Not-for-profit organisations, registered charities, journals from developing countries and cases of financial hardship may apply to COPE Council for:
- Full reduction of membership subscription fees (free membership), or
- Reduced membership subscription fees
Full reduction of membership subscription fees (free membership)
Requests for free membership (that is, no fees) will be considered from journals that meet one of the following criteria:
- Journals based in Research4Life/HINARI countries.
- Journals in low and lower-middle-income countries, as defined by the World Bank, with both zero paid members of staff (ie, run on totally voluntary efforts) and with zero income/ funding from any source (including from a publisher).
Reduced membership subscription fees
Requests for reductions will be considered from journals that meet one of the following criteria:
- Journals in low and lower-middle-income countries, as defined by the World Bank, with paid staff or a dedicated income source.
- Journals, or groups of journals, with fewer than one full-time equivalent paid member of staff per journal (ie, run mainly on voluntary efforts) and with zero income/funding from any source (including from a publisher).
Journals that qualify for reduced membership subscription fees will be asked to pay 50% of the normal membership subscription fee.