Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS)/National Institutes of Health (NIH)

FYI: Revised Policy on Enhancing Public Access to Archived Publications Resulting from NIH-Funded Research

The NIH has announced that its Public Access Policy, which had been voluntary, is now mandatory.

The Policy requires that all investigators funded by the NIH submit or have submitted for them to the National Library of Medicine’s PubMed Central (PMC) an electronic version of their final, peer-reviewed manuscripts upon acceptance for publication. The manuscript must be made publicly available no later than 12 months after the official date of publication. PubMed Central (http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/) is the NIH digital archive of full-text, peer-reviewed journal articles.  Its content is publicly accessible and integrated with other databases.

The Policy applies to all peer-reviewed articles that arise, in whole or in part, from direct costs funded by NIH, or from NIH staff, that are accepted for publication on or after April 7, 2008. Institutions and investigators are responsible for ensuring that any publishing or copyright agreements concerning submitted articles fully comply with this Policy. The final, peer-reviewed manuscript includes all graphics and supplemental materials that are associated with the article. 

Beginning May 25, 2008, anyone submitting an application, proposal or progress report to the NIH must include the PMC or NIH Manuscript Submission reference number when citing applicable articles that arise from their NIH funded research. This policy includes applications submitted to the NIH for the May 25, 2008 due date and subsequent due dates.

Compliance with this Policy is a statutory requirement and a term and condition of the grant award and cooperative agreement, in accordance with the NIH Grants Policy Statement For contracts, NIH includes this requirement in all R&D solicitations and awards under Section H, Special Contract Requirements, in accordance with the Uniform Contract Format.

The complete text of the policy can be found in NIH Notice NOT-OD-08-033 (http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-08-033.html). If you have questions or concerns about the policy, please contact the OSP Assistant Director assigned to your school or department at X3-4365.