JMIR Publications Article Processing Fee (APF) Support Policy: Can you waive or discount the fees for me? – JMIR Publications - Support - KB

The following policy applies for all APF support requests received after January 31, 2023.

JMIR Publications APF Support Policy

JMIR Publications adheres to Plan S guidance on publisher policies regarding article processing fee (APF) Support requests from authors (in the form of a discount or waiver request). Authors are requested to carefully read this APF Support policy in full before applying for a discount or waiver.

APF support requests from authors affiliated with institutions in or residing in low-income economies or lower middle-income economies will be reviewed for eligibility. APF full waivers are only considered in situations where all authors are affiliated with institutions or reside in a country with low-income economy. APF discounts are only considered in situations where all authors are affiliated with institutions or reside in a country with low-middle income economy. We currently are unable to provide full waivers for authors of lower-middle income or upper-middle income economies. APF discounts may be possible with a cap on the discount offered. Additionally, APF support is unable to be provided when authors are affiliated with institutions in high-income countries are a part of the author team.

Authors can apply for APF support using this application form. This form also assists authors in identifying potential sources of funding or APF support for Open Access publishing. This includes information about institutional open access agreements, institutional partnerships with JMIR Publications, and additional possible sources of APF support. No requests for APF Support by email or other communications will be considered. All applications must be submitted using this application form.

Authors should consider the following when applying for APF support:

Complete this application as early as possible when preparing to submit the manuscript, or immediately upon submission of the manuscript.
Submit one application per manuscript per APF support request.
Requests for APF support can only be made by completing and submitting the application form. Requests received via email or through other communications will not be considered.

A discount can be an amount (in USD) or percentage of the APF that would be provided as APF support by JMIR Publications. A waiver is equivalent to a discount of 100%. Note that full waivers are granted in exceptional cases. Discounts are more commonly provided.

Information provided in this application form will be reviewed by JMIR Publications staff to determine if a manuscript may be eligible for an APF discount or waiver. JMIR Publications staff may request authors to provide additional supporting information regarding the APF support requested.

Requests for discounts or waivers are assessed by JMIR Publications staff and not by academic editors. Please do not contact editors regarding waivers or discounts as they will not be able to assist. The outcome of an APF discount or waiver request would not influence an editorial decision and should not be considered an indication that a manuscript will be accepted. APF discounts or waivers are not transferable and our policy allows for the application of a single discount per article processing fee.

To submit an application for APF support, please complete this form.

If APF support is provided, then an Acknowledgement will be appended to the manuscript during production (only if and after the manuscript is accepted) that states that JMIR Publications has provided APF support for publication of the work.

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General Considerations

JMIR Publications is not a funding agency. We ask authors to exhaust all possible avenues to obtain external funding to cover the publication costs. External funding options can include, but may not be limited only to: grant agency funding, institutional or university open access (OA) funding, industry or commercial funding, among many other options that may be accessible to authors.

JMIR Publications aims to publish widely indexed, carefully copyedited, high-quality manuscripts, that are also deposited in repositories such as PubMed Central. Publication of an accepted paper requires expensive production steps such as copyediting, reference checking and XML tagging. In the editing and production stage, JMIR Publications employs professional full-time staff and freelancers, including copyeditors (most journals do not include copyediting). To defray these costs (and because we do not sell subscriptions like toll-access journals) we require certain fees to be paid as APFs. An APF applies only in case of acceptance, and (optionally) a fast-track fee for expedited review.

