Tools for working with
the National Institutes of Health Public Access Policy

Overview

The NIH Public Access Policy ensures that the public has access to the published results of NIH funded research. It requires scientists to submit final peer-reviewed journal manuscripts that arise from NIH funds to the digital archive PubMed Central upon acceptance for publication.  To help advance science and improve human health, the Policy requires that these papers are accessible to the public on PubMed Central no later than 12 months after publication.

How to Comply

All of your papers that fall under the NIH Public Access Policy, whether in press or in print, must include evidence of compliance in all of your NIH applications and reports.

  1. Determine Applicability
    Does the NIH Public Access Policy apply to your paper?

  2. Address Copyright
    Ensure your publishing agreement allows the paper to be posted to PubMed Central in accordance with the NIH Public Access Policy.

  3. Submit Paper
    Submit papers to PubMed Central and approve public release.

  4. Include PMCID in Citations
    Include the PMCID at the end of the full citation in your application or report.

What will happen if you do not comply with the NIH Public Access Policy?

"Non-compliance will be addressed by the NIH administratively, and may delay or prevent awarding of funds."

RESOURCES

 PowerPoint Presentation outlining the basic points of this policy, with suggestions for how to deal with it  

 

EndNote and PubMed Central

Use EndNote to keep track of the manuscripts submitted to PubMed Central (PMC). Create a separate PMC Manuscripts EndNote Library for your applicable manuscripts. When you submit the manuscript to NIH, add the manuscript reference and the NIHMSID number to this library. When the PMCID number is issued, add this number to the EndNote reference record. Use the special NIH-PMCID output style to cite these references in future NIH grant progress reports and applications.

Note: Instructions written for Endnote X1, (Windows). Procedures may vary depending on EndNote version and operating system.

Links to the web sites of various publishers
(if you want to see their policies with your own eyes)

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