Free APC waiver checker
Your open access fee could be zero.
Tell us where each author works. We apply every publisher's own country list and co-author rule, and show who waives the article processing charge, fully or partly.
73 publishers and journals9 waiver schemesVerified Oct 2026
Rules read from
HindawiTaylor & Francis
Cambridge University Press
MDPIFrontiers
Emerald PublishingDe Gruyter BrillKargerIGI GlobalWorld ScientificBentham ScienceInderscienceNova Science PublishersPensoftCopernicus PublicationsMIT Press
ASMETech Science PressIntechOpenCell PressThiemeSCIRPIOP PublishingAIP PublishingAmerican Physical SocietyOptica Publishing GroupSPIE_logo.svg){kind=logo}
IETAmerican Mathematical SocietyThe Electrochemical SocietyScience Advances (AAAS)The Royal SocietyeLifePeerJBMJJMIR PublicationsDove Medical PressAmerican Society for MicrobiologyEMBO PressThe Company of BiologistsPortland PressMicrobiology SocietyRockefeller University PressUbiquity PressKeAiTsinghua University PressBioscientificaAnnual ReviewsEdward Elgar PublishingUniversity of California PressScience Publishing GroupMedknowHindawiTaylor & FrancisCambridge University PressMDPIFrontiersEmerald PublishingDe Gruyter BrillKargerIGI GlobalWorld ScientificBentham ScienceInderscienceNova Science PublishersPensoftCopernicus PublicationsMIT PressASMETech Science PressIntechOpenCell PressThiemeSCIRPIOP PublishingAIP PublishingAmerican Physical SocietyOptica Publishing GroupSPIEIETAmerican Mathematical SocietyThe Electrochemical SocietyScience Advances (AAAS)The Royal SocietyeLifePeerJBMJJMIR PublicationsDove Medical PressAmerican Society for MicrobiologyEMBO PressThe Company of BiologistsPortland PressMicrobiology SocietyRockefeller University PressUbiquity PressKeAiTsinghua University PressBioscientificaAnnual ReviewsEdward Elgar PublishingUniversity of California PressScience Publishing GroupMedknowHow an APC waiver is decided
Three things decide whether you pay: the country where you are affiliated (not your nationality), the list of countries the publisher uses, and whose affiliation counts when co-authors work in different countries. Waivers almost always apply only to fully open access journals; in a hybrid journal you can publish free through the subscription route instead.
The waiver schemes publishers use
Most publishers do not invent their own rules from scratch. They build on a few shared schemes, so knowing the scheme tells you a lot about the waiver.
Free and low-cost access programme run by UN agencies and publishers. Its Group A (free) and Group B (low-cost) country lists are the most widely used basis for APC waivers.
Publishers
Journals with their own rule on this list
Electronic Information for Libraries negotiates APC waivers and discounts with publishers for authors in its partner countries.
Publishers
Many publishers build their own waiver list from the World Bank income classification: low-income countries usually get 100%, lower-middle income countries 50% or less.
Publishers
Journals with their own rule on this list
Some publishers keep their own list of eligible countries, often based on Research4Life or the World Bank but edited by the publisher.
Publishers
Instead of a waiver, the APC itself is set by the corresponding author's country: authors in lower-income countries pay a smaller share of the list price.
Publishers
Journals with their own rule on this list
Governments and consortia negotiate APC discounts or central APC funds for their researchers. India's One Nation One Subscription is the largest example.
Publishers
Journals funded by societies, institutions or subscriptions that publish open access without charging authors anything.
Publishers
Journals with their own rule on this list
Case-by-case waivers for authors who cannot pay, decided by the publisher or editor. Not guaranteed, and usually requested at submission.
Publishers
Journals with their own rule on this list
Your university or library may already pay the APC through a read and publish (transformative) agreement or a membership.
Publishers
Whose affiliation counts: the co-author rule
This is the question most authors miss. With an international author team, the same country can get a full waiver at one publisher and nothing at another.
Corresponding author only
Only the corresponding author's affiliation counts. Co-authors from other countries do not change the waiver.
