Payment, Milestones & Refund Policy
Payment, Milestones & Refund Policy
This policy explains how payments, project milestones, revisions, and refund requests are handled by Scopus Publication Support Center.
Because academic and publication support services differ in nature, complexity, duration, and deliverables, the prices published on the website are starting or indicative prices. The final price, scope of work, payment schedule, timeline, and expected deliverables are confirmed after reviewing the client’s files and service requirements.
Important note: No service begins before the scope of work and payment terms are agreed upon and the required payment is received. Final files or complete deliverables are not released until the required payments have been completed according to the agreement.
1. Scope of This Policy
This policy applies to the center’s services, including publication support, manuscript development, thesis and dissertation support, publication support from theses or dissertations, statistical analysis, editing, formatting, journal selection, reviewer response support, and any other academic or publication support services provided by the center.
If a specific service page or final quotation includes a dedicated payment schedule, that schedule will apply to that service, while this policy remains the general framework for payments, milestones, revisions, and refunds.
2. Starting Prices and Final Quotations
Prices published on the website are starting or general indicative prices. A final quotation is provided after reviewing the submitted materials and understanding the requested service.
The final price may depend on several factors, including:
- Type of service requested
- Academic field or discipline
- Word count, number of chapters, or file size
- Scientific, statistical, or editorial complexity
- Quality of data, manuscript, or initial draft
- Required analysis type or software
- Required deadline
- Journal or university requirements
- Required level of expertise
- Number of deliverables or included revision rounds
3. Work Begins After Agreement and Payment
Work begins only after the client approves the scope of work, timeline, deliverables, price, and payment terms, and after the required payment is received.
Small, short, or urgent services may require full payment before work begins. Medium, large, or multi-stage projects may be divided into milestone-based payments linked to deliverables or project stages.
4. Payment Structures by Service Type
Payment structures may vary depending on the service type, size, duration, and complexity. The following table provides general examples of possible payment structures:
| Service Type | Usual Payment Structure | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Small or short services | Full payment before work begins | Examples include journal checks, short reviews, simple formatting tasks, short analysis tasks, or defined consultations. |
| Medium services | 50% before work begins and 50% before final delivery | Suitable for services with one clear deliverable or a relatively short duration. |
| Multi-stage projects | Milestone-based payments linked to deliverables | Percentages and milestones are specified in the service page or final quotation. |
5. Payment Milestones for Full Publication Support Services
Some full publication support services may use a milestone-based payment structure such as:
- 25% before work begins: For initial scientific assessment, review or development of the research gap, and initial scientific, methodological, and publication direction.
- 25% after delivery and approval of the research gap or research plan: To move to methodology development, manuscript development, or a detailed development plan.
- 20% after delivery of the main manuscript ready for submission: According to the agreed scope of work.
- 15% after a first positive editorial decision from the journal, if it occurs: Such as a revision request, conditional acceptance, or acceptance with revisions.
- 15% after final journal acceptance is issued, if it occurs.
Important note: Payments linked to journal decisions are due only when the specified event occurs. They do not guarantee acceptance or publication. Journal decisions are made only by editors, reviewers, and publishers, and are not controlled by the center.
6. Payment Milestones for Thesis and Dissertation Support
For full thesis or dissertation support, payments may be divided into equal or near-equal stages depending on the project nature, such as:
- 25% before work begins: For initial assessment, review of the thesis or dissertation status, identification of challenges, and preliminary support planning.
- 25% after delivery and approval of the development plan or first deliverable: Such as the proposal, first chapter, literature plan, or methodology plan.
- 25% after delivery of a major advanced deliverable: Such as methodology review, analysis report, or a group of developed chapters.
- 25% before final delivery: Before final files, formatted version, defense slides, or final agreed package are delivered.
The payment schedule may vary depending on the thesis or dissertation status, number of chapters, type of analysis, deadline, university requirements, and agreed scope of work.
7. Payment Milestones for Publication Support from a Thesis or Dissertation
Publication support from a thesis or dissertation may use a payment structure similar to full publication support, because the service may extend from selecting the most publishable part to building the article, developing it, selecting the journal, submitting it, and supporting revisions.
- 25% before work begins: To assess the thesis or dissertation, select the most publishable part, build the article plan, and identify the research gap, contribution, and journal direction.
- 25% after delivery and approval of the article plan, structure, and publication path.
- 20% after delivery of the main manuscript ready for submission.
- 15% after a first positive editorial decision from the journal, if it occurs.
- 15% after final journal acceptance is issued, if it occurs.
None of these stages guarantees article acceptance, publication, or indexing.
