On May 2, 2005, The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Public Access Policy went into effect for NIH-funded researchers to submit their final, peer-reviewed manuscripts—only those that have been accepted for publication—to PubMed Central (PMC).

To facilitate this submission process, the NIH developed the NIH Manuscript Submission System (NIHMS) as a way to manage your manuscript submissions.

Your manuscript can be submitted in a wide range of electronic word-processing formats. Additional files, such as figures, tables, or supplementary information, should also be included with your manuscript submission. You do not need to format your manuscript beyond the requirements of the journal that has accepted your article.

This user’s guide gives you step-by-step instructions on how to submit and approve manuscripts so that they may be placed in PMC for permanent archiving.

If you find that you have additional questions or would like to submit comments regarding the NIHMS System, please contact the NIHMS Help Desk.