“JOINT JURIST”

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Document Reference: JJJ/2026/APC-VI2026JUN

Governance Framework:

 Managed under the

 executive supervision

of the Editorial Board and Publisher .

CLAUSE 1. Institutional Philosophy & Open-Access Mandate

The Joint Jurist is committed to the advancement of legal scholarship, research, and contemporary advocacy frameworks. We operate strictly on a Gold Open-Access Model. This means that all legal articles, empirical research papers, case commentaries, and statutory analyses published under our banner are made permanently, immediately, and universally free to read, download, copy, distribute, and cite without any financial barriers or subscription paywalls for the global legal fraternity.

To sustain this democratic access to knowledge, we do not charge institutions or readers for access. Instead, the operational costs of publication are met through a one-time Article Processing Charge (APC) levied upon the authors of accepted manuscripts.

Strict Ethical Firewalls (Anti-Predatory Publishing Guidelines)

• Zero Submission Fees: We do not charge any fee at the time of initial manuscript submission, registration, or preliminary review.
• Separation of Finances and Editorial Judgments: Our peer-reviewers, editors, and advisory board members evaluate manuscripts strictly on academic rigor, legal depth, and compliance with the Indian Law Institute (ILI) citation model. Financial transactions are entirely handled by our administrative desk only after a paper successfully secures a formal, unconditioned Letter of Acceptance (LoA). Paying an APC does not guarantee or fast-track publication unless the manuscript meets our baseline scholarly thresholds.

CLAUSE 2. Tiered APC Fee Structure

To maintain a balanced ecosystem that encourages young research scholars while matching standard operational overheads for legal experts, we enforce a strict tiered fee structure.

1. Student Category (Undergraduate & Postgraduate Scholars / Ph.D. Candidates)

This category applies strictly to individuals currently enrolled in a recognized law university or institution at the time of submission.

• Single Author: ₹699 (All inclusive of digital archiving).
• Co-Author Layer (Up to 2 Authors): ₹999 Total (Flat fee covering both researchers).
• Three Authors (Maximum Allowable Cap): ₹1,499 Total (Flat fee covering all three researchers).

1. Professional Category (Academicians, Practicing Advocates, Judges & Corporate Counsel)

This category applies if even one of the contributing authors is a working professional or faculty member.

• Single Author: ₹999
• Co-Author Layer (Up to 2 Authors): ₹1,599 Total (Flat fee covering both professionals).

Tiered APC Fee Structure 

CLAUSE 3. Granular Breakdown of Fee Allocation (Where Does Your APC Go?)

We maintain 100% transparency regarding financial handling. The processing charges collected from accepted authors are directly directed into the following essential operational and infrastructural channels:

• Digital Infrastructure & Cloud Management: Funding high-speed cloud hosting servers, maintaining a secure SSL-encrypted web domain, preventing data breaches, and managing content distribution networks (CDNs) for zero-downtime access to published PDFs.
• Premium Editorial Software Access: Financing high-end automated software to verify textual originality, cross-reference data points, run similarity checks, and index citations properly.
• Professional Typesetting & Graphic Layouts: Payment toward technical designers who meticulously convert raw MS Word manuscripts into formatted, visually standard, professional academic journal templates using standard Times New Roman
• The “JJJ Disruption” Post-Publication Marketing Framework: Unlike conventional journals that simply upload a PDF and abandon it, a significant portion of our resources goes toward active academic marketing:
  1. Designing customized, professional Digital Posters and Visual Cards for every published paper.
  2. Generating specialized digital interaction links to boost your citation indexing metrics on academic networks.
• Verification & Documentation Infrastructure: Costs related to the creation, encryption, and secure deployment of verifiable Digital Certificates of Publication and comprehensive peer-review feedback reports.

CLAUSE 4. Strict Payment Timelines & Procedural Instructions

Once a manuscript is approved by the Editorial Board, the following strict timeline must be adhered to by the corresponding author:

1. The author will receive a formal notification email containing the Letter of Acceptance LoA alongside a unique payment link/banking directive issued by the administrative desk.
2. The APC must be cleared within 3 to 5 business days from the exact time stamp of the notification email. Failure to do so will result in the automatic suspension of the slot, and the space will be reallocated to waitlisted manuscripts to avoid delayed publication schedules.
3. Upon making the transaction, authors are strictly required to reply to the official acceptance email attaching a high-resolution, uncropped screenshot of the transaction receipt showing the Transaction ID, Date, and Amount clearly.

CLAUSE 5. Foolproof Cancellation, Post-Payment Forfeiture & Withdrawal Sync

To prevent severe organizational, logistical, and financial loss caused by sudden author changes-of-mind, our journal enforces an ironclad refund policy synced perfectly with our Official Withdrawal & Ethical Compliance Policy.

• The Absolute Non-Refundability Mandate: Once the Article Processing Charge (APC) is paid and credited to our administrative account, “NO REFUND WILL BE GRANTED UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES”, even if the author subsequently requests a formal withdrawal of the paper or refuses to coordinate with layout changes.
• Logistical Justification for Forfeiture: The moment an APC transaction is verified, our editorial desk immediately locks the slot, initiates design spending, runs final technical alignment checks, and allocates digital space. Because human and capital resources are deployed instantaneously, the transaction is irreversible.

( CLAUSE 6) The Withdrawal Interlock Matrix

(CLAUSE 7) Permanent Mandate for All Contributing Authors