Submitting author only
Only the submitting (corresponding) author's institutional affiliation counts.
First and corresponding author
The first author and the corresponding author both count; when they differ, the less favourable discount is applied.
Half of all authors
The corresponding author's country decides the group, and for a full waiver at least half of all authors must be affiliated in a country of the same eligible group.
Corresponding author + majority
Applied automatically when all authors are in eligible countries; on request when the corresponding author and the majority of co-authors are.
Majority of institutions
The country of the main funder decides; for unfunded work, the country of the majority of the authors' institutions, and when there is no majority, the corresponding author's country.
Every author
Every author must be affiliated in an eligible country. One co-author from an ineligible country cancels the waiver; with authors from different groups, the lowest discount applies.
Publisher waiver directory
Every publisher we checked, with its scheme, whose affiliation counts, how the waiver is applied and the official page. Click a publisher for its eligible countries, journals and FAQ.
| Publisher | Schemes | Whose affiliation counts | How | Official source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elsevier | Research4Life, Country-tiered APC pricing, National agreements (ONOS India), Discretionary hardship waivers | Every author | Applied automatically from the affiliation | elsevier.com ↗ |
| Springer Nature | World Bank income groups, Country-tiered APC pricing, National agreements (ONOS India), Discretionary hardship waivers | Corresponding author only | Must be requested, usually at submission | springernature.com ↗ |
| Wiley | Research4Life, Publisher country lists | Half of all authors | Applied automatically from the affiliation | authors.wiley.com ↗ |
| Hindawi | Research4Life, Publisher country lists | Half of all authors | Applied automatically from the affiliation | authors.wiley.com ↗ |
| Taylor & Francis | World Bank income groups, National agreements (ONOS India) | Corresponding author only | Must be requested, usually at submission | authorservices.taylorandfrancis.com ↗ |
| SAGE | Research4Life, EIFL agreements, Discretionary hardship waivers | Corresponding author only | Applied automatically from the affiliation | sagepub.com ↗ |
| Oxford University Press | Research4Life, EIFL agreements, National agreements (ONOS India), Discretionary hardship waivers | Corresponding author only | Applied automatically from the affiliation | academic.oup.com ↗ |
| Cambridge University Press | Research4Life, Discretionary hardship waivers | Corresponding author only | Applied automatically from the affiliation | cambridge.org ↗ |
| IEEE | World Bank income groups | Every author | Applied automatically from the affiliation | open.ieee.org ↗ |
| American Chemical Society | World Bank income groups | Corresponding author only | Applied automatically from the affiliation | acsopenscience.org ↗ |
| Wolters Kluwer (Lippincott) | National agreements (ONOS India), No APC (diamond and Subscribe to Open) | Case by case | Not documented | wolterskluwer.com ↗ |
| MDPI | Discretionary hardship waivers, Institutional and read & publish deals | Case by case | Case by case, on application | mdpi.com ↗ |
| Frontiers | Discretionary hardship waivers, Institutional and read & publish deals | Case by case | Case by case, on application | frontiersin.org ↗ |
| PLOS | Research4Life, Discretionary hardship waivers, Institutional and read & publish deals | Corresponding author only | Must be requested, usually at submission | plos.org ↗ |
| BioMed Central (BMC) | World Bank income groups, National agreements (ONOS India), Discretionary hardship waivers | Corresponding author only | Must be requested, usually at submission | springernature.com ↗ |
| Emerald Publishing | World Bank income groups | Corresponding author only | Applied automatically from the affiliation | emeraldgrouppublishing.com ↗ |
| De Gruyter Brill | World Bank income groups, EIFL agreements | Corresponding author only | Applied automatically from the affiliation | degruyterbrill.com ↗ |
| Karger | World Bank income groups | Corresponding author only | Must be requested, usually at submission | karger.com ↗ |
| IGI Global | Discretionary hardship waivers | Case by case | Not documented | igi-global.com ↗ |
