Waiver Policy
Our Commitment
Ability to pay should never determine whether sound, ethically conducted research reaches publication. Research Pillars Publishing offers Article Processing Charge (APC) waivers and discounts to eligible authors across all its journals, administered separately from editorial decision-making at every stage.
Who Is Eligible
Waivers are considered, on a case-by-case basis, for:
· Corresponding authors based in low- and lower-middle-income countries, as classified by the current World Bank country income classification.
· Documented financial hardship, including authors without institutional or funder support, independent researchers, students, and early-career researchers, assessed individually on the evidence provided.
· Other circumstances the editorial office deems to warrant support, evaluated at its discretion.
Where a manuscript has multiple authors, the corresponding author's eligibility determines whether the waiver applies to that submission.
What Is Not Covered
A waiver applies to the APC only. It does not extend to optional services requested by the author, such as expedited processing or professional language editing, where these are offered.
When and How to Apply
· Waiver requests should be submitted at the time of manuscript submission, using the designated waiver request field or a separate communication to the editorial office, never after acceptance, and never as a condition attached to the manuscript file itself.
· Requests should briefly state the basis for eligibility (e.g., country of affiliation, funding status, institutional support).
· The individual journal's submission page will confirm any journal-specific waiver request process; where a journal has none of its own, this publisher-level policy applies.
Keeping Waivers Separate from Peer Review
Following COPE's Guidelines on Author Fees and Waivers, Research Pillars Publishing keeps waiver administration structurally separate from the review process:
· Waiver requests are recorded and assessed by editorial office staff who are not involved in peer review or the editorial acceptance decision.
· Peer reviewers and handling editors are never informed whether a waiver has been requested, granted, or declined for a manuscript they are assessing.
· Acceptance or rejection is decided solely on scientific merit, originality, and fit with journal scope-the waiver decision has no bearing on it and is only acted upon after a manuscript is provisionally accepted.
Avoiding Bias in Waiver Decisions
To minimize the risk of waivers introducing inconsistency or favoritism, Research Pillars Publishing applies eligibility criteria uniformly across submissions and reviews its waiver criteria periodically to ensure they remain fair, current, and consistently applied across all its journals.
Notification and Confidentiality
Authors are notified of the waiver decision separately from, and without reference to, the peer review outcome. Waiver status is kept confidential and is not disclosed to reviewers, other authors, or third parties.
Transparency Statement
This Waiver Policy, which is eligible, which author's status applies, and how and when to apply, is published here in line with COPE/DOAJ/OASPA/WAME transparency requirements for author fee waivers and is available for review as part of our indexing applications, including to Scopus's Content Selection and Advisory Board.
Questions about waiver eligibility or an existing request: editor@researchpillars.org