Public Access of Publications

Purpose

To require NIH-funded investigators and extramural staff to submit final peer-reviewed manuscripts to a public archive of research publications and to cite papers from NIH-funded research in applications, proposals, and progress reports, and contracts.

Procedure

NIH's public access policy has two requirements:

• Submission of final peer-reviewed manuscripts to the public PubMed Central (PMC) database of the National Library of Medicine.
• Citation of PMC IDs in NIH applications, proposals, and progress reports.

A final manuscript includes modifications from publication peer review but not necessarily copyediting changes. Authors must submit manuscripts even if the full text is on a public Web site.

Public access covers publications that report research funded in whole or in part by NIH. This includes grants, cooperative agreements, contracts, fellowships, and intramural research. It applies only to peer-reviewed papers published in journals, not to book chapters, editorials, reviews, or conference proceedings.

Compliance is a legal requirement and a term and condition of an NIH award. NIH monitors citations and may terminate funding or take other actions against investigators who do not comply.

NIH-Supported Investigators

Submission requirement. Unless the journal does it for you, submit an electronic version of your manuscript to PMC.

• Before submitting, inform the journal that the final peer-reviewed manuscript is subject to the NIH public access policy and discuss copyright with the publisher.
• Make sure copyright transfer or other publication agreements allow you to submit your paper to NIH. Copyright can stay with the publisher, authors, or awardees.
• Decide when NIH will make it public, up to 12 months after publication.

You can fulfill the public access requirement in the following ways:

• Let a journal listed on Journals That Submit All NIH-Funded Final Published Articles to PubMed Central submit the final published article on your behalf.
• Arrange to have the publisher put the article in the NIH Manuscript Submission (NIHMS).
• Submit the manuscript yourself in the NIHMS. For more information, see NIH's Submission Methods.
• Complete a submission the publisher already uploaded into NIHMS.

Send manuscripts to PMC through NIHMS using your eRA Commons login. For more information on uploading your manuscript, see NIHMS System Slide Show Help.

NIH can reimburse grantees for publication costs, including author fees, under certain conditions. Talk to a grants management specialist for details.

Citation requirement. For all applications, proposals, and progress reports when citing a paper that results from NIH funding, take one of the following steps:

• Include the PMC ID number at the end of the citation.
  • Note: PubMed (PM ID) and PMC (PMC ID) numbers are different. If you have the PubMed ID, use the National Library of Medicine's PM ID: PMC ID Converter to find out the PMC ID or vice versa.
  • Use this format: PMCID: PMC544119.
• If your PMC ID is not yet ready, do one of the following:
  • Include the NIH Manuscript Submission reference number (NIHMS ID) instead, e.g., NIHMSID: NIHMS55134.
  • State "PMC journal -- in process" -- only for articles in Journals That Submit Articles to PubMed Central.

If you fail to cite a PMC ID, you will get a email from your program officer. Email proof of compliance to your program officer, business officer, and grants management specialist right away.

You do not need to amend your progress report or application. See the September 23, 2008, Guide notice.

NIH Extramural Employees

All NIH extramural employees must comply with the public access policy.

Remember to follow NIAID's process in the Clearance of Extramural Publications and Presentations SOP for any manuscript you submit for publication.

• Send your manuscript with an NIH Publishing Agreement & Manuscript Cover Sheet (PDF) when you first submit your manuscript to a publisher unless another author is sending a cover sheet or your publisher lets you approve one online. At least one NIH author must sign the cover sheet .
• After your manuscript is accepted for publication, each NIH author should attach a signed Cover Sheet to the unsigned publisher’s agreement and return it to the publisher, or use a publisher's site to do this online.
• Follow the steps under the NIH-Supported Investigators, "Submission Requirement" header above, but log in to NIHMS using your NIH login.
• Submit an electronic copy of your final peer-reviewed manuscript to PMC through NIH Manuscript Submission.
• Review and acknowledge the terms and conditions of the PMC submission agreement.

Program Staff

Program staff also monitor awards of funded investigators for compliance with NIH's public access policy and have a role in enforcing it.

Monitoring awards for compliance. Follow these steps for renewal applications, progress reports, grant extensions, and grants transferred from another institute.

• Verify a PMC ID, NIHMS ID, or notation of "PMC journal -- in process" at the end of citations.
  • Log into Query View Report (QVR).
  • If you're looking for a particular PI's citations, search for the PI's name. If you're looking for citations within your portfolio, search for your own name.

  • When the hitlist opens, click the "Reports" button and select "Bibliography Listing" from the list that appears.

  • When the Bibliography Listing page opens, choose the "Public Access Compliancy Check" layout option and click the "Run Report" button.

  • When prompted, select "Enable Macros."
    • QVR will then generate a spreadsheet with the citations. Save this file to your computer before you use it.
    • The report will tell you where there's questionable compliance, but it's not the final authority, so click the publication links to check for compliance.
  • See QVR's Bibliography Listing (BIBLIO) for more information. You can also search using NIH's Scientific Publication Information Retrieval and Evaluation System instead of QVR.
• If a number is missing or you cannot verify a citation, send an email -- use text from the Grantee Letter -- to the PI, institutional business official, and grants management eRA mailbox. Use the auto-email shell linked to the PI's name in the Program Module.
• For progress reports, tell the PI to include the PMC ID in the future, but not to send a corrected report. Instead, they email proof of compliance to their program officer, grants management specialist, and business official.
• For more help, see Grant Bibliography Reporting Using SPIRES and QVR training slides.

Publishers

• Through NIH Manuscript Submission, submit to PMC a copyedited version of an author's final manuscript to replace the non-copyedited version.
• A link from an archived manuscript to your Web site will automatically be included if you routinely give this information to PMC.

Grants Management Staff

• If a PI is not compliant after the program officer's email reminder, contact the NIH Public Access Group at PublicAccess@NIH.gov to discuss possible enforcement actions.
• Put documentation in the grant folder, including any communications with the program officer.

Scientific Review Officers

• Use an administrative note to document any compliance issues brought up by a reviewer.

Contacts

Grantees with questions should Contact Staff for Help.

If you have knowledge to share or want more information on this topic, email deaweb@niaid.nih.gov with the title of this page or its URL and your question or comment. Thanks for helping us clarify and expand our knowledge base.

Links

Clearance of Extramural Publications and Presentations SOP

Copyright and Publication for Grantees questions and answers

eSNAP (Electronic Streamlined Noncompeting Award Process) SOP

National Library of Medicine LocatorPlus

NIH Public Access

Noncompeting Progress Reports and Program Officer Approval SOP

Public Access Frequently Asked Questions

Revised Policy on Enhancing Public Access to Archived Publications Resulting from NIH-Funded Research (January 11, 2008)