NIH Public Access Policy

Overview

The NIH Public Access policy mandates public access to the results of NIH funded research in order to advance science and improve human health. The policy applies to all peer-reviewed articles based on research funded by NIH that are accepted for publication on or after April 7, 2008. Authors are required to submit, or have submitted for them, an electronic copy of their final peer-reviewed manuscript to PubMed Central (PMC) upon acceptance for publication, where it will be made available to the public no later than 12 months after publication. PMC is a digital repository maintained by the National Library of Medicine.

As a recipient of NIH funds, the University of Rochester (UR) must comply with this policy. Principal investigators are responsible for ensuring that articles arising directly from their NIH awards are submitted to PMC and must indicate compliance with this policy on the Office of Research and Project Administration's (ORPA) internal sign-off form.

Important Dates for UR Researchers

April 7, 2008: Peer-reviewed manuscripts based on NIH funded research accepted for publication on or after April 7, 2008 must be submitted to PMC upon acceptance for publication. Investigators, or a designated third party such as an administrator or librarian, can submit manuscripts to PMC via the NIH Manuscript Submission (NIHMS) web site.
May 25, 2008: Effective May 25, 2008 investigators need to include the PMC ID number or NIHMS ID number for articles that fall under the policy and arose from the investigator's NIH award when citing the article in NIH progress reports, new applications and renewals. This policy includes applications submitted to NIH for the May 25, 2008 due date and subsequent due dates. NIHMS ID numbers are assigned when the manuscript is submitted. PMC ID numbers can be found in the PubMed database. Miner Library staff can help locate PMC ID numbers. Contact the Miner Reference Desk at 275-2487 or Miner_Information@urmc.rochester.edu.

Copyright & Submitting Manuscripts to PMC

Journals that already submit to PMC: Many journals already submit ALL their articles to PMC. If an article is published in one of these journals, the author does not need to do anything further to comply with the policy. A complete list of these journals is available at PMC.

Journals that submit to PMC upon notification by the author: Additional publishers will deposit articles based on NIH funded research in PMC if the author notifies them that the article is subject to the NIH Public Access policy. A standard cover letter approved by the UR Office of Counsel is available for this purpose.

Journals that do not submit to PMC: If the publisher does not submit the article, UR authors must submit the final version of the manuscript to PMC when it is accepted for publication using the NIH Manuscript Submission System (NIMHS). Before signing a publication or copyright transfer agreement, UR authors must ensure that the agreement permits the submission of the author’s final manuscript to PMC.

Authors must notify publishers that the article is based on research funded by NIH and is subject to the NIH Public Access policy when submitting it for review. It is recommended that UR authors use the standard cover letter approved by the UR Office of Counsel for this purpose.
If the publisher’s publication or copyright transfer agreement does not contain language allowing the author to submit a copy of the final manuscript to PMC to be made publicly available no later than 12 months after publication, an addendum approved by the UR Office of Counsel reserving this right must be added to the publication or copyright transfer agreement.

Help with submitting manuscripts: Some publishers are charging fees to submit articles to PMC. Paying the publisher is NOT necessary. UR authors can avoid paying the fee by submitting the manuscript to PMC themselves or designating a third party such as an administrator or librarian to do the submission. The NIMHS system is simple and easy to use. NIH provides tutorials on using the NIMHS system. Staff from Miner Library can also assist in submitting the manuscripts and/or provide training. Contact Michele Shipley (275-6878, Michele_Shipley@urmc.rochester.edu) for more information.

Additional information about individual publishers' policies is available as part of this web site.

Compliance

Compliance with the NIH Public Access policy is required, and will be considered a term and condition of grant awards or cooperative agreements, 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. Non-compliance will be addressed administratively by NIH, and may delay or prevent awarding of funds. Compliance with the Public Access policy is not a factor in the evaluation of grant applications.

Benefits of Policy

Potential benefits of the Public Access policy for NIH grantees include:

• Grant progress reporting requirements will be fulfilled by substituting manuscript deposit for the submission of print copies of articles.

• Articles will be preserved and archived by the National Library of Medicine.

• Articles deposited to PMC will be cross-indexed with other NCBI databases such as PubMed and GenBank.

• Visibility (and possibly, citation) of the research will be enhanced by public access.