Introduction

The Global Social Sciences Review (GSSR) is operated by the not-for-profit trust Humanity Publications. Unlike some international journals that have their publishing costs covered by external sponsors such as societies, organizations, research groups, or think tanks, GSSR does not receive financial support from any such entities or government bodies.

GSSR is working diligently to be indexed in the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), a challenging goal given that no multidisciplinary or social sciences journal from Pakistan is currently indexed in SSCI. Our aim is to engage with the international research community and global academia rather than focusing solely on local or regional matters.

To achieve these high standards and ensure both academic and financial sustainability for authors, GSSR has implemented a nominal publication fee. This fee may be atypical for local journals in Pakistan, leading to some queries and misconceptions. In response, the Board of Trustees has tasked the Editorial Board with developing a comprehensive Publication Charges Policy. This policy will be informed by practices from major international publishers, research groups, and journal organizations, and will also aim to provide special consideration and relief to PhD scholars and early-career researchers from Pakistan.

Publishing involves costs that must be covered. Subscription-based journals manage these costs by charging a fee for access to their content. In contrast, Open Access journals provide content freely to the public, recouping their costs through publication policies.

To cover expenses such as editorial work, peer review administration, content promotion, circulation, and indexing, journals often rely on various income sources, including institutional subsidies and subscriptions. While some Open Access journals do not impose article processing charges (APCs), a significant and increasing number do. APCs have become the most common method for funding professionally published Open Access articles.