Open access, unequal access: why publication fee waivers still exclude many researchers | BMJ Global Health

"Summary 

• Article processing charges (APCs) have moved the cost of publishing from institutions to individual researchers, creating new financial barriers for those without institutional or national support.

• World Bank income classification is widely used to determine APC waiver and discount eligibility but we argue that it is an unsuitable basis for publication-fee support.

• Researchers in some upper-middle-income and high-income countries with low research investment and structural vulnerability face barriers similar to those in low-income settings, but they remain excluded from waiver schemes.

• Journal editors, funders and policymakers should adopt multi-criterion eligibility, including research and development (R&D) expenditure, structural vulnerability, lead-researcher affiliation and authorship contribution verification and extend institutional Read-and-Publish agreements to under-resourced settings."