Journal Policies

1. Policy Alignment

Lignin Research follows the publishing policies of NEW HORIZON PRESS LIMITED. These include policies on editorial independence, publishing ethics, authorship, peer review, competing interests, artificial intelligence, data availability, plagiarism, citation ethics, corrections and retractions, appeals and complaints, copyright, open access, and research integrity.

For full publisher policies, please visit:

NEW HORIZON PRESS LIMITED Publishing Policies

2. Open Access Policy

Lignin Research is a fully open access journal. All articles are made freely and permanently available online immediately upon publication.

Articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format, provided that appropriate credit is given to the original author(s) and source, a link to the license is provided, and any changes made are indicated.

Authors retain copyright and grant NEW HORIZON PRESS LIMITED a non-exclusive license to publish the article and identify itself as the original publisher.

3. Article Processing Charges

Lignin Research is sponsored by Guangdong University of Technology; Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences; and South China University of Technology.

To support the global research community, Lignin Research waives all page charges and article processing charges for articles submitted and accepted during the 2026–2028 calendar years.

From 2029 onward, article processing charges may apply. The applicable APC rate, waiver policy, and payment procedures will be displayed on this page before charges take effect.

Beginning in 2029, Lignin Research will offer full APC waivers to corresponding authors from countries listed by the United Nations as Least Developed Countries. Full or partial waivers may also be available for authors experiencing financial hardship. Waiver or discount requests should be submitted at the time of manuscript submission.

Editorial decisions are based solely on scholarly merit and are not influenced by the payment or non-payment of publication fees.

4. Peer Review Policy

Research articles and most other article types submitted to Lignin Research undergo peer review, normally involving at least two independent expert reviewers.

Lignin Research operates a single-blind peer review model, in which reviewers know the identities of the authors, but reviewer identities are not disclosed to the authors unless otherwise agreed or required by the journal.

Submitted manuscripts first undergo an editorial quality check for completeness, scope, formatting, and potential ethical or originality concerns. Manuscripts that pass the initial check are assigned to an appropriate editor for assessment and, where suitable, external peer review.

Editors consider reviewer reports when making decisions, but final editorial decisions rest with the Editor-in-Chief or designated handling editor. If an editor has a competing interest in relation to a manuscript, another qualified editor will be assigned to handle the manuscript.

The journal aims to conduct peer review in a timely manner, but review times may vary depending on reviewer availability, manuscript complexity, and editorial requirements.

5. Publication Frequency

Lignin Research operates a continuous publication model. Articles are published online in their final citable form as soon as they have completed editorial acceptance, production, copyediting, typesetting, proofing, and final quality checks.

Each published article is assigned a Digital Object Identifier (DOI).

6. Special Issues

Lignin Research may publish special issues or themed collections on selected research topics. Calls for papers for special issues will normally be announced in advance on the journal website.

Submissions to special issues follow the same peer review standards, editorial policies, and publication ethics requirements as regular submissions. Guest editors must declare competing interests and are subject to oversight by the Editor-in-Chief or designated journal editor.

7. Appeals

Authors who wish to appeal an editorial decision should contact the Lignin Research editorial office in writing and include the manuscript title, manuscript number, decision letter, and a clear explanation of the grounds for appeal.

Appeals are considered in accordance with the NEW HORIZON PRESS LIMITED Appeals and Complaints Policy.

Editorial office: lr@the-newpress.com