Policy on Geographic APC Waivers and Discounts
Geographic Waivers and Discounts
As from January 1, 2026 all ACM Publications will be published on a fully Open Access basis and will require participation in ACM Open, the payment of an APC, or a geographic or discretionary waiver to publish with ACM. Information regarding ACM's Geographic Waivers and Discounts Policy for each major ACM Publication program, including ACM Sponsored Conferences, PACM Journals, ICPS Conferences, ACM Journals, and ACM Magazines.
ACM Sponsored Conferences
ACM offers Geographic Article Processing Charge (APC) waivers and discounts for APC-eligible ACM Sponsored Conference articles that are not covered by ACM Open institutional licenses in several specific categories, as follows:
- Authors from countries covered by ACM’s agreements with EIFL and Research4Life: 100% waiver
- Authors based in low income countries, as identified in the World Bank List of Economies: 100% waiver
- Authors based in lower middle income countries, as identified in the World Bank List of Economies: 50% discount off applicable APCs, unless one of these countries receives a 100% APC waiver as a result of ACM’s Agreements with EIFL or R4L
To ease the transition for conference authors to full Open Access in 2026, ACM is providing a significant temporary APC subsidy for 2026 conferences for those articles that are not covered by ACM Open Institutional Agreements. For articles where one of the named co-authors is an ACM or SIG Member, the subsidized rate is $250/article (down from the list price of $700), and for articles where none of the named co-authors is an ACM or SIG Member, the subsidized rate is $350/article (down from the list price of $1,000). For articles eligible for 50% geographic discounts, the discount will be applied to the applicable subsidized rate.
For articles not covered by ACM Open or Geographic Waivers, ACM also offers discretionary APC waivers based on genuine financial hardship. For more information about Discretionary Waivers, please click here.
Proceedings of the ACM (PACM) Journal / Conference Series
ACM offers Geographic Article Processing Charge (APC) waivers and discounts for APC-eligible Proceedings of the ACM (PACM) articles that are not covered by ACM Open institutional licenses in several specific categories, as follows:
- Authors from countries covered by ACM’s agreements with EIFL and Research4Life: 100% waiver
- Authors based in low income countries, as identified in the World Bank List of Economies: 100% waiver
- Authors based in lower middle income countries, as identified in the World Bank List of Economies: 50% discount off applicable APCs, unless one of these countries receives a 100% APC waiver as a result of ACM’s Agreements with EIFL or R4L
To ease the transition for PACM authors to full Open Access in 2026, ACM is providing a significant temporary APC subsidy for 2026 PACM articles that are not covered by ACM Open Institutional Agreements. For articles where one of the named co-authors is an ACM or SIG Member, the subsidized rate is $250/article (down from the list price $700), and for articles where none of the named co-authors is an ACM or SIG Member, the subsidized rate is $350/article (down from the list price of $1,000). For articles eligible for 50% geographic discounts, the discount will be applied to the applicable subsidized rate.
For articles not covered by ACM Open or Geographic Waivers, ACM also offers discretionary APC waivers based on genuine financial hardship. For more information about Discretionary Waivers, please click here.
International Conference Proceedings Series (ICPS)
ACM offers Geographic Article Processing Charge (APC) waivers and discounts for all APC-eligible ICPS Published Articles that are not covered by ACM Open institutional licenses in several specific categories, as follows:
- Authors from countries covered by ACM’s agreements with EIFL and Research4Life: 100% waiver
- Authors based in low income countries, as identified in the World Bank List of Economies: 100% waiver
- Authors based in lower middle income countries, as identified in the World Bank List of Economies: 50% discount off applicable APCs, unless one of these countries receives a 100% APC waiver as a result of ACM’s Agreements with EIFL or R4L
To ease the transition for conference authors to full Open Access in 2025 & 2026, ACM is providing a significant temporary APC subsidy for ICPS articles that are not covered by ACM Open Institutional Agreements. For articles where one of the named co-authors is an ACM or SIG Member, the subsidized rate is $250/article (down from the list price $700), and for articles where none of the named co-authors is an ACM or SIG Member, the subsidized rate is $350/article (down from the list price of $1,000). For articles eligible for 50% geographic discounts, the discount will be applied to the applicable subsidized rate.
For articles not covered by ACM Open or Geographic Waivers, ACM also offers discretionary APC waivers based on genuine financial hardship. For more information about Discretionary Waivers, please click here.
ACM Journals
ACM offers Geographic Article Processing Charge (APC) waivers and discounts for all APC-eligible ACM Journal articles that are not covered by ACM Open institutional licenses in several specific categories, as follows:
- Authors from countries covered by ACM’s agreements with EIFL and Research4Life: 100% waiver
- Authors based in low income countries, as identified in the World Bank List of Economies: 100% waiver
- Authors based in lower middle income countries, as identified in the World Bank List of Economies: 50% discount off applicable APCs, unless one of these countries receives a 100% APC waiver as a result of ACM’s Agreements with EIFL or R4L
To ease the transition for ACM Journal authors to full Open Access in 2026, ACM is providing a significant temporary APC subsidy for 2026 ACM Journal articles that are not covered by ACM Open Institutional Agreements. For articles where one of the named co-authors is an ACM or SIG Member, the subsidized rate is $950/article (down from the list price $1,300), and for articles where none of the named co-authors is an ACM or SIG Member, the subsidized rate is $1,450/article (down from the list price of $1,800). For articles eligible for 50% geographic discounts, the discount will be applied to the applicable subsidized rate.
For articles not covered by ACM Open or Geographic Waivers, ACM also offers discretionary APC waivers based on genuine financial hardship. For more information about Discretionary Waivers, please click here.
ACM Magazines
ACM offers Geographic Article Processing Charge (APC) waivers and discounts for all APC-eligible Magazine articles that are not covered by ACM Open institutional licenses in several specific categories, as follows:
- Authors from countries covered by ACM’s agreements with EIFL and Research4Life: 100% waiver
- Authors based in low income countries, as identified in the World Bank List of Economies: 100% waiver
- Authors based in lower middle income countries, as identified in the World Bank List of Economies: 50% discount off applicable APCs, unless one of these countries receives a 100% APC waiver as a result of ACM’s Agreements with EIFL or R4L
To ease the transition for ACM Magazine authors to full Open Access in 2026 and because most ACM Magazine articles are not APC-eligible and are invited by ACM to submit to ACM Magazines, ACM is providing a 100% subsidy for 2026 articles that are not covered by ACM Open Institutional Agreements. For 2026, this subsidy will cover 100% of the applicable APC cost.
As a result of the 2026 subsidized APC pricing for ACM Magazine articles, no discretionary waivers will be offered for ACM Magazine articles.
This policy statement is consistent with the Research4Life Best Practices for APC Waivers.
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