Advancing equity in open access publishing
At BMJ Group, we support authors from low and lower-middle-income countries (LMICs) to publish their research open access in their journal of choice. Our waiver policy offers a full Article Processing Charge (APC) waiver — 100% discount for authors in LMICs. We also consider discount requests from other countries or for other equity reasons on a case-by-case basis and not influenced by editorial decisions.
Since 2002, BMJ Group has contributed to improving global health by participating in the WHO’s Research4Life Organization’s Access to Research Initiative (HINARI). This programme grants free access to nearly 20,000 journals and e-books to health workers and researchers in more than 100 developing countries.
A recent study by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) reveals that the Research4Life initiative has directly contributed to a significant increase in scientific output. In low and middle income countries, research production in health sciences has increased by up to 75%, and clinical trial activity has risen by up to 35%.
In 2023, LMIC-originated research published open access by BMJ Group rose to 59.5%, significantly increasing the visibility of critical research from these regions.
