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)

With effect from 1st January 2023 onwards, an Article Publishing Charge (APC) of MYR650/USD250 will be imposed on authors upon acceptance of a manuscript for publication (for submission starting 1st January 2023).

All manuscripts published in our journals 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 RM650/USD250 will be imposed on the authors. The APC is based on the followings:

• MYR650 for corresponding author affiliated mainly to an institution in Malaysia.
• USD250 for corresponding author affiliated mainly to foreign institution outside Malaysia.

(Bank charges have to be defrayed by authors.)

 

Refund Policy

The corresponding author assumes the responsibility for the APC payment. Penerbit USM will refund an APC if an error on our part has resulted in a failure to publish the accepted manuscript. APCs will not be refunded when articles are withdrawn by the author(s) or retracted as a result of author error or misconduct.

 

Waiver Policy

There is no discount or 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. 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 Admin 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 Admin. 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 Admin.

APC Payment Guidelines
APC FAQs

 

USM ePayment Operating Hours

Normal Day Transaction
02:00 am – 10:30 pm
Malaysia Time Zone (UTC+08:00)

Month/Year End Transaction
02:00 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.