The Royal Society APC Waiver and Discount Policy: Who Qualifies and How to Apply

At a glanceAutomatic waiver for corresponding authors in countries on its Open Access Equity list. Corresponding author only Applied automatically from the affiliation

Check The Royal Society's waiver for your author team

Co-authors (where they work)

Only the country is needed: without a journal you get every publisher's result for your author team. Free. No sign-up. Uses the publishers' published rules, last verified 27 October 2026.

Which countries qualify at The Royal Society

Countries are matched by the author's institutional affiliation, not nationality.

100% waiver 107 countries Royal Society Open Access Equity list

Afghanistan, Albania, Angola, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belau, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo (Brazzaville), Congo (Kinshasa), Cook Islands, Cuba, Djibouti, Dominica, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Iraq, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Kiribati, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Maldives, Mali, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Micronesia, Moldova, Mongolia, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nauru, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Niue, North Korea, North Macedonia, Palestinian Territory, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Rwanda, Saint Helena, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Senegal, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Suriname, Syria, São Tomé and Príncipe, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tokelau, Tonga, Tunisia, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Co-authors from other countries

Only the corresponding author's affiliation counts. Co-authors from other countries do not change the waiver.

Corresponding authors at institutions in listed countries publish open access 'with no direct cost to them or their institution'

How to get the waiver

Automatic, recognised at acceptance.

Programmes: Own 'Open Access Equity' country list: automatic APC waiver; discretionary waivers in fully open access journals; Research4Life supporter.

Official sources: royalsociety.org ↗

The Royal Society journals on ScholarsColab

Each journal page shows its indexing, impact factor, review time, reviewer comments and this waiver.

BMJSpringer NatureSAGEOxford University PressCambridge University PressPLOSBioMed Central (BMC)Copernicus PublicationsMIT PressThiemeOptica Publishing GroupScience Advances (AAAS)

Schemes used: Publisher country lists, Discretionary hardship waivers. All publishers and schemes →

Frequently asked questions

Does The Royal Society offer APC waivers?

Automatic waiver for corresponding authors in countries on its Open Access Equity list. Applied automatically from the affiliation.

Who gets a full APC waiver at The Royal Society?

Authors affiliated in 107 countries qualify for a 100% waiver. Only the corresponding author's affiliation counts. Co-authors from other countries do not change the waiver.

Does the The Royal Society waiver apply if my co-authors are from other countries?

Only the corresponding author's affiliation counts. Co-authors from other countries do not change the waiver.

How do I apply for an APC waiver at The Royal Society?

Automatic, recognised at acceptance.

Before you submit

Source, method and date. Each publisher's rule was read from its official waiver page (linked on every row) and the country lists from Research4Life, EIFL, the World Bank income classification and the publishers' own lists. Last verified: 27 October 2026. Policies change, Research4Life updates its lists every January and the World Bank every July, and some waivers are temporary or decided case by case. The checker reads the published rules; it cannot promise a waiver. Confirm on the publisher's page before you submit. ScholarsColab is not affiliated with any publisher listed here; logos are trademarks of their owners, shown only to name the publishers whose rules we read.

Confidence of this entry: High.