Countries
Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo (Kinshasa), Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, North Korea, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Uganda, Yemen
Angola, Bangladesh, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Cambodia, Cameroon, Comoros, Congo (Brazzaville), Djibouti, Egypt, Eswatini, Ghana, Guinea, Haiti, Honduras, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Lesotho, Mauritania, Morocco, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestinian Territory, Papua New Guinea, Senegal, Solomon Islands, São Tomé and Príncipe, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tunisia, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Zambia, Zimbabwe
Albania, Algeria, Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belize, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Cape Verde, China, Colombia, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Fiji, Gabon, Georgia, Grenada, Guatemala, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Serbia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Thailand, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Türkiye, Ukraine, Vietnam
Source: datahelpdesk.worldbank.org ↗. Each publisher may use its own version of these groups; the publisher pages below show the exact list each one uses.
Check your author team
Publishers and journals using this scheme
| Publisher or journal | What it gives | Whose affiliation counts | Official source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Springer Nature | 100% waiver for low-income countries and 50% for lower-middle income countries (World Bank list with a GDP limit), on request at submission | Corresponding author only | springernature.com ↗ |
| Taylor & Francis | 100% waiver for low-income and 50% for lower-middle income countries (World Bank list with a GDP limit), on request | Corresponding author only | authorservices.taylorandfrancis.com ↗ |
| IEEE | 100%, 50% or 25% discount by World Bank income group, only when every author is in an eligible country | Every author | open.ieee.org ↗ |
| American Chemical Society | No charge for World Bank low-income countries and a reduced price for lower-middle income countries | Corresponding author only | acsopenscience.org ↗ |
| BioMed Central (BMC) | BMC follows Springer Nature's waiver list: 100% for low-income and 50% for lower-middle income countries | Corresponding author only | springernature.com ↗ |
| Emerald Publishing | Automatic 100% waiver for low-income and 50% for lower-middle income countries (World Bank FY2023 list) | Corresponding author only | emeraldgrouppublishing.com ↗ |
| De Gruyter Brill | Automatic 80% discount for World Bank low-income and 30% for lower-middle income countries | Corresponding author only | degruyterbrill.com ↗ |
| Karger | Waiver or discount for low and lower-middle income countries; percentages are not published | Corresponding author only | karger.com ↗ |
| Bentham Science | 50% discount for corresponding authors in countries on Bentham's low-income list | Corresponding author only | benthamscience.com ↗ |
| SCIRP | Reductions for low and middle income countries, shown on the invoice; percentages not published | First and corresponding author | scirp.org ↗ |
| IOP Publishing | 100%, 70% or 30% discount by World Bank income group (2026 pilot), automatic when all authors are eligible | Corresponding author + majority | publishingsupport.iopscience.iop.org ↗ |
| AIP Publishing | Full waiver for its Group A countries and a reduced APC for Group B countries | Corresponding author only | publishing.aip.org ↗ |
| ACM | 100% waiver for authors in EIFL and Research4Life countries, plus hardship waivers and ACM Open institutional coverage | Corresponding author only | acm.org ↗ |
| PeerJ | Waiver on request for World Bank low-income countries only | Corresponding author only | peerj.com ↗ |
| F1000Research journal | 100% waiver for low-income and 50% for lower-middle income countries, by the submitting author | Submitting author only | f1000research.com ↗ |
| JMIR Publications | Discounts for low and lower-middle income authors only when every author is eligible; full waivers rare | Every author | support.jmir.org ↗ |
| Dove Medical Press | 100% for low-income and 50% for lower-middle income countries, only when every author is eligible | Every author | dovepress.com ↗ |
| Scientific Reports journal | Springer Nature's waiver list applies: 100% for low-income and 50% for lower-middle income countries | Corresponding author only | springernature.com ↗ |
| Springer Nature Discover journals journal | 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 journal | 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 ↗ |
Other schemes: Research4Life, EIFL agreements, Publisher country lists, Country-tiered APC pricing, National agreements (ONOS India), No APC (diamond and Subscribe to Open), Discretionary hardship waivers, Institutional and read & publish deals. APC waiver checker →
Frequently asked questions
What is World Bank income groups?
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.
Which publishers use World Bank income groups for APC waivers?
Among the publishers we checked: Springer Nature, Taylor & Francis, IEEE, American Chemical Society, BioMed Central (BMC), Emerald Publishing, De Gruyter Brill, Karger, Bentham Science, SCIRP, IOP Publishing, AIP Publishing, ACM, PeerJ, F1000Research, JMIR Publications, Dove Medical Press, Scientific Reports, Springer Nature Discover journals, IEEE Access. Each one decides its own percentages and co-author rule.
Does being on the list guarantee a waiver?
No. The list decides which countries can qualify; each publisher then applies its own rule on whose affiliation counts, on funding and on journal type. Check the publisher page and confirm with the journal before submitting.