  

All manuscripts published in this journal are open access and freely available online. APC is crucial to sustain and develop an open-access journal. The APC payable for a manuscript is agreed as part of the manuscript submission process. Authors pay a one-time APC to cover the costs of publishing services we provide. This includes provision of online tools for editors and authors, manuscript production and hosting, liaison with abstracting and indexing services, and customer services. The corresponding author of the manuscript is responsible for making or arranging the payment upon editorial acceptance of the manuscript. We advise prompt payment as we are unable to publish accepted manuscripts until payment has been received. Payment should be made through the University’s payment gateway as instructed in the acceptance email from the Editor-in-Chief. 

Upon acceptance of a manuscript, an APC of MYR1,500/USD400 will be imposed on the authors. The APC is based on the following: 

• MYR1,500 for corresponding author affiliated mainly to an institution in Malaysia. 

• USD400 for corresponding author affiliated mainly to foreign institution outside Malaysia. 

(Bank charges have to be defrayed by authors.)  

For manuscripts submitted prior to 1st June 2026, the previously established APC rates remain applicable, namely MYR650 for corresponding authors primarily affiliated with institutions in Malaysia and USD250 for those affiliated with institutions outside Malaysia, payable upon acceptance of the manuscript (applicable to submissions BEFORE 1st JUNE 2026). No waiver is applicable to these submissions.  

 

APC Discount Policy (Effective 1st June 2026)   

Corresponding authors affiliated with Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) are eligible to publish at a discounted APC rate of MYR1,000.  

This discount applies only to manuscripts where the corresponding author’s primary affiliation is USM at the time of submission and acceptance. The discount will be applied to the APC upon acceptance of the manuscript. This policy is effective for all manuscripts submitted on or after 1st June 2026.  

 

Refund Policy 

The corresponding author bears full responsibility for the payment of the APC. Penerbit USM will issue a refund only in cases where a publishing failure has occurred due to an error on our part. No refunds will be granted for articles withdrawn by the author(s) or retracted due to author error or misconduct. Additionally, refunds will not be provided for payments made prior to formal acceptance of the manuscript or for any incorrect payment amounts made by the author(s). 

 

Non-Refundable Situations  

• Once an article has been accepted and published, APCs are non-refundable.  

• Refunds will not be granted for delays in the review or publication process.  

• Refunds will not be issued if the author withdraws after acceptance.  

• No refund will be given if errors or mistakes originate from the author, including but not limited to submission errors, formatting issues, or failure to comply with journal guidelines.  

• All payment errors made by the author (e.g., double payment, incorrect payment amount) will not be refunded.  

 

Waiver Policy  

There is no waiver on the APC for accepted papers.  

 

Payment Instruction 

The APC payment must be made online through USM e-payment portal. Author(s) of accepted paper will be instructed on the payment via the acceptance email from the Editor-in Chief. The USM e-payment link will be provided in the acceptance email. Please note that your publication will only be considered upon acceptance of payment, not acceptance date.

Only payment through the USM e-payment portal will be accepted and processed. Once you click the provided link, you should be directed to the USM e-payment form for “Journal Publication” services, in which it will land to the designated journal e-payment portal. Please make sure that the name of the journal is correctly displayed. If the link does not direct to the correct journal, please refer the matter to the Journal Administrator immediately. 

Author then must fill in the Manuscript ID (provided by the journal during submission). Before you click “Next”, please ensure that you have filled in all required information. Through this portal, payment can be made either by credit card or interbank online transfer method. Author MUST ensure to select the correct currency and amount as instructed in the acceptance email. After you have successfully made the payment, please print the proof of payment as PDF and email this document to the Journal Administrator. You will receive an acknowledgement email once we have received the notification of successful transaction from the bank. Should you have enquiries or issues regarding the payment process, please contact the Journal Administrator. 

APC Payment Guidelines

APC FAQs 

USM e-Payment Operating Hours 

Normal Day Transaction 
01:00 am – 11:30 pm 
Malaysia Time Zone (UTC+08:00) 

Month/Year End Transaction 
01:00 am – 11:59 am 
Malaysia Time Zone (UTC+08:00) 

Language Policy

Manuscripts should be clearly and concisely written in English (UK). It is author's responsibility to ensure that the quality of English language is not compromised. Manuscripts from Malaysia should also provide abstrak and kata kunci in Bahasa Malaysia.

 

Peer-Review

This Journal practices a double-blind peer review policy. At all stages of the review, until the decision to accept has been taken, neither the author nor the reviewer can identify the other.

The Editorial Board may exercise their prerogative to reject a manuscript without peer review if that manuscript is judged to be outside the scope of the Journal, poorly written or formatted or lacking in significance.

Reviewers are matched to the manuscript according to their expertise. Selection of reviewers is made from the Journal’s reviewers’ data bank and also from author’s recommended reviewers. If found to be of suitable quality and meets the aims and scope of the Journal, it will then be sent to at least two reviewers. The reviewer selected by the Editor may, of course, not necessarily be from the list. The Journal also welcome suggestions for reviewers from authors, though these recommendations may or may not be used.

After receiving a request to peer review, it is essential that peer reviewers respond in a timely fashion, particularly if they cannot do the review, to avoid unnecessarily delaying the process.

Reviewers are tasked to evaluate a manuscript for its originality and significance of contribution; subject relevancy; appropriate coverage of existing literature; the presentation of methodology, results and interpretation; and manuscript organisation. Reviewers are also required to provide anonymous comment to the author and confidential comment to the Editor.

Typically the review process will take 60–90 days. Should there be any delay, the Journal will alert the reviewers in a timely manner. For any contradict reports, the Journal will seek for further expert opinion. A revised manuscript may be returned to the initial reviewers. Where manuscript revision is required, authors are urged to ensure that the necessary corrections are made before the manuscript can be accepted for production. Author will be notified on the decision made by the Editor.