| World Scientific | EIFL agreements | Corresponding author only | Must be requested, usually at submission | eifl.net ↗ |
| IOS Press | NA; IOS Press open access agreements now hosted by Sage, Sage waiver coverage not verified | Case by case | Not documented | sagepub.com ↗ |
| Bentham Science | World Bank income groups | Corresponding author only | Must be requested, usually at submission | benthamscience.com ↗ |
| Inderscience | Institutional and read & publish deals | Case by case | No country waiver scheme | inderscience.com ↗ |
| Nova Science Publishers | No waiver policy | Case by case | No country waiver scheme | novapublishers.com ↗ |
| Pensoft | Discretionary hardship waivers | Case by case | Case by case, on application | pensoft.net ↗ |
| Copernicus Publications | Research4Life, Discretionary hardship waivers | Corresponding author only | Applied automatically from the affiliation | biogeosciences.net ↗ |
| Harvard University Press | Book press; no journal APC model | Case by case | Not documented | no official page found |
| MIT Press | Research4Life, Discretionary hardship waivers | Corresponding author only | Must be requested, usually at submission | direct.mit.edu ↗ |
| Princeton University Press | Book press; no APC model | Case by case | Not documented | no official page found |
| Yale University Press | Book press; no APC model | Case by case | Not documented | no official page found |
| University of Chicago Press | No waiver policy found (authors' rights page defines APCs only) | Case by case | Not documented | journals.uchicago.edu ↗ |
| Johns Hopkins University Press | No official APC waiver page found | Case by case | Not documented | no official page found |
| Stanford University Press | Book press; no APC model | Case by case | Not documented | no official page found |
| Royal Society of Chemistry | Research4Life | Corresponding author only | Applied automatically from the affiliation | rsc.org ↗ |
| ASME | Institutional and read & publish deals | Case by case | No country waiver scheme | asme.org ↗ |
| Tech Science Press | Discretionary hardship waivers | Case by case | Case by case, on application | techscience.com ↗ |
| MECS Press | No waiver policy found; IJEME states no APC or submission fees (other MECS journals not checked) | Case by case | Not documented | mecs-press.org ↗ |
| IntechOpen | Discretionary hardship waivers | Case by case | Case by case, on application | intechopen.com ↗ |
| Cell Press | Research4Life | Every author | Applied automatically from the affiliation | cell.com ↗ |
| Thieme | Research4Life, Discretionary hardship waivers | Corresponding author only | Applied automatically from the affiliation | thieme.com ↗ |
| SCIRP | World Bank income groups | First and corresponding author | Applied automatically from the affiliation | scirp.org ↗ |
| IOP Publishing | World Bank income groups, Research4Life | Corresponding author + majority | Applied automatically from the affiliation | publishingsupport.iopscience.iop.org ↗ |
| AIP Publishing | Research4Life, World Bank income groups | Corresponding author only | Applied automatically from the affiliation | publishing.aip.org ↗ |
| American Physical Society | Publisher country lists | Submitting author only | Applied automatically from the affiliation | aps.org ↗ |
| Optica Publishing Group | Publisher country lists | Corresponding author only | Applied automatically from the affiliation | opg.optica.org ↗ |
| SPIE | Research4Life | Case by case | Not documented | medicalimaging.spiedigitallibrary.org ↗ |
| ACM | Research4Life, EIFL agreements, World Bank income groups, Institutional and read & publish deals, National agreements (ONOS India) | Corresponding author only | Applied automatically from the affiliation | acm.org ↗ |
| IET | Research4Life, Publisher country lists | Half of all authors | Applied automatically from the affiliation | theiet.org ↗ |
| ASCE | Own 'Qualifying Countries for Open Access Waiver Eligibility' list (ASCE OPEN, PDF dated 12/28/2022) | Case by case | Not documented | ascelibrary.org ↗ |
| SIAM | No APC waiver policy found; mainly subscription journals | Case by case | Not documented | epubs.siam.org ↗ |
| American Mathematical Society | Institutional and read & publish deals | Case by case | No country waiver scheme | ams.org ↗ |
| The Electrochemical Society | Institutional and read & publish deals | Case by case | No country waiver scheme | electrochem.org ↗ |
| Science Advances (AAAS) | Research4Life, Discretionary hardship waivers | Corresponding author only | Applied automatically from the affiliation | science.org ↗ |
