UN least developed countries
The United Nations maintains a list of least developed countries based on income, human assets and economic vulnerability. Appearing on it is one of the conditions that qualifies a country for Research4Life Group A, and therefore, indirectly, for full APC waivers at several publishers.
Checked 1 August 2026
How it works
How it enters waiver eligibility
Research4Life Group A criteria include being listed as a UN least developed country. A country meeting only that condition still qualifies for Group A, and publishers following Research4Life then apply their full waiver tier to it.
Graduation changes eligibility
Countries leave the list when they meet graduation thresholds. Because the list feeds Research4Life, which feeds publisher policy, a graduation can eventually remove a waiver several steps downstream, without the publisher announcing anything.
Not used directly by publishers
No publisher checked here applies the UN list on its own. It matters through Research4Life rather than in its own right.