Checklist

Before you submit: a one-page fee checklist

Seven things to confirm before you press submit, in the order that costs the most to get wrong. Print this page or save it as PDF.

Data last checked: 14 October 2026

  1. Who is the corresponding author? At Wiley, Taylor & Francis, Springer Nature, SAGE, OUP, CUP and MDPI the corresponding author’s country at submission decides the waiver. A co-author abroad does not help, and the wrong person in that role can cost the whole discount. At Elsevier all authors must sit in the same group. Which author counts
  2. Is a waiver requested, or automatic? At some publishers (Taylor & Francis, Springer Nature) it must be requested at submission; after acceptance it is too late. Waiver check
  3. Is the journal fully open access or hybrid? Waivers almost always apply to fully open access journals only. In a hybrid journal the subscription route has no author charge.
  4. Is there a fee before acceptance? Some journals charge a submission fee that is not refunded, or page and colour charges. Check the journal’s own “for authors” page. Journals by country
  5. Does your university have a read-and-publish agreement with this publisher? Ask the library before you pay. Select the institution at submission or the agreement will not be applied. Read-and-publish agreements
  6. Which price applies and in what currency? The list price on the day of submission or acceptance, excluding VAT. Keep a copy of the page with its date.
  7. Who pays and who gets the invoice? Ask your accounts office what the invoice must show (institution name, address, VAT number) before the publisher issues it in your name.

This checklist is general. For a specific paper, journal and author list we check it against the publisher’s current page, free during the pilot.

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