I have had a paper accepted to a journal. In the submission process, there was a question whether the paper would be Open Access, I said yes, thinking there was no fee!
After the acceptance, the publisher told me that I had to pay the Open Access fee! I did not know that there was a fee at all! Otherwise, I wouldn't have submitted my paper in this journal at all.
I am from a developing country and I can't pay the fee without a fund, which is not possible! What can I do?
You can:
Pay the fee, perhaps after asking for a reduction or waiver based on your location.
Ask them to change to no longer Open Access.
Ask to withdraw your paper from the journal.
If you don't want to do (1), and they say no to (2), your only remaining option is (3). In this case, you're also probably lucky you didn't do (1), because this would seem to be a predatory publishing practice; you might even be lucky they didn't say yes to (2), because it might indicate that the journal is worse than merely predatory and is outright fraudulent. If they refuse (3), that's okay, you can just ignore them, be certain that they are predatory/fraudulent, and take your paper elsewhere (as long as you haven't already signed anything giving away your rights to your work; if you have you may want to look for an opinion from a lawyer at your institution).
In the future, also read carefully any "instructions to authors" content on the publisher's website for any information on fees. If a journal is not clear about their fees even if you've looked for them, I'd take that as a good indication the journal is not reputable and you should stay away.
Is the journal in question open access only? Or is it a hybrid journal that has both a subscription option (where you would not be expected to pay publication costs) and an open access option. This would obviously change what options you have.
First off, you can always explain your situation and ask for a waiver. Generally, waivers have to be requested early in the process of manuscript submission (whatever the reason for the waiver is). Most major publishers have explicit rules for this. So I wouldn't count on a waiver this late in the process. It's worth a try though and I think this is your best bet - especially if you are from a developing nation.
Alternatively, you could ask to switch out of open access (assuming the journal is hybrid and has a subscription model as well). I think you might run into an issue here though. Submissions usually contain binding language and the publisher/journal might not let you switch. I don't necessarily think that this is an indication of (low) quality - rather it's dependant on behind-the-scenes bureaucracy.
I don't think there is any harm in pursuing either (or both) of these options. If neither works out, you could always look around for some money to pay for publication. I don't know your situation or affiliation but it may be that your university has some money for this sort of thing. Or there may be some other source of funds. I think it's worth looking into.
Personally, I would not pay out-of-pocket for this. At that point, withdraw and resubmit elsewhere. Assuming you've initially submitted to a quality journal, you should have no trouble publishing elsewhere. It isn't unusual to include previous reviews and you could certainly let the editor of a different journal know what's going on (i.e., that the paper was accepted but withdrawn due to funding issues). That isn't a way to circumvent further review but it would likely smooth the process and increase your chances of a quick acceptance.
Given that you are from a developing country, be aware that most - if not all - journals providing some sort of funding (i.e., vouchers, discounts, ans other subsidies) to support open-access publishing. I doubt this journal is any different. If you have not already done so, just inquire about this. Please feel free to continue keeping us abreast!
