Who qualifies for an Elsevier APC waiver?
Authors from 69 countries (Research4Life Group A) receive a 100% waiver on APCs at Elsevier's fully open access journals. Authors from 57 more (Group B) receive 50%. Waivers apply automatically at submission when all authors qualify. Hybrid journals are excluded. Since 2024, some journals use geographical pricing instead, which supersedes the waiver. Elsevier is strict on attribution: all author groups must qualify. A single co-author from a high-income country reduces the waiver from 100% to 50%, or removes it — stricter than Wiley or Taylor & Francis.
Detail
The two groups
Group A is roughly Research4Life's Group A — 69 of the world's lowest-income economies, plus some countries qualifying through the UN least-developed-country list. Group B is broader — 57 countries with lower-middle incomes.
All authors must qualify
Elsevier applies waivers only when every author group is based in an eligible country. A single co-author from a high-income country reduces the waiver from 100% to 50%, or removes it entirely — this is stricter than Wiley or Taylor & Francis, which look only at the corresponding author.
Hybrid journals are excluded
The waiver applies only to Elsevier's fully open access journals. For hybrid titles, authors from eligible countries pay the full APC or use the free subscription route.
GPOA changes the calculation
Geographical Pricing for Open Access — a pilot that adjusts APCs by author country for a list of fully open access journals. On journals in the pilot, this supersedes the waiver scheme for corresponding authors in low- and lower-middle-income countries. If your target journal is in the pilot, check what the personalised price is before assuming the waiver applies.
How to apply
Nothing to apply for. Enter your affiliation correctly at submission. Elsevier's system checks the country and applies the waiver automatically at production.