Overview

The NIH Public Access policy mandates public access to the results of NIH funded research in order to advance science and improve human health. The policy applies to all peer-reviewed papers based on research funded by NIH that are accepted for publication on or after April 7, 2008. Authors are required to submit, or have submitted for them, an electronic copy of their final peer-reviewed manuscript to PubMed Central (PMC) (http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/) upon acceptance for publication, where it will be made available to the public no later than 12 months after publication. PMC is a digital repository maintained by the National Library of Medicine (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/). The Policy applies to all peer-reviewed papers authored or co-authored as part of an NIH contract, even if the corresponding author or other authors are not supported by NIH.

NIH Public Access Policy FAQ (http://publicaccess.nih.gov/FAQ.htm).

How to Comply

1. Address copyright

Before you sign an author agreement (http://publicaccess.nih.gov/FAQ.htm#c3) or copyright transfer agreement, make sure that it allows the paper to be submitted to PubMed Central (PMC) in accordance with the public access policy (http://publicaccess.nih.gov/). (See selected policies (http://www.escholarlypub.com/digitalkoans/2008/04/09/selected-publisher-policies-about-the-nih-public-access-policy/) or visit the publisher's website.)

If the publisher's policy does not allow deposit, attach this Letter to Publisher (http://www.ucop.edu/raohome/cgmemos/08-05a.pdf)PDF from the UC Office of Research Administration and Technology Transfer. The letter gives notice to the publishers that, if accepted for publication, the article will be required by law to be posted on PubMed Central. Another option is to modify the publisher's copyright transfer agreement to retain the right to make the article available in PMC by attaching this NIH Addendum Form (http://nih-addendum-apr08.pdf)PDF.

2. Submit manuscript to NIH (PMC)

There are four ways to ensure that a paper is submitted to PMC in compliance with the NIH Public Access policy.

NIH Public Access Policy Submission Methods (http://publicaccess.nih.gov/submit_process.htm)

1. Publish in a journal that deposits all NIH-funded final published articles in PMC without author involvement. A complete list of these journals (http://publicaccess.nih.gov/submit_process_journals.htm) is available at PMC.
2. Make arrangements to have a publisher deposit a specific final published article in PMC. This method usually involves choosing the journal's fee-based open access option for publishing that article. NIH provides a list of publishers (http://publicaccess.nih.gov/select_deposit_publishers.htm) that deposit specific final published articles in PMC.
3. Deposit the final peer-reviewed manuscript in PMC yourself via the NIH Manuscript Submission System (NIHMS) (http://www.nihms.nih.gov). NIH provides tutorials (http://www.nihms.nih.gov/help/) on using the NIMHS system.
4. Complete the submission process for a final peer-reviewed manuscript that the publisher has deposited in the NIHMS system. Many publishers will submit the author's final manuscript if requested; however, the author must give final approval to the submitted files.

3. Cite the article

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) (http://publicaccess.nih.gov/citation_methods.htm).

The PMCID is not the same as the PMID. Authors can locate PMCID reference numbers by searching for their articles in PubMed Central (http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/). You can also locate the PMCID number by doing a search in PubMed: the PMCID displays on the lower right side of the abstract page.

• Using EndNote (http://www.endnote.com/support/faqs/import/faq15.asp) to manage the NIHMSID and PMCID numbers.
• Using RefWorks (http://www.refworks.com/rwsingle/help/RefWorks.htm?tsmp=1218826966121#New_Release_Notes.htm) to manage (http://www.library.wisc.edu/scp/nih/faq.html#refworks) the NIHMSID and PMCID numbers.

Important dates

As of April 7, 2008, all articles arising from NIH funds must be submitted to PubMed Central upon acceptance for publication. Manuscripts are submitted to PMC via the NIH Manuscript Submission (NIHMS) system (http://nihms.nih.gov/).

As of May 25, 2008, NIH applications, proposals, and progress reports must include the PubMed Central reference number (PMCID) when citing an article that falls under the policy and is authored or co-authored by the investigator, or arose from the investigator's NIH award. This policy includes applications submitted to the NIH for the May 25, 2008 due date and subsequent due dates. NIHMS ID numbers are assigned when the manuscript is submitted. PMC ID numbers can be found in the PubMed (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?tool=cdl&otool=cdlotool) database. Health Sciences Libraries staff can help locate PMC ID numbers:

• Carlson Health Sciences: hslref@lib.ucdavis.edu or (530) 752‑7042
• Blaisdell: EMAIL_MCLREF or (916) 734‑3529

Articles accepted for publication before April 7, 2008: If, on May 25 or later, you cite an article that was accepted for publication before April 7, you don't have to include a PMC/NIHMS ID in your citation. The ID is required only for articles that fall under the mandatory policy, so you're not obliged to deposit all older articles that you might cite.

Further Information and Help

• Visit the NIH Public Access Web site (http://publicaccess.nih.gov/) which contains a FAQ (http://publicaccess.nih.gov/FAQ.htm) and detailed instructions.
• Illustrated online tutorials (http://www.nihms.nih.gov/web-help/) on the submission process created by NIH are available.
• Read the March 6 guidance memo from Kathleen Babcock (http://www.ucop.edu/raohome/cgmemos/08-05.pdf)PDF coordinator of government contracts and grants in the UC Research Administration Office, to contracts and grants officers on all UC campuses.
• For publisher's policies a selected list (http://www.escholarlypub.com/digitalkoans/2008/04/09/selected-publisher-policies-about-the-nih-public-access-policy/) is available.
• To determine publisher's' policies for depositing in PubMed Central search the SHERPA/RoMEO (http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo.php) database.
• PubMed Central Deposit and Author Rights: Agreements between 12 Publishers and the Authors Subject to the NIH Public Access Policy, Ben Grillot, ARL, 2008. (http://www.arl.org/bm~doc/grillot-pubmed.pdf)PDF
• Track compliance and manage bibliographies using My Bibliography (http://blogs.lib.ucdavis.edu/hsl/2010/06/22/my-ncbi-tool-replaces-era-commons-for-bibliography-management/). (eRA (http://era.nih.gov/) partnered with My NCBI (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/myncbi/) to link My Bibliography to eRA Commons.)
• Washington University St. Louis, Becker Library, NIH Public Access Policy (http://becker.wustl.edu/services/scholarly/nihpolicy.html) and Flowchart (http://becker.wustl.edu/pdf/NIHComplianceFlowchart.pdf)PDF.
• Questions: contact Health Sciences Reference Librarians at hslref@lib.ucdavis.edu / (530) 752‑7042 or mclref@lib.ucdavis.edu / (916) 734‑3529