Exploration of Drug Science publishes articles under the model of Gold Open Access. Once published, articles are immediately available for free without restrictions. The journal charges article processing charge (APC) to cover the costs of peer review, editing, typesetting, archiving, journal management, etc. incurred in the process of processing articles, in order to maintain a sustainable open access academic publishing and exchange platform in the long run.

APC fees are only for accepted articles that have been peer-reviewed.

The journal does not charge APC from authors before January 31, 2028, during which time the APC is wholly financed by Open Exploration. From February 1, 2028, the journal charges an APC fee of $2,000 per article (excluding tax).

Waivers and Discounts

We encourage authors to publish in Exploration of Drug Science and do not want APC fees to be a barrier to scientific publication, especially for authors from low- and middle-income countries. We offer a range of discounts or waivers for authors from low- and middle-income countries. For authors who are otherwise unable to pay the APC fee, we will waive or discount on a case-by-case basis. Authors can contact the Editorial Office edsjournal@explorationpub.com at the time of submission to explain the situation and apply for a discount.

Specific discount details and how to apply will be updated on the website by January 2028.

Rewards and Benefits for Contributing Authors

Authors who submit article(s) before January 31, 2028 and whose article(s) are eventually accepted for publication will receive a 50% discount on the APC, which will cover part of the APC for publishing an article after February 1, 2028.

Authors who submit article(s) before January 31, 2028 and the article(s) being recognized as the annual Highly Cited Paper Award will receive a full APC waiver once, which will be able to enjoy free publication for one article after February 1, 2028.