BiO provides transparency around costs, APC pricing and publishing metrics in line with the Plan S Price and Transparency Framework developed by Information Power.
In the interests of openness, we are now posting 2019 data with a few small updates based on our contributions as pilots during the Information Power transparency project – the format therefore varies slightly from the final published framework. We also provide below statistics on our waivers.
Waivers
BiO grants full APC waivers for corresponding authors based in low-income and lower-middle-income economies (as classified by the World Bank), and for other authors who genuinely have no funds to cover APCs.
The decision to publish a paper in BiO is wholly independent of payment or ability to pay, and is based solely on the validity and supportability of the work detailed in each manuscript. Editors and reviewers do not have access to information regarding authors' financial contributions.
In 2019, all applications for an APC waiver fitted the criteria for approval and were granted a full or partial waiver. This represented 8% of published research-type articles.