In keeping with our role as the UK's national academy of science, we fund open access where there is a cost barrier for authors. Our Royal Society Open Access Equity scheme supports tens of thousands of eligible researchers in over 100 low- and middle-income countries and territories by providing:
We already offer free open access publication to researchers from low- and medium-income countries and territories on Open Biology and Royal Society Open Science. From 1 August 2023 we will extend this to all our optional open access journals to share the benefits of open access.
Corresponding authors at institutions in the countries and territories listed below will be eligible based on the submission date. This is applicable for papers first submitted after 31 July 2023. No application is required and authors will be automatically recognised as eligible for open access publishing once their paper has been accepted with no direct cost to them or their institution. Please ensure that you select the open access option when prompted if you wish to benefit from this.
All original research, including research articles, review articles, rapid communications, brief reports, and case reports are eligible.
A full list of countries and territories with free access and/or automatic APC waivers follows. If your country is not listed, you will still be able to access some Royal Society journal content for free or be eligible for a discretionary waiver in our fully open access journals.
Country or territory | Eligible for automatic APC waivers | Eligible to access all journal articles free |
Afghanistan | Yes | N/A |
Albania | Yes | Yes |
Angola | Yes | Yes |
Armenia | Yes | Yes |
Azerbaijan | Yes | N/A |
Bangladesh | Yes | Yes |
Belize | Yes | Yes |
Benin | Yes | Yes |
Bhutan | Yes | Yes |
Bolivia, Plurinational State of | Yes | Yes |
Botswana | Yes | N/A |
Burkina Faso | Yes | Yes |
Burundi | Yes | Yes |
Cabo Verde | Yes | Yes |
Cambodia | Yes | Yes |
Cameroon | Yes | Yes |
Central African Republic | Yes | Yes |
Chad | Yes | Yes |
Comoros | Yes | Yes |
Congo | Yes | Yes |
Congo, the Democratic Republic of the | Yes | Yes |
Cook Islands | Yes | Yes |
Côte d'Ivoire | Yes | Yes |
Cuba | Yes | Yes |
Djibouti | Yes | Yes |
Dominica | Yes | Yes |
El Salvador | Yes | Yes |
Equatorial Guinea | Yes | Yes |
Eritrea | Yes | Yes |
Eswatini formerly Swaziland | Yes | Yes |
Ethiopia | Yes | Yes |
Fiji | Yes | N/A |
Gabon | Yes | Yes |
Gambia | Yes | Yes |
Georgia | Yes | Yes |
Ghana | Yes | Yes |
Grenada | Yes | Yes |
Guatemala | Yes | Yes |
Guinea | Yes | Yes |
Guinea-Bissau | Yes | Yes |
Guyana | Yes | Yes |
Haiti | Yes | Yes |
Honduras | Yes | Yes |
Iraq | Yes | Yes |
Kenya | Yes | Yes |
Kiribati | Yes | Yes |
Korea, Democratic People's Republic of | Yes | Yes |
Kosovo | Yes | N/A |
Kyrgyzstan | Yes | Yes |
Lao People's Democratic Republic | Yes | Yes |
Lebanon | Yes | Yes |
Lesotho | Yes | Yes |
Liberia | Yes | Yes |
Madagascar | Yes | Yes |
Malawi | Yes | Yes |
Maldives | Yes | Yes |
Mali | Yes | Yes |
Marshall Islands | Yes | Yes |
Mauritania | Yes | Yes |
Micronesia | Yes | Yes |
Moldova, Republic of | Yes | Yes |
Mongolia | Yes | Yes |
Mozambique | Yes | Yes |
Myanmar | Yes | Yes |
Nauru | Yes | Yes |
Nepal | Yes | Yes |
Nicaragua | Yes | Yes |
Niger | Yes | Yes |
Nigeria | Yes | Yes |
Niue | Yes | Yes |
North Macedonia | Yes | N/A |
Palau | Yes |
Yes |
Palestine, Occupied Territories | Yes | Yes |
Papua New Guinea | Yes | Yes |
Paraguay | Yes | Yes |
Rwanda | Yes | Yes |
Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha | Yes | Yes |
Saint Kitts and Nevis | Yes | Yes |
Saint Lucia | Yes | Yes |
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | Yes | Yes |
Samoa | Yes | Yes |
Sao Tome and Principe | Yes | Yes |
Serbia | Yes | N/A |
Senegal | Yes | Yes |
Sierra Leone | Yes | Yes |
Solomon Islands | Yes | Yes |
Somalia | Yes | Yes |
South Sudan | Yes | Yes |
Sudan | Yes | Yes |
Suriname | Yes | Yes |
Syrian Arab Republic | Yes | Yes |
Tajikistan | Yes | Yes |
Tanzania, United Republic of | Yes | Yes |
Timor-Leste | Yes | Yes |
Togo | Yes | Yes |
Tokelau | Yes | Yes |
Tonga | Yes | Yes |
Tunisia | Yes | Yes |
Tuvalu | Yes | Yes |
Uganda | Yes | Yes |
Ukraine | Yes | Yes |
Uzbekistan | Yes | Yes |
Vanuatu | Yes | Yes |
Viet Nam | Yes | Yes |
Yemen | Yes | Yes |
Zambia | Yes | Yes |
Zimbabwe | Yes | Yes |
We support researchers in over 100 low- and middle-income countries and territories by partnering with a number of international schemes.