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Edward G. Miner Library

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Librarians can help you maintain compliance:

  • Monitor compliance
  • Find a PMCID number
  • Answer questions about copyright
  • Help you deposit articles into PubMed Central (PMC)
  • Help you with your My Bibliography
  • Help you identify articles that are problematic
  • And more ...
 

New: Changes Coming on July 1, 2025

The new 2024 NIH Public Access Policy will remove the 12-month embargo period of the current policy, requiring authors to make their NIH-funded articles available in PMC as soon as their work is published. The effective date is now July 1, 2025 (see notice NOT-OD-25-101). Eligible manuscripts accepted for publication on or after July 1, 2025 must comply with the new policy.

For more information on how this policy will affect your publishing agreements, potential conflicts with journal policies on embargoes, and more, see the Authors Alliance’s webpage: The NIH Public Access Policy: Q&A for Authors.

NIH Public Access Policy

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.

Policy details are available.

FAQs about the NIH Public Access Policy

Does the Policy Apply to my Publication?

The policy applies to any journal manuscript that:

  1. Is peer-reviewed
  2. Is accepted for publication on or after April 7, 2008, by a journal in the NLM Catalog
    • journals not in the NLM Catalog are covered if they meet these criteria
  3. Arises from any direct funding from an NIH grant or cooperative agreement since FY2008; any direct funding from an NIH Intramural Program; or from an NIH employee

See additional applicability guidelines and details of the policy.

Exempt publications include:

  • Review articles, unless the article underwent peer-review
  • Books; however a book chapter published in a series in the journal section of the NLM Catalog falls under the Policy if it was peer-reviewed
  • Manuscripts in non-Latin scripts (e.g. Russian or Japanese), since they cannot be processed by the NIH
  • Articles accepted for publication before April 7, 2008, though authors may deposit these manuscripts if allowed by the journal

Exempt publications may still be reported in NIH progress reports via My NCBI, but listed as not applicable (N/A). Find more about reporting and citing exempt publications to the NIH.

Copyright

The U.S. Copyright office defines copyright as "a type of intellectual property that protects original works of authorship as soon as an author fixes the work in a tangible form of expression. In copyright law, there are a lot of different types of works, including paintings, photographs, illustrations, musical compositions, sound recordings, computer programs, books, poems, blog posts, movies, architectural works, plays, and so much more!"

Authors should work with the publisher before rights are transferred to ensure that all conditions of the NIH Public Access Policy can be met. Authors should avoid signing agreements with publishers that do not allow the author to comply with the NIH Public Access Policy. When you submit your manuscript, tell the publisher that your article is subject to the NIH Public Access Policy. Many publishers have mechanisms in place to facilitate author compliance with NIH Public Access Policy. 

For more information on how the updated NIH Public Access Policy will affect your publishing agreements, potential conflicts with journal policies on embargoes, and more, see the Authors Alliance’s webpage: The NIH Public Access Policy: Q&A for Authors.

While the library cannot make legal decisions or offer legal advice to you, we are happy to help determine if a work is copyrighted, how you can ask for permission, and provide information to help you make a decision or get in touch with a legal expert.

Need help?

Linda Hasman

585-275-3399

URMC PubMed Central Articles