DATE: January 25, 2006

REPLACES:

General Administration No. 5 dated January 27, 2000;

General Administration No. 12, dated September 4, 1998

APPROVAL OF MANUSCRIPTS, ABSTRACTS,
PRESS RELEASES, AND PRESENTATIONS

TOPIC: Review and Approval of Manuscripts, Abstracts, Press Releases, and Presentations

PURPOSE:

To inform ORS management of ORS publishing activities and provide an opportunity for the Director, Office of Research Services to provide policy approval on manuscripts, abstracts, press releases, and presentations.

COVERAGE:

This policy covers all materials related to ORS or NIH activities that are intended to be published, presented, or disseminated outside NIH under the signature of a person representing their official capacity at NIH, all materials requiring review in the Office of the Director, NIH, prior to submission to that office, and material prepared by others (e.g., contractors) in cooperation with ORS staff. Examples of materials include original articles, review articles, book chapters, book reviews, conference proceedings, letters to the editor, editorials, published or posted abstracts, written presentation materials, and talking points for oral presentations.

Material submitted for publication or dissemination that is not related to an employee = s official duties or is submitted or disseminated as a private citizen does not need to go through this approval process. Publishing or disseminating in relationship to an outside activity must receive approval on an HHS-520, A Request for Approval of Outside Activity (See NIH Manual Chapter 2300-735-4, A Outside Work and Related Activities With Outside Organizations at: http://ethics.od.nih.gov/chapters/735-4/735-4.htm

REFERENCES:

1. NIH MANUAL Chapter 1183, Publications.
2. NIH Policy and Procedures Manual 1130 Delegations of Authority Program General No. 3, Publish Articles and Results of Scientific Research.

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Policy

1. All manuscripts, abstracts, press releases, and presentations must be reviewed and approved before information can be disseminated outside NIH. Required signatures include:

   For Manuscripts, Abstracts, and Presentations

   1. Clearance Officials include the employee's Immediate Supervisor, Branch Chief (or equivalent), Division Director, and the Management Analysis Staff.*
      

      *For the Scientific cluster of ORS, the Scientific Resource Manager will also clear the Manuscript, Abstract, or Presentation.

   2. The Approving Official is the Director, Office of Research Services.

   For Press Releases

   1. Clearance Officials include the employee's Immediate Supervisor, Branch Chief (or equivalent), Division Director (Deputy Director, ORS or designee for ORS/OD employees), and Special Assistant to the Director.
   2. Approving Officials include the Director, ORS and the Associate Director for Communications, NIH.
2. If there are special circumstances, Division Directors may request an exclusion from the approval requirements established in this policy for specific categories of presentations, e.g., scientific or technical presentations with no policy implications. Such exclusions can only be approved by the Director, ORS. To request an exclusion from the approval requirements for such presentations, Division Directors must submit a memo requesting approval from the Director, ORS. The memo must specify the category of presentations to be excluded and the reasons warranting such exclusions. Signature and date lines for the Director, ORS' approval and disapproval must be inserted at the bottom of the memo.
3. In reviewing the material to be disseminated, clearance officials must consider at least the following factors:
   1. Does the material meet the guidelines and criteria established by the NIH Manual chapters in the References section of this policy? If appropriate, have approvals been obtained as required under those chapters?

      Reference No. 1

      1. Publications include bibliographies, books, chapters of a book or textbook, booklets, brochures, collections of abstracts, fact sheets, indexes, leaflets, manuals, monographs, newsletters, pamphlets, reviews, periodicals, proceedings, recurring reports, statistical compendiums, or the like prepared by any NIH component, directly or by means of a contract.
      2. The following materials are excluded from review at the NIH-level but may require ORS review if they fit the descriptions under the Coverage section of this policy:

         (1) Administrative Materials include instructions issued by an NIH component through program channels to grantees, contractors, and collaborators, or administrative materials intended principally for use within DHHS unless they:

               (a) Include appropriate number of copies intended for external distribution, or are of any quantity for distribution to Members of Congress.

               (b) Contain signed forewords or prefaces or other introductory messages similar to those customarily appearing in publications distributed externally, or containing acknowledgments, bylines, or credit lines naming NIH employees or contractors.

               (c) Are suggested for sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office.

         (2) Scientific and/or professional manuscripts by an NIH employee intended for publication in a non-NIH publication under an arrangement made by the employee as an individual and not as an employee.

         (3) Publications produced under NIH grants.

      3. Each publication must be of high quality and accurate both in specific details and in the general impressions. The material must be appropriate for dissemination by a Federal agency. It should be in accord with professional and ethical standards, as well as generally accepted standards of good taste.
      4. Approving or authorizing officials must avoid unnecessary and unproductive expenditures for a publication and duplication of a publication issued by another Federal or non-Federal agency.

      5. Requirements for labeling and identifying publications as being a product of the NIH, acknowledgments, photographs, etc., as well as review, approval, and distribution of the final product is contained in NIH Manual Chapter 1183, Publications , available at http://oma.nih.od.gov

      Reference No. 2

      1. This refers to the initial publication of scientific research articles written by NIH employees in privately published journals, encyclopedias and textbooks. It includes the permission to pay page charges and to purchase separates of the articles at time of publication, directly from the private publisher.
      2. Copyright will not be extended to the private publisher for the articles, even though the journal, encyclopedia or textbook may be copyrighted as a whole.
      3. Royalty payments will not be paid to the government.
      4. An annual report, listing articles and the journals in which they were published and the amount of monies expended for page charges and purchase of separates will be prepared and submitted to Director of Public Information, NIH. The Office of the Director, ORS will be responsible for collecting information pertaining to and then submitting this report.
      5. Expenses may not exceed $1,000 per item.
   2. Is the material appropriate in terms of relatedness to NIH and ORS mission objectives?
   3. Is the information accurate (e.g. citations, technical terms, names of persons and places, references, quotations, etc.)?
4. Violations of this policy will be referred to the employee's Division Director for administrative review and action.

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Procedures

1. The requestor will submit the following for clearance and approval:

   For Manuscripts and Abstracts

   1. Two (2) copies of a completed Approval Form (Attachment 1).

      The approval process for manuscripts or abstracts, within each ORS Division, includes arranging for review of the material by a "reader", generally an NIH employee knowledgeable in the subject matter. The "reader" must complete the "Reader's Statement" section of the Approval Form. A reader is not required when the senior (corresponding) author is from another NIH IC that is also reviewing the manuscript/abstract.

   2. Two (2) copies of the draft manuscript or abstract materials and figures.

      NOTE: In the case of scientific manuscripts, final approval must be obtained before page proofs are returned to the publisher.

   For Press Releases

   1. Two (2) copies of a completed Approval Form (Attachment 2).
   2. Two (2) copies of the draft press release materials and figures.

   For Presentations

   1. Two (2) copies of a completed Approval Form (Attachment 3).
   2. Two (2) copies of the draft presentation materials.
2. When a previously approved manuscript is submitted to a different journal, a new ORS Manuscript and Abstract Approval Form must be submitted along with a copy of the previous Approval Form. A copy of the manuscript does not need to be submitted and a new reader is not required.

QUESTIONS: Contact the Management Analysis Staff, phone 301-402-3750.

All previous ORS policies inconsistent with the provisions of this ORS policy are superseded.

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