One of the world’s biggest university presses is to waive open access publishing fees for academics in low- and middle-income countries.
Under the new pilot scheme from Cambridge University Press (CUP), scholars from more than 5,000 institutions in 107 countries – including Afghanistan, Albania, Ukraine and Zimbabwe – will be able to publish their research unpaywalled in 400 journals at no cost to them or their employer.
CUP, the second biggest university press behind Oxford University Press, will also remove article processing charges – typically of about £2,000, depending on the journal – for independent scholars from those low- and middle-income countries using a simple form.
Fee-paying institutional partners, such as major university libraries, will be encouraged to make voluntary contributions towards the scheme.
