Starting January 1, 2026, all ACM publications (including those from SIGDA-sponsored conferences) will be 100% Open Access under ACM’s new publishing model. Authors whose institutions are not part of the ACM Open program will be required to pay an Article Processing Charge (APC) unless they qualify for a waiver or discount.

To ease this transition and ensure inclusiveness, SIGDA has established the Financial Hardship Waiver (FHW) program for 2026. This initiative, jointly funded by ACM and SIGDA, provides a limited number of waivers to cover APCs for eligible authors presenting at SIGDA-sponsored conferences.

Eligibility Criteria

Requests will be evaluated according to ACM’s and SIGDA’s guidelines. To qualify, all of the following conditions must be met:

• All authors must be affiliated with institutions not participating in ACM Open.
• The corresponding author must be a current SIGDA member.
• Papers with co-authors affiliated with for-profit companies are not eligible, as such organizations are expected to cover publication costs for their employees.
• Priority will be given to authors from low-income countries or from institutions and research groups without active grant funding. Additional documentation may be requested.

Application Procedure

Waiver requests can only be submitted after the paper is accepted, during the ACM e-rights process. Authors should select the waiver request option available within the ACM e-rights system and provide the requested information. Requests will be jointly evaluated by the Program Chair of the respective conference and the SIGDA FHW Committee based on the established eligibility criteria.

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For more information about ACM Open, participating institutions, and ACM’s waiver policy, please visit: https://libraries.acm.org/acmopen