Last Updated: September 2026

At Shodhmitra Education and Research, our offerings consist of customized academic services, digital publication processing, and physical book sales. This policy sets out clear, binding rules for cancellations, returns, and refunds.

1. Physical Book Orders (Retail Book Selling)

• Cancellation Before Dispatch: Customers can cancel a physical book order within 12 hours of placing it, or before the shipping consignment label has been generated, whichever is earlier. To cancel, write immediately to support@shodhmitra.com. A full refund will be issued.

• Returns & Replacements (Damaged or Defective):

  • Due to the nature of academic publishing and print-on-demand books, returns for change of mind are not accepted.

  • Returns and free replacements are strictly eligible only if:

    1. The book arrives damaged during transit.

    2. The book has critical manufacturing/binding defects (e.g., blank pages, misbound text).

    3. An incorrect title was delivered.

  • Reporting Window: Any defect or damage must be reported within 48 hours of delivery to support@shodhmitra.com with your order number and clear unboxing photographs or video proof showing the damage.

  • Upon verification, a free replacement will be dispatched at our expense, or a full refund will be issued if replacement stock is unavailable.

2. Digital Products (E-Books & Digital Downloads)

• All sales of digital items (such as downloadable e-books, chapter PDFs, and digital resources) are strictly non-refundable once the payment is completed and download access has been granted.

3. Journal APCs & Publication Processing Fees

• Submission & Initial Review: Submitting an article to our journal(s) for peer review incurs no processing obligation until formally accepted.

• Post-Acceptance / Article Processing Charges (APCs): Once an article or book chapter is peer-reviewed, accepted, and the author pays the APC or publication fee, the payment is strictly non-refundable. This is because editorial layout, DOI purchase/assignment, XML formatting, and publication queue allocation begin immediately upon payment.

• Rejections & Withdrawals: If an author unilaterally withdraws an accepted paper after paying the APC, no refund will be provided. Fees are also non-refundable if a paper is retracted later due to author misconduct or ethical violations.

4. Academic Consulting & Plagiarism Check Reports

• Plagiarism detection reports, similarity evaluations, and consulting services are custom digital deliverables. Once the report has been generated or delivered, fees are 100% non-refundable.

• If an order is cancelled within 2 hours of payment and the document has not yet been processed through the similarity software, a cancellation and full refund may be granted.

5. Technical Errors & Duplicate Transactions

• If an author or customer is charged twice due to a payment gateway glitch or network timeout, the duplicate transaction amount will be refunded in full without deduction upon verification.

6. Refund Timelines & Mode

• Once approved, refund requests are initiated from our dashboard within 2 business days.

• The refund will automatically be credited back to the original source account/card/UPI via Razorpay within 5 to 7 working days, subject to your bank’s processing cycles.

7. Contact for Refund Requests

Please email: support@shodhmitra.com with subject line “Refund Request – [Order / Invoice Number]”.