NIH Public Access Policy Compliance
Compliance with the NIH Public Access Policy is mandatory and affects three areas:
Copyright Agreement
NIH advises authors to work with the publisher before any rights are transferred to ensure that "all conditions of the NIH Public Access Policy can be met." NIH cautions authors to "avoid signing any agreements with publishers that do not allow the author to comply with the NIH Public Access Policy."
NIH recommends the following language:
"Journal acknowledges that Author retains the right to provide a copy of the final manuscript to the NIH upon acceptance for Journal publication, for public archiving in PubMed Central as soon as possible but no later than 12 months after publication by Journal."
Article Submission
This can be done in a number of ways:
- You or someone in your organization (e.g., an assistant) may deposit a copy of the peer reviewed manuscript (i.e., pre-print or published paper) in the NIH Manuscript Submission (NIHMS) system (http://www.nihms.nih.gov/). See NIHMS System Slide Shows for detailed instructions. The following information is needed for submission:
- PI name and e-mail address
- Title of the journal
- Title of the manuscript
- Grant number(s)
- Manuscript files (Word, Excel, PPT, TIFF, GIF, JPEG, PDF, etc.)
- Embargo/Delay Time period
Your publisher may send the peer-reviewed manuscript files to the NIH Manuscript Submission system for you.
In both cases above (1 and 2), you still will have to verify and approve the manuscript personally via the NIH Manuscript Submission system, which will send you an e-mail message requesting this action. See FAQ on using NIHMS.
- Some publishers have agreed to make the final published article of every NIH-funded article publicly available in PubMed Central within 12 months of publication. For these journals, you do not need to do anything to fulfill the submission requirement of the NIH Public Access Policy. See http://publicaccess.nih.gov/submit_process_journals.htm for a list of these journals.
You should receive a PubMed Central reference number (PMCID) to confirm your submission. The PMCID will be required for future NIH grant applications, progress reports, and proposals when citing previously published articles that were the result of research funded under this policy.
Citations
As of May 25, 2008, when citing an article in NIH applications, proposals, and progress reports that falls under the Policy, and was authored or co-authored by you or arose from your NIH award, you must include the PubMed Central reference number (PMCID). This policy includes applications submitted to the NIH for the May 25, 2008 due date and subsequent due dates. Until the PMCID is issued, you may use the NIH Manuscript Submission reference number (NIHMSID) in your citations.