About Westminster Academic Press

Our Mission

Our mission is to accelerate the creation and communication of new knowledge through the rapid publication of rigorous, original, and clearly communicated research.

We publish on the basis of scholarly quality. We focus on rigour, originality, and clarity. We do not make publication depend on perceived importance, academic fashion, institutional prestige, or editorial politics.

Our aim is to reduce unnecessary delay in academic publishing. We target publication within 7 days, plus any time reasonably required for authors to address referee comments. In this way, we seek to combine serious peer review with timely scholarly communication.

We also support the responsible use of artificial intelligence to enhance research productivity and improve the speed and efficiency of scholarly publishing. We see AI as a tool that can assist knowledge creation and communication, while leaving responsibility for scholarly judgment where it belongs — with human authors, reviewers, and editors.

Editorial Philosophy

We assess submissions against clear standards. We consider whether the work is rigorous, whether it offers an original contribution, and whether it is communicated clearly. These are the criteria on which editorial decisions are made.

We operate a rapid peer-reviewed model. Peer review is used to test the strength, coherence, and credibility of a submission, and to identify any concerns that should be addressed before publication. Our process is designed to be efficient, fair, and transparent.

We remunerate reviewers for their work. Reviewing is skilled intellectual labour. It requires time, expertise, and sound judgment. We therefore treat it as a professional service that should be recognised accordingly.

We use AI to support, but not replace, peer review. AI assists with editorial triage, workflow management, and consistency checks. Final publication decisions remain grounded in expert human judgment and editorial oversight.

We maintain a publishing process that is rigorous, efficient, and transparent. Our goal is to help new knowledge move quickly into circulation, where it can be examined, tested, applied, and built upon.

Online Access and Publication Rights

All articles published by Westminster Academic Press are made freely available to read online for a minimum of 12 months from the date of first publication. During this period there are no access fees or subscription requirements for readers anywhere in the world.

After the minimum free access period, articles may be incorporated into a print edition of the journal and distributed to institutional and individual subscribers. At that point, online access may move to a subscriber model. This approach allows us to sustain a high-quality editorial operation while maximising reach during the period in which new research has the greatest scholarly impact.

Authors grant Westminster Academic Press a licence to publish, distribute, and archive their work in print and digital form. Authors retain their underlying intellectual property rights and may deposit their accepted manuscript in an institutional repository following the free access period.

Submission & APC Fee

Westminster Academic Press charges a combined submission and article processing fee of £2,495, payable upon submission. This fee covers editorial handling, AI-assisted screening, peer-review coordination, typesetting, and open-access publication for all accepted articles.

Submissions rejected following peer review are eligible for an automatic refund of 40% of the submission & APC fee. Withdrawn submissions are not eligible for any refund. Full details are set out in our Terms of Submission.

Publication Ethics

Westminster Academic Press follows the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). We require all authors, reviewers, and editors to disclose conflicts of interest and to uphold the principles of responsible research conduct. Plagiarism, data fabrication, and duplicate submission are grounds for immediate rejection and may be reported to authors’ institutions.

Contact the Editorial Office

For general enquiries: editorial@westminsteracademic.press

For submission queries, use the tracking portal: Track your submission