Time period allowed for payment of an APC

Credit card payments are processed immediately.


For invoice payments, the usual credit terms are 30 days from the original invoice's date. Invoices will be chased periodically, but if after 60 days no payment is received, the author will be contacted.


Failure to pay invoices within the stated credit terms may result in restrictions placed upon authors' ability to publish with Springer Nature in the future, involvement of a third party debt collection agency and legal proceedings.

However, Springer Nature recognizes that authors often do not pay themselves and, if an author's institution or funder is to pay the APC, it may take some time for an invoice to be paid.


In the case of articles in journals Springer Nature publishes on behalf of partners, the partner organisation and, where appropriate, the journal editors will be notified of non-payment and will make a decision on what penalty to levy on the author.

Did you find it helpful? Yes No

Send feedback
Sorry we couldn't be helpful. Help us improve this article with your feedback.