Sponsorship and Institutional Partnerships

Effective 15 September 2026. JGTSS’s sole current institutional academic partner is the Center for Surrounding Communication Studies, Peking University. The centre provides no financial sponsorship. Its eligible corresponding authors receive a publisher-authorized 50 percent APC reduction. This arrangement is confined to researchers of the centre, does not extend to other Peking University affiliates and gives the centre no authority over editorial decisions.

Agreement and disclosure

Academic partnerships identify the participating institution or unit, purpose, duration and responsibilities. The publisher records authorization to use institutional names and logos and distinguishes scholarly cooperation from money, in-kind assistance or fee support. The current centre designation and researcher reduction are already authorized. Authors establish eligibility through the finance procedure, independently of academic assessment.

A sponsor providing money or material support for a special issue or activity is identified in a relevant statement, together with the nature of support and the sponsor’s role. If no financial support is provided, the journal does not label an academic collaborator as a funder. Support for the journal is different from funding for an individual research study; authors still disclose their own funders and relevant interests.

Editorial boundaries

Neither an institution nor a sponsor may buy acceptance, select compliant reviewers, veto critical findings or prevent correction of a publication. A contribution from a partner institution undergoes the same screening and peer review as other work. Guest editors are appointed for expertise under Special Issues and Guest Editing and act within the authority given by the Co-Editors-in-Chief.

Editors recuse when their employment, supervisory role or direct involvement in the partnership affects a particular manuscript. Sponsor-authored content is clearly identified and assessed according to its actual article type. The supervising editor checks that a thematic project remains within the journal’s scope and does not become an unreviewed outlet for institutional promotion.

Fee benefits and ending arrangements

An eligible corresponding author who is a researcher of the Center for Surrounding Communication Studies, Peking University receives a 50 percent reduction of the USD 450 APC, leaving USD 225 payable, after administrative verification of the centre relationship. Employment or study elsewhere in Peking University, general academic association or event attendance does not establish eligibility. Geographic, institutional and hardship reductions do not stack, and the maximum standard reduction is 50 percent. The scheme governs invoices issued on or after 15 September 2026, including unpaid open manuscripts, subject to the notice, cancellation, reissue and author-agreement protections in Article Processing Charges and Refunds.

A partnership may be reviewed, suspended or ended if its terms are breached or editorial independence is threatened. The journal updates public descriptions promptly and communicates any effect on active submissions or already granted benefits. Ending a partnership does not revoke open licences, erase previously published content or remove necessary sponsor disclosures from the scholarly record.

Questions about an institutional agreement or suspected misrepresentation may be sent to jgtsseditorialoffice@jandoopress.com. Concerns about influence on a manuscript are assigned to an unconflicted academic editor, with the relevant authorization and decision record available for review.

Last updated: 16 September 2026