Article Processing Charges

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The Journal of Urban Development and Smart Cities (JUDSC) is proud to operate as a diamond open access journal.

This means:

  • No article processing charges (APCs)

  • No submission fees

  • No page charges

  • No color charges

  • No costs for online access

Authors, whether corresponding or co-authors, do not pay any fee at any stage of the publication process.

All articles are freely available to readers worldwide immediately upon publication.

1. No Fees for Authors

Journal of Urban Development and Smart Cities (JUDSC) does not charge authors for:

  • Manuscript submission

  • Peer review and editorial handling

  • Online publication

  • Hosting and long-term archiving of published articles

  • Open access under a CC BY 4.0 license

Whether you are an early-career researcher, practitioner, or senior academic, you can submit and publish in Journal of Urban Development and Smart Cities (JUDSC) without financial barriers.

2. Open Access and Licensing

All published articles in Journal of Urban Development and Smart Cities (JUDSC) are:

  • Freely accessible online immediately upon publication

  • Distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license

Under this license:

  • Authors retain copyright

  • Others may share and adapt the work, including for commercial purposes, as long as proper attribution is given and any changes are indicated

You can find further details on our Open Access Policy and Copyright & Licensing pages.

3. Optional Costs (Reprints or Special Services)

For the vast majority of authors, there are no costs of any kind. In rare cases, optional services may incur costs, for example:

  • Professionally printed or bound hard-copy reprints of a published article

  • Special printing or mailing arrangements requested by the author or institution

Any such optional services are entirely voluntary and not required for publication. If applicable, details and prices are discussed individually with the corresponding author after acceptance.

4. Equity and Access

By maintaining a no-APC, no-subscription model, Journal of Urban Development and Smart Cities (JUDSC) aims to:

  • Support equitable participation in scholarly publishing regardless of institutional or national resources

  • Ensure that important research in Urban development and smart cities is visible and reusable worldwide

  • Reduce financial barriers for authors from low- and middle-income countries, small institutions, and independent practitioners

If you have any questions about costs, funding, or our open access model, please contact the editorial office at: JUDSC@LockeScience.press

You can submit your best work to Journal of Urban Development and Smart Cities (JUDSC) with full confidence that scientific merit—not the ability to pay—determines publication.