The following guidelines were last updated on 15 August 2018.
AMS has set aside limited funds to partially or fully cover the costs of publication for those authors in genuine need. With the goal of assisting as many authors as possible within budgetary limits, strict guidelines as described below must be followed by those requesting waivers. Authors seeking a waiver of page charges must apply at the time of initial submission by sending an email to [email protected] requesting either a partial or full waiver.
Partial Waiver
Partial waivers are for those authors for whom the total projected costs are too great a burden, given legitimate funding constraints or other circumstances that they outline in an email request. Because partial waivers cover page charges exclusive of the cost of color figures, authors must pay color charges in addition to the remaining page charges to qualify. Color charges for partial payers are $490 for the first piece, $390 for the second piece, and $150 for the third and subsequent pieces. The manuscript that is submitted for peer review must be identical to what is intended to be published, specifically regarding the use of color in figures (print and online must match exactly).
The immediate open access option Open Choice is available for authors who receive a page charge waiver, but this fee cannot be waived.
Authors will receive a decision on their waiver application within 5 business days from the point at which the initial submission requirements check is completed. After the waiver decision has been issued, the paper can enter peer review.
Note: Some authors who are considering requesting partial waivers, or have done so already, may instead choose to take advantage of the benefits of paying in full so that color charges are automatically waived.
Full Waiver
Full waivers are for those authors who, as a result of legitimate circumstances, cannot cover any of their page charges or who can pay only color charges. These authors will be asked to fill out an application, and their requests will be reviewed by a committee consisting of three members of the AMS Council. This waiver committee will meet on a quarterly basis to decide how the limited resources available will be disbursed. Authors applying for full waivers may need to wait for up to three months for decisions on their waiver applications, and submissions will not enter peer review until full-waiver decisions have been issued. The manuscript that is submitted for peer review must be identical to what is intended to be published, specifically regarding the use of color in figures (print and online must match exactly).
The immediate open access option Open Choice is available for authors who receive a page charge waiver, but this fee cannot be waived.
Please note that if the corresponding author or any of their coauthors have received a full waiver of page charges within the past 12 months for a paper in any AMS journal that was not formally rejected or withdrawn, they are not eligible to apply for another one. If the full-waiver application is denied by the AMS Waiver Committee, that specific manuscript will be ineligible for full-waiver consideration for 12 months.
Exceptions for Specific AMS Journals
BAMS Authors: Apply by email as directed for a partial or full waiver. The cost for providing the cover of BAMS cannot be waived.
AIES Authors: Artificial Intelligence for the Earth Systems has a flat $2,200 author fee for all papers accepted for publication. Authors who cannot commit to this cost may apply as directed for full or partial waivers of the fee.
EI Authors: Earth Interactions has a flat $1,200 author fee for all papers accepted for publication. Authors who cannot commit to this cost may apply as directed for full or partial waivers of the fee.
WCAS Authors: There are no page charges for papers submitted to Weather, Climate, and Society (WCAS), and therefore no waiver application is necessary. AMS is aware that many authors of WCAS papers are from social science disciplines, for which funding is generally much more limited than in the physical sciences. For that reason, the governing AMS Council eliminated page charges for papers submitted to WCAS. Note: the Open Choice fee does apply to WCAS authors who wish their papers to be open access upon publication (no waivers can be granted for Open Choice fees).
Late Waiver Requests
Waivers must be requested at the time of submission. Occasionally, a partial or full waiver is requested for the first time after a paper has begun peer review (when an initial commitment to pay full charges was made) owing to a significant and unavoidable change in circumstances. In these cases, a signed letter from the department head or funding agency administrator is required that clearly explains why funds that had been available at the time of submission are not available to pay the charges for an accepted manuscript. It is no longer sufficient for the corresponding author to state that their funding has run out or expired; a documented and verifiable explanation is now required for consideration of any late waiver request. We do offer early billing of the estimated charges upon request if your funding is scheduled to expire while your manuscript is still in peer review. Please contact Caitlin Garrison at [email protected] with any late waiver or early billing questions.
Commonwealth Authors
AMS is aware that the policies or laws of some Commonwealth nations prohibit the use of government funding for page charges, though funding for color charges is often permitted. We suggest that Commonwealth authors include several color figures in their paper that may then qualify them for a rapid partial waiver.