Public library of Science (plos) fee waivers

"Over the last few years I’ve published quite a few papers in PLoS journals. In almost all cases I have been lucky enough to receive a complete or partial fee waiver because I’ve had almost no grant support for the last ten years. I have been very grateful for this support. Unfortunately times have changed. Previously you simply had to assert that you did not have the funds to pay the publication charge and you were granted waiver. Now you to prove that you don’t have the funds and this includes proving that you cannot personally pay the publication fee – this requires you to submit back statements and explain where your money is being spent. I was quite shocked when I found this out recently (and if you don’t believe me, see the attached email exchange below). Besides the obvious invasion of privacy, I have to ask myself whether the paper, which I want to publish, is worth the £650 ($1000) that I would need to get it into print (assuming of course that it gets accepted)? Why am I publishing it anyway? Is it to advance science or simply the careers of me and my co-authors? If it is the latter then it seems reasonable for me to pay, but if it is an attempt to advance science and knowledge then I’m not so sure I should be paying. And yes, I could pay for this paper to be published, but I couldn’t pay for every paper I write; this would amount to several thousand pounds/dollars a year, which would comprise a serious chunk of my salary. This policy, of expecting an author to pay, seems contrary to the original PLoS One policy of publishing all science and could distort the science that is being published ..."