8. Payment Milestones for Statistical Analysis Services
Statistical analysis services depend on the nature of the analysis, data size, and required report. One of the following structures may apply:
| Analysis Service Type | Usual Payment Structure |
|---|---|
| Services below $150 | Full payment before work begins. |
| Services from $150 to $300 | 50% before work begins and 50% before final delivery. |
| Complete packages of $300 or more | 50% before work begins, 30% after initial deliverables, and 20% before final delivery. |
| Advanced SEM / PLS-SEM packages | 40% before work begins, 40% after the model or initial outputs, and 20% before the final report. |
9. First-Stage Satisfaction Condition
In some multi-stage services, the service page or final quotation may include a special first-stage satisfaction condition. This may allow 50% of the first payment only to be refunded if the client is not satisfied with the first-stage deliverables.
This condition applies only when it is explicitly stated in the service page or quotation, and only under the following conditions:
- The refund request is made before moving to Stage 2.
- The client does not use the first-stage deliverables, research gap, article plan, scientific direction, support plan, recommendations, or any materials prepared during that stage.
- The disputed deliverables fall within the agreed scope of Stage 1.
This condition does not mean that the full first payment is refundable. It only means that a specific portion of the first payment may be refundable in services where this condition applies.
10. Delivery and Final Payment
Final files are delivered according to the agreed payment terms. In milestone-based projects, final delivery requires completion of the final payment or the payment due for that stage.
Previews, partial files, screenshots, summaries, or limited samples may be provided at the center’s discretion before full final delivery. Editable final files, complete reports, clean final manuscripts, complete statistical outputs, journal selection reports, reviewer response packages, or final formatted documents are not released until the required payment is completed.
11. Changes in Scope of Work
Any major change after work begins may require a new quotation and revised timeline. Examples of changes in scope include:
- Adding new files or chapters
- Changing the target journal
- Requesting a different reference style after formatting has started
- Adding new statistical analyses
- Changing research questions or hypotheses
- Adding reviewer comments after the project scope has been approved
- Requesting major rewriting or restructuring outside the agreed service
- Adding university or journal requirements that were not disclosed at the time of agreement
12. Revision Policy
Some services may include limited revisions within the agreed scope of work. Included revisions may cover:
- Minor corrections
- Clarification of comments
- Small formatting adjustments
- Minor language edits
- Corrections based on the original instructions
Revisions do not include new services, new data, new analyses, new chapters, different journal or university instructions, or major changes outside the original scope unless separately agreed upon.
13. Refund Eligibility
Refund eligibility depends on the project stage, service type, and amount of work already completed.
Refunds may be considered only in cases such as:
- Payment was made by mistake
- Duplicate payment was made for the same service
- The service has not started yet
- The request could not be accepted after initial review
- Both parties agreed to cancel the service before expert assignment or substantial work began
- A partial refund condition is explicitly stated in the service page or quotation
Once work has started, expert time has been reserved, an assessment has been prepared, or any deliverable has been produced, the payment may become fully or partially non-refundable depending on the amount of work completed and the type of service.
14. Non-Refundable Services After Work Begins
Some services may become fully or partially non-refundable once work begins, expert time is assigned, or the service is delivered, including:
- Consultation sessions that were completed or missed without proper notice
- Initial assessments that have been prepared
- Journal checks or journal selection reports that have been prepared or delivered
- Editing work that has started or been completed
- Statistical or qualitative analysis that has started or been completed
- Reviewer response work that has been prepared
- Formatting work that has started or been completed
- Urgent work that has been assigned or completed
- Any project stage that has been reviewed, processed, analyzed, edited, formatted, or delivered
15. Partial Refunds
If a project is cancelled after work has started but before completion, a partial refund may be considered after deducting the value of work completed, time spent, expert assignment, administrative processing, transaction fees, and any third-party fees.
A partial refund does not depend only on whether the client received final files. It also depends on whether an assessment, expert review, editing, analysis, formatting, consultation, or project management work has already been performed.
16. No Refund Due to Journal, University, Reviewer, or Statistical Outcomes
No refund is provided because of journal rejection, reviewer criticism, disagreement by a supervisor, university decisions, publication delays, indexing changes, editorial decisions, or failure to obtain desired statistical results.
We do not control journal acceptance, university approval, peer review outcomes, indexing decisions, supervisor decisions, editorial decisions, or statistical significance.
17. Journal Fees and Third-Party Fees
Journal publication fees, article processing charges, bank transfer fees, payment gateway fees, software fees, and third-party service fees are not included unless explicitly stated in the quotation.
Whenever possible, clients should pay publication fees or third-party fees directly to the relevant entity, such as the journal, publisher, or service provider.
18. Payment Issues and Disputes
If the client has any issue related to payment, delivery, or refund eligibility, they should contact us as soon as possible with project details, proof of payment, and the reason for the request.
We aim to review payment and refund issues fairly according to the agreed scope of work, completed deliverables, and this policy.
