News, Events, & Announcements > NIH Public Access Policy
Introduction to the Policy
The NIH Public Access Policy ensures that the public has access to the published results of NIH funded research. As of April 7, 2008, 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. The NIH Public Access Policy implements law Division G, Title II, Section 218 of PL 110-161. Penn's Office of Research Services prepared a "Brief Summary of the Revised NIH Public Access Policy."
PSC Authors and Principal Investigators please read the NIH Notice Number: NOT-OD-08-033 Revised Policy on Enhancing Public Access to Archived Publications Resulting from NIH-Funded Research. Also read the "Letter to the University Research Community," from Penn's Vice Provost for Research, Steven J. Fluharty from April 8, 2009.Who does the policy apply to?
All authors (faculty, staff, students, and other researchers) who have received direct funding from an NIH grant. Direct funding generally includes sub-awards because they are associated with a particular award. An example of a sub-award at the PSC is a pilot/TRIO award. Receipt of general support for research from the Population Studies Center or the Population Aging Research Center (e.g., computing or library services, consultation with respect to human subjects) under core NIH awards such as the NICHD R24 or NIA P30 grants does not constitute "direct funding.Students: "Being supported as a student on a T32 or other training award does constitute direct support. NIH requires us to track T32 trainees and their publications for 10 years and to accurately report the PMCIDs for those works that are published that are affected by the Policy (e.g. it is a peer-reviewed journal article, supported by NIH, and was published on or after April 7, 2008). The NIH also requires us to remind T32 recipients about compliance for those works that might be affected and to ensure that any peer-reviewed journal articles (published after April 7, 2008) resulting from T32 support are made available in PubMed Central.
To what papers does the policy apply?
The Policy applies to any manuscript that:
- Is peer-reviewed;
- And, is accepted for publication in a journal on or after April 7, 2008;
- And, arises from:
- Any direct funding from an NIH grant or cooperative agreement active in Fiscal Year 2008, or;
- Any direct funding from an NIH contract signed on or after April 7, 2008, or;
- Any direct funding from the NIH Intramural Program, or;
- An NIH employee.
Authors may submit final peer-reviewed manuscripts accepted before April 7, 2008 that arise from NIH funds, if they have appropriate copyright permission. Direct funding means costs that can be specifically identified with a particular project or activity.
What are the responsibilities of an NIH PI?
Principal Investigators and their Institutions are responsible for ensuring all terms and conditions of awards are met and that authors are aware of and comply with the NIH Public Access Policy. This includes ensuring that the submission of final peer-reviewed manuscripts that arise directly from their awards, even if they are not an author or co-author of the paper are deposited into the NIH Manuscript Submission System (NIHMS). In addition, PI's must cite the PMCID or NIHMSID numbers for articles arising from their awards in subsequent grant proposals (e.g. in biosketches, reference lists, etc.).How to Comply With the Policy (a 3 step process)
Step 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 NIH Public Access Policy. You can use Penn's "Suggested Cover letter for Author Journal Submission." If you have already completed the agreements and did not secure copyright, but are required to under law by the NIH Public Access Policy you must contact the publisher immediately to find out what their policy is on this issue to ensure that the final peer-reviewed manuscript is made available in PubMed Central no later than 12 months after publication. You can use this post acceptance letter to ask for an ammendment to your copyright agreement (it is in Word and is entirely modifiable- you should change all grey areas): Publishers_letter_post-acceptance.Step 2. Submit the paper to NIH. This can be done in a number of ways. These methods vary in the version of the paper submitted, and the actions undertaken by the author and publisher.
A. Publish in a journal that deposits all final published articles in PubMed Central (PMC) without author involvement. For a list of the journals that submit all NIH Funded published articles to PubMed Central without author involvement go to: http://publicaccess.nih.gov/submit_process_journals.htm
B. Make arrangements to have the publisher deposit a specific final published article in PubMed Central.
C. Deposit the final peer-reviewed manuscript in PubMed Central yourself via the NIH Manuscript Submission System (NIHMS).
D. Complete the submission process for a final peer-reviewed manuscript that the publisher has deposited in the NIH Manuscript Submission System (NIHMS).Step 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 (PMCID). This policy includes applications submitted to the NIH for the May 25, 2008 due date and subsequent due dates. Intramural researchers must ensure a PubMed Central reference number (PMCID) is included in the Institute’s Annual Report for any publication they have authored or co-authored.
Five things you should have available when you submit a manuscript
1. Your eRA Commons username and password. An eRA Commons account is for NIH Extramural principal investigators, grantees or applicants. Alternatively you may have an NIH Login (for Intramural NIH scientists and staff), an HHMI Login (for HHMI-funded investigators), or an MyNCBI (for third party submitters). If you don’t have one of these logins you can sign up for one on the NIHMS page.
2. Journal Name
3. Manuscript Name
4. Grant Number(s) or at minimum the PI’s name – you can look up the PI’s grant numbers
5. Manuscript File(s)How do I submit manuscripts via NIHMS? (from: http://www.nihms.nih.gov/faq.html#q4)
Step 1: Log in: Users can log in to NIHMS using their eRA Commons login or their NIH login. Third party submissions may be made by My NCBI account holders. Publisher login accounts are available for publishers interested in submitting manuscripts on behalf of authors to NIHMS.
Step 2: Designate support: Submitters select the journal name, enter the manuscript title, and select all appropriate (NIH and/or HHMI) funding mechanisms that supported the manuscript.
Step 3: Upload manuscript: After providing basic information about the manuscript and contact information, users can upload their manuscript file(s). The system will generate a receipt of the uploaded files in PDF format. The PDF Receipt summarizes the information entered into the system, and merges the manuscript's files into one viewable document. Submitters confirm that the manuscript and any additional supporting documents have been successfully received by NIHMS. The NIHMSID is assigned at this time.
Step 4: Submission agreement and processing: An email will be sent to the Principal Investigator (PI) or corresponding author to approve the PDF and indicate the release date when the manuscript will be made publicly available on PMC. Upon approval by the submitter and the PI/author, the manuscript will be converted into XML - the standardized digital format used by PubMed Central.
Step 5: Approval of the converted manuscript (web version):
After the conversion process, the PI/author will review a version of the manuscript as it will appear in PubMed Central. At this time corrections may be requested, if necessary. After final approval, the article will be publicly accessible through PubMed Central after the time-delay specified by the PI/author.Sample Citations
- Chao, L.-W., J.A. Pagan, and B.J. Soldo. 2008. "End-of-Life Medical Treatment Choices: Do Survival Chances and Out-of-Pocket Costs Matter?" Medical Decision Making 28(4):511-523. NIHMSID: NIHMS69550.
- Grajeda, R., J.R. Behrman, R. Flores, J.A. Maluccio, R. Martorell, and A.D. Stein. 2005. "The Human Capital Study 2002-04: tracking, data collection, coverage, and attrition." Food and Nutrition Bulletin 26(2 Suppl 1):S15-24. PMCID: PMC1978414.
- Cerrato, A., et al. 2006. “Genetic interactions between Drosophila melanogaster menin and Jun/Fos.” Developmental Biology 298(1):59-70. PMCID: PMC Journal - In Process
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