The waiver application process is not managed by the journal’s academic editors. It is separate from and not influenced by any scientific evaluations made of manuscripts during the peer-review process. Being granted a waiver does not guarantee publication in the journal.

Waiver Policy for Open Access Journals

The waiver policy for NSO’s Open Access journals, updated from time to time, applies to the corresponding author only.

The corresponding author of a submitted manuscript is required to take responsibility to ensure they have financial support for article publication charges (APCs), especially if Open Access (OA) publication is mandated by their governments or funders, or their institutions or departments. In many cases where OA mandates exist, APCs will be covered by the mandating authority. We do recognise that in some cases work suitable to be submitted to the journal was not externally funded or that national or institutional/departmental support may not be available to pay the APCs. In such cases, the Corresponding Author may apply before submission for an internal waiver.

NSO-funded Internal Waivers

NSO’s Open Access journals are meant to be an outlet for bird-related research from all parts of the globe. An increasing proportion of our authors are covered by agreements with our publisher Wiley, allowing them to publish in our Open Access journals with no direct cost. Internal waivers are primarily intended for unfunded corresponding authors from the global south who are not listed as group A or B countries under the Research4Life initiative, as outlined below. Unfunded corresponding authors from the global north may be given waivers under certain circumstances, for example, if they are early career or post-doctoral scientists without institutional employment. Authors in this situation must document that national or institutional support for OA and APCs is unavailable.

Corresponding authors can request an internal waiver by writing to the editorial office of the appropriate journal (Journal of Avian Biology, Nordic Journal of Botany, Wildlife Ecology, Ecography) [LINKS TO CONTACT PAGES] BEFORE SUBMISSION, providing a list of the authors, their research affiliation and a brief statement about why they request a waiver. We aim to respond to requests for waivers within one working week. If granted a waiver, authors will receive instructions about how to submit their paper in the submission system. Informal inquiries about eligibility can be made at any time.

Important points about internal waivers:

• Note that the decision for a waiver is independent from the editorial process. This is why a request for a waiver must be made BEFORE a manuscript is submitted. Being granted a waiver does not guarantee that your paper will be accepted for publication. Waived manuscripts will go through the normal peer review process like any other submission.

• The number of the internal waivers is limited, and they will be given at a first come, first served basis. Thus, waivers are subject to availability.

• Authors cannot book a waiver. Do not request a waiver unless your paper is ready for submission. Authors given a waiver should submit their work within one week from the date the waiver has been given. 

• Internal waivers are primarily intended for researchers from the global south. Researchers from low high-income countries are unlikely to receive a waiver (exceptions may be early career researchers).

Automatic Waivers and Discounts

Wiley, inclusive of society partner journals such as ours, is a supporter of Research4Life and offers automatic APC waivers or discounts to members of low and middle-income countries. Group A countries are entitled to a full waiver whereas group B countries are entitled to a 50% reduction on the APC. The list is updated annually and corresponding authors intending to submit to the journal are advised to check the list prior to submission.

OAPPP is a pilot program for authors based in 33 countries across the Latin America region. The program discounts APCs in fully open access journals based on the Purchasing Power Index (PPI) value of each participating country.

Learn more about OAPPP, and automatic waivers and discounts, here.

Waivers and Discounts in Practice

Requests for internal waivers must be made before submission to the editorial office of the journal. Applications for internal waivers that are made after submission, i.e., during peer review or after acceptance, will not be considered.

Waivers and discounts that fall under the Research4Life programme are allocated during the submission process when corresponding authors are located in one of the listed countries and applied upon acceptance of the article.

APC discounts are exclusive of each other and cannot be accumulated; the single highest discount applies.

Articles that acknowledge funding from a funder with an open access mandate or policy that covers paying APCs are not eligible for waivers.

More questions?

See FAQs for each journal: Journal of Avian Biology, Wildlife Biology, Nordic Journal of Botany [NO PAGE YET), Ecography (NO FAQS; SHOULD IT LOOK LIKE THE OTHERS?)