Janeway APC Plugin

A plugin for Janeway that enables journals to set, manage, and track Article Publication Charges (APCs). It supports per-section pricing, invoice lifecycle tracking, fee waivers, discounts, and configurable billing notifications.

Version: 1.2

Minimum Janeway Version: 1.7.0

License: AGPL-3.0

Features

Section-Based APC Pricing

Define APC values and currencies per journal section. When an article is submitted, its APC is automatically recorded based on its section's configured rate.

Invoice Lifecycle Tracking

Track each article's APC through a full status workflow: New > Invoiced > Paid / Non Payment. APCs can also be reset back to New if needed.

Fee Waivers

Authors can apply for APC waivers after submission by providing a rationale. Editors review waiver applications and accept or decline them with a written response. Waiver functionality and the text displayed to authors are both configurable per journal.

Discounts

Editors can adjust an article's APC value and optionally apply predefined discount templates. All value changes are logged for audit purposes.

Billing Staff Notifications

Assign staff members to receive email notifications for specific billing events:

• Ready for Invoicing -- when an article is accepted
• Invoice Sent -- when an APC is marked as invoiced
• Invoice Paid -- when an APC is marked as paid
• Waiver Application -- when an author submits a waiver request

Notification email templates and subjects are configurable through Janeway's settings system.

Display Modes

The plugin supports two modes controlled via settings:

• Enable APCs -- displays publication fees to authors on the submission page
• Track APCs -- tracks charges in the background for journal managers without exposing fee details to authors

Hooks

The plugin integrates with Janeway's hook system to inject content into three locations:

• publication_fees -- renders APC information on the publication fees page
• submission_review -- displays waiver policy text during submission review
• core_article_footer -- shows a waiver application link on article pages

Add Articles Manually

Editors can retroactively add accepted articles to APC tracking if they were missed during initial submission (e.g., the plugin was installed after the article was accepted).

Installation

1. Clone this repo into your Janeway plugins directory:

   git clone <repo-url> /path/to/janeway/src/plugins/apc
   

2. Install the plugin:

   python3 manage.py install_plugins
   

3. Run migrations:

   python3 manage.py migrate
   

4. Restart your web server (Apache, Nginx/Passenger, etc.).

Configuration

After installation, navigate to the APC plugin settings page in your journal's manager interface to configure:

Setting	Description
Enable APCs	Show APC fees to authors during submission
Track APCs	Track APCs internally without author-facing display
Enable Waivers	Allow authors to apply for fee waivers
Waiver Text	Customisable text describing your waiver policy

You should also set APC values for each journal section from the plugin's main dashboard.