NIH Public Access Policy 

Princeton University Office of Research and Project Administration

Official NIH Public Access Policy Site

1. Address Copyright. Before you sign a publication agreement or similar copyright transfer agreement, make sure that the agreement allows the paper to be submitted to NIH in accordance with the Public Access Policy. See the sample letter to include with your agreement.

2. Submit the paper to NIH. This can be done in a number of ways:

Method A: Publish in a journal that deposits all NIH-funded final published articles in PubMed Central (PMC) without author involvement. See the list of journals that do not require author involvement.

For a summary of permissions that are normally given as part of each publisher's copyright transfer agreement, see the SHERPA/RoMEO database.

Method B: Make arrangements to have a publisher deposit a specific final published article in PubMed Central. See the  sample letter or the Scholar's Copyright Addendum Engine.

Method C: Deposit the final peer-reviewed manuscript in PMC yourself via the NIH Manuscript Submission System. See the NIHMS System User’s Guide to Submitting a Manuscript or the video for how to do this. IMPORTANT: The route is the eRA Commons. You will need to register to obtain a login and password.  This is straightforward. To submit the manuscript, you will need the grant number from the Principal Investigator (PI). Upon submission of the article, you will receive a NIHMS ID number. Then there are several review and approval steps – by the submitter and the author (if different) for initial approvals and to assign the embargo period. Within a couple of weeks, a PMCID is assigned.

Near the time when the embargo period passes (e.g., the article is published in October 2008 and has a 12 month embargo), the author receives another e-mail requesting final approval of the document. Prior to this time, the PMCID can be viewed in PubMed Central.

 Method D: Complete the submission process for a final peer-reviewed manuscript that the publisher has deposited in the NIH Manuscript Submission System (NIHMS). These methods vary in the version of the paper submitted, and the actions undertaken by the author and publisher.

 3. Cite. As of May 25, 2008, when citing a paper 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. This policy includes applications submitted to the NIH for the May 25, 2008 due date and subsequent due dates. Important: Please note that a PubMed ID number is not a PubMed Central (PMC) i.d. number.

The NIHMS System Slide Shows demonstrate how to perform various actions in a step-by-step fashion and are illustrated with screen captures.

For a detailed explanation of each submission method (#2 in the "Compliance is a Three-step Process" box) see NIH Submission Methods.

The NIHMS has a help desk to assist with submissions. Contact the NIHMS.

Tutuorials for submitting a manuscript for a journal that does NOT participate in PMC. Slides or PDF

Tutuorials for submitting a manuscript that DOES participate in PMC. List of journals. Slides or PDF