Authors are encouraged to review the resources listed here to see what may apply to their situation before submitting an APF support application:

Skip to the following sections below for more information that may be relevant for some authors
Additional links for possible external funding for APF support: I don't have any grant money - how can I publish in JMIR? Authors should consider the following:
- Determine if you can submit/publish your protocol manuscript to JMIR Research Protocols or formative work to JMIR Formative Research first. In addition to giving you extra visibility and accountability for your research project, subsequent related papers receive a 20% discount on the APF if those manuscripts then undergo peer review in a destination journal and are accepted. Related:
  - Why should I publish my protocol or grant proposal?
  - APF Support for JMIR Research Protocols or JMIR Formative Research
- Investigate if you, your department, or institution can become an institutional member using your grant. For institutional members, the APF is waived, and even when you divide the institutional membership by the number of fee waivers, the effective APF per article is significantly lower than on a pay-as-you-need basis. Related:
  - Why should I consider an institutional membership?
  - Fees, Memberships, and Partnerships
- Find another JMIR Publications journal (see also Which journals is JMIR Publications currently publishing?) or see if there is an applicable discounted theme issue to which you may submit your manuscript for consideration (What are the forthcoming theme issues?)
- If no remaining alternatives are available, then authors may apply for APF support using the application form.

Acknowledgement of such OA funding sources on published manuscripts would be appropriate, similar to how researchers would provide an acknowledgement to a funding agency for supporting travel to conferences or supporting the research project conducted. The same applies to all co-authors. For example, if unfunded PhD students publish with a senior author on a manuscript, we may request that the senior author provide a justification regarding the absence of external funding or university open access funds are available to support publishing the manuscript.

Institutional Partnerships Offering APF Support

I am a Student or Faculty of the University of California

Great news: $1000 APF support is automatically applied and deducted from the APF, if a manuscript is accepted after peer review. Authors can also apply for a full APF waiver by filling in the form at: APF Support for Corresponding Authors from the University of California

This form is different from the general APF Support Application Form. University of California authors do not need to complete both application forms. They only need to fill out the form that is specific to University of California authors. See the link provided above for further instructions.

I am affiliated with a university covered by the Jisc Consortium

JMIR Publications and Jisc have agreed to a deal to help secure funding for authors who want to publish with JMIR Publications. To check if your university is Jisc-affiliated and see how to obtain APF support through the Jisc deal, read Frequently Asked Questions About Jisc Funding.

I am affiliated with a university, college, authority, or state institute covered by the Bibsam Consortium

The Bibsam deal provides unlimited APF waivers in any JMIR gold open access journal for corresponding authors affiliated with any of the 94 Bibsam member institutions. For more detailed information, a list of participating institutions, and instructions on how to request an eligible waiver when submitting a manuscript, read: Frequently Asked Questions About The National Library of Sweden/Bibsam Consortium Deal

I have some grant funds, but my funding agency has set an APF limit which JMIR Publications exceeds

On a case-by-case basis, JMIR Publications will evaluate additional discount requests if funding agencies have set a funding cap (ie, they will not provide funding if an APF invoice exceeds a specified amount).

If you receive funding from the German Research Foundation (DFG): The DFG no longer mandates a fixed funding cap, so this policy varies by institution. Please see: Gibt es einen speziellen Preisnachlass fuer DFG-gefoerderte JMIR Autoren? (are there any discounts available for JMIR authors funded by the German Research Foundation?)

APF Support for JMIR Research Protocols or JMIR Formative Research

We do not provide full waivers for research protocols/proposals in JMIR Research Protocols or manuscripts in JMIR Formative Research.

JMIR Research Protocols offers a 50% discount on protocols/proposals if they are grant-funded and an external grant agency peer review report from the funding body is available and attached to the submission.

Authors do not need to submit an application form for this discount, as this is applied upon editorial approval of the the external grant agency peer review reports for use. See When is a grant proposal or protocol eligible for the 50% discount on the APF?

If these requirements are not fulfilled (no external grant agency peer review reports are available), then the manuscript will go through standard editorial processing (sent to external peer review) and the JMIR Research Protocols full APF would apply, if the manuscript is accepted.

No APF full waivers are available for JMIR Research Protocols. Only a maximum of a 50% discount may be applied in exceptional cases. Please use the waiver/discount application form to apply for this discount.

Also, protocols from authors from the University of California can be published free of charge for the author, see APF Support for Corresponding Authors from the University of California.

Thanks again for your interest in JMIR Publications journals.