| PNAS | NA | Case by case | Not documented | pnas.org ↗ |
| The Royal Society | Publisher country lists, Discretionary hardship waivers | Corresponding author only | Applied automatically from the affiliation | royalsociety.org ↗ |
| eLife | Discretionary hardship waivers | Case by case | Case by case, on application | elifesciences.org ↗ |
| PeerJ | World Bank income groups | Corresponding author only | Must be requested, usually at submission | peerj.com ↗ |
| BMJ | Publisher country lists, Research4Life, Discretionary hardship waivers | Every author | Must be requested, usually at submission | authors.bmj.com ↗ |
| JMIR Publications | World Bank income groups | Every author | Must be requested, usually at submission | support.jmir.org ↗ |
| Dove Medical Press | World Bank income groups, Discretionary hardship waivers | Every author | Applied automatically from the affiliation | dovepress.com ↗ |
| Spandidos Publications | Institutional Gold Membership; some journals free to publish; no country waiver found | Case by case | Not documented | spandidos-publications.com ↗ |
| Mary Ann Liebert | Liebert open access pages redirect to Sage; Sage Research4Life Group A automatic full waiver (applicability to Liebert unverified) | Case by case | Not documented | sagepub.com ↗ |
| American Society for Microbiology | Research4Life, No APC (diamond and Subscribe to Open), Discretionary hardship waivers | Corresponding author only | Applied automatically from the affiliation | journals.asm.org ↗ |
| EMBO Press | Country-tiered APC pricing | Corresponding author only | Applied automatically from the affiliation | springernature.com ↗ |
| The Company of Biologists | EIFL agreements, Institutional and read & publish deals | Corresponding author only | Applied automatically from the affiliation | biologists.com ↗ |
| Portland Press | Research4Life, Institutional and read & publish deals | Corresponding author only | Applied automatically from the affiliation | portlandpress.com ↗ |
| Microbiology Society | Research4Life, EIFL agreements | Corresponding author only | Applied automatically from the affiliation | microbiologyresearch.org ↗ |
| Rockefeller University Press | Publisher country lists | Corresponding author only | Applied automatically from the affiliation | rupress.org ↗ |
| Ubiquity Press | Discretionary hardship waivers | Case by case | Case by case, on application | ubiquitypress.com ↗ |
| AIMS Press | No publisher-wide waiver policy found; some titles fully waive fees | Case by case | Not documented | aimspress.com ↗ |
| KeAi | Research4Life, No APC (diamond and Subscribe to Open), Discretionary hardship waivers | Corresponding author only | Applied automatically from the affiliation | keaipublishing.com ↗ |
| Tsinghua University Press | Discretionary hardship waivers | Case by case | Case by case, on application | sciopen.com ↗ |
| Bioscientifica | Research4Life | Case by case | Must be requested, usually at submission | bioscientifica.com ↗ |
| Annual Reviews | No APC (diamond and Subscribe to Open) | Case by case | No APC is charged | annualreviews.org ↗ |
| Edward Elgar Publishing | EIFL agreements | Corresponding author only | Must be requested, usually at submission | eifl.net ↗ |
| Bristol University Press | UN HDI-based discounts (Low HDI 100%, Medium HDI 50%); 20% for subscribing institutions | Case by case | Not documented | bristoluniversitypress.co.uk ↗ |
| University of California Press | Research4Life, Discretionary hardship waivers | Corresponding author only | Applied automatically from the affiliation | online.ucpress.edu ↗ |
| Sciendo | Per-journal fees agreed with owning societies; no Sciendo-wide waiver found | Case by case | Not documented | sciendo.com ↗ |
| Begell House | NA | Case by case | Not documented | begellhouse.com ↗ |
| Science Publishing Group | Institutional and read & publish deals | Case by case | No country waiver scheme | sciencepublishinggroup.com ↗ |
| Medknow | No APC (diamond and Subscribe to Open), National agreements (ONOS India) | Case by case | No APC is charged | wolterskluwer.com ↗ |
Journal-level waiver rules
Some journals run their own scheme, different from their publisher's. Others are listed here only because authors search for them by name; they follow their publisher's list. The country list column shows exactly which list each journal uses, so a Research4Life-based rule is not confused with a World Bank or publisher list.
| Journal | Own scheme or publisher's | Country list used | What it gives | Whose affiliation counts | Official source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PLOS ONE | Own scheme publisher: PLOS | Research4Life | PLOS's own Research4Life fee assistance: free for Group A and USD 940 for Group B (instead of USD 2,477), both only for research without external funding; otherwise need-based fee assistance | Not stated by the journal | plos.org ↗ |
| F1000Research | Own scheme | F1000Research | 100% waiver for low-income and 50% for lower-middle income countries, by the submitting author | Submitting author only | f1000research.com ↗ |
| Scientific Reports | Follows Springer Nature | Springer Nature | Springer Nature's waiver list applies: 100% for low-income and 50% for lower-middle income countries | Corresponding author only | springernature.com ↗ |
| Cureus | Own scheme publisher: Springer Nature | No APC | No universal APC; a paid editing service is required only for some papers | Case by case | cureus.com ↗ |
| Lancet open access journals | Own scheme publisher: Elsevier | Research4Life | Exempt from payment when the main funder, or for unfunded work the majority of authors' institutions, is in a Research4Life country | Majority of institutions | thelancet.com ↗ |
| Heliyon | Own scheme publisher: Cell Press | Research4Life | Heliyon's own discount on request: 100% for authors from Research4Life Group A countries and 50% for Group B, only for research without funding for the APC | Not stated by the journal | cell.com ↗ |
| Springer Nature Discover journals | Follows Springer Nature | Springer Nature | Discover journals follow Springer Nature's waiver list: 100% for low-income and 50% for lower-middle income countries | Corresponding author only | springernature.com ↗ |
| IEEE Access | Follows IEEE | IEEE | IEEE's discount by World Bank income group (100%, 50% or 25%), only when every author is in an eligible country | Every author | open.ieee.org ↗ |
| BMC journals with country-tiered pricing | Own scheme publisher: BioMed Central (BMC) | Springer Nature tiered-pricing | Sixty BMC journals in Springer Nature's pilot set the APC by the corresponding author's country: the paper pays 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% or 100% of the list price | Corresponding author only | springernature.com ↗ |
For any other journal, open its page in the Journal Directory: each journal page shows the waiver of its publisher and a quick check for your country.
Frequently asked questions
What is an APC waiver?
An article processing charge (APC) waiver means the open access journal does not charge you the publication fee, fully or partly. Publishers grant it mainly by the country where the authors are affiliated, using lists such as Research4Life or the World Bank income groups, and sometimes case by case for financial hardship.
Does my nationality or my affiliation decide the waiver?
Your affiliation. Every publisher we checked uses the country of the institution you work or study at, as written on the manuscript. A researcher from an eligible country working abroad does not qualify, and a foreign researcher working in an eligible country usually does.
Do co-authors from other countries cancel the waiver?
It depends on the publisher. At many publishers only the corresponding author's affiliation counts. Others need at least half of the authors, or every author, to be in eligible countries; there, one co-author from a high-income country can remove the waiver. The checker applies the rule of the publisher you enter.
Are APC waivers available in hybrid journals?
Usually not. Waivers apply to fully open access journals. In a hybrid journal you can publish without any fee through the subscription route, and share the accepted manuscript under the journal's self-archiving policy.
When should I ask for the waiver?
At submission. Publishers that apply it automatically read your affiliation, but many require a request when you submit, and some refuse requests made during review or after acceptance.
Which country lists do publishers use?
Mostly the Research4Life Group A and Group B lists, the World Bank low and lower-middle income groups (sometimes with a GDP limit), EIFL agreements, or a list the publisher edits itself. The lists are updated every year, so a country can move between groups.