What is the NIH Public Access Policy?

This policy requires scientists to make the results of their NIH-funded research publicly available in NLM’s digital archive, PubMed Central (PMC). When publishing these results in a peer-reviewed journal scientists must deposit the final manuscript of their articles in PMC.

For an overview: http://publicaccess.nih.gov/

Log into My NCBI.

Click on your login name on the top right.

Click Change under Linked Accounts.

From the list of Login Account Options, Choose NIH & eRA Commons, and then log in to your eRA Commons account.

Browse the NIH's eRA Commons page for more information.

A My NCBI Account linked to an eRA Commons account can be used to view references, confirm compliance, and add or delete awards.

The following video from the NYU School of Medicine outlines the procedures for compliance with the NIH Public Access Policy.  It specifically addresses the penalty for non-compliance, what is meant by the "final peer-reviewed manuscript," the difference between PubMed and PubMed Central, and the use of the NIH Manuscript Submission System (NIHMS).

A more detailed examination of these topics is available from this video from the Louise Darling Biomedical Library at UCLA.

Submitting Your Article

• You must retain the right to deposit your article in PubMed Central (PMC).
• There are four methods of submission to PMC.
• For two of the submission methods, the journal/publisher will submit your article for you.
• For the other two submission methods you are required to submit your article to the NIH Manuscript Submission System (NIHMS).
• See the Submission to PMC tab of this guide for more information.