Waiver Policy

Author Fee Waiver Policy

Insolvation is committed to reducing financial barriers to publication while maintaining a sustainable open-access publishing model. Where Article Processing Charges (APCs) are applied, the journal maintains a transparent waiver framework for authors who lack institutional or personal funding support.

Automatic full waiver

Authors whose primary affiliation is with an institution located in a country classified by the World Bank as a low-income economy are eligible for an automatic 100% APC waiver, subject to basic affiliation verification and article acceptance through the normal editorial process.

Discretionary waiver

Authors from lower-middle-income economies, upper-middle-income economies, and other jurisdictions may request a discretionary full or partial waiver where APC payment would be a genuine barrier to publication. This includes independent scholars, early-career researchers, authors without institutional funding, authors facing structural funding deficits, and public-interest scholarship where funding support is unavailable.

No effect on editorial decisions

Waiver requests are handled separately from editorial assessment. Editors and peer reviewers do not use waiver status, payment ability, or payment history when deciding whether a manuscript should be reviewed, revised, accepted, or rejected.

Timing

Where an APC is active, waiver requests may be made after submission or after acceptance according to the instructions then displayed by the journal. A waiver request will not delay peer review or reduce the chance of acceptance.

Current launch-stage position

If no APC is being charged at the time of submission, no waiver application is required. This policy remains published so authors and indexers can see how the journal will handle APC equity if charges are introduced later.