Publisher
ACM — publication fee waivers
ACM is unusually direct about the discretionary route: it states that such waivers are rare, and that simply writing to say you cannot pay is typically not enough. For 2026 conference articles outside ACM Open, ACM is running a temporary subsidy — $250 per article where a named co-author is an ACM or SIG member, $350 where none is, against list prices of $700 and $1,000. Geographic discounts apply on top of the subsidised rate.
Policy checked 1 August 2026
The policy in full
| Classification used | ACM agreements with EIFL and Research4Life, plus the World Bank list of economies |
|---|---|
| Full waiver | Countries covered by ACM's EIFL and Research4Life agreements — 100% |
| Partial discount | Lower-middle-income countries on the World Bank list — 50%, unless the country already gets 100% through EIFL or Research4Life |
| Which author counts | Author location; ACM Open institutional licences are applied first |
| Hybrid journals | Not stated |
| How it is applied | Automatic for geographic waivers; discretionary route on request |
| When | Checked against ACM Open participation and the geographic policy at publication |
| Scope | From 1 January 2026 all ACM publications are fully open access |
Country list
This publisher states the rule but does not publish a single consolidated country list we could verify. We record the rule and link to the source rather than infer which countries it covers. If you know of a published list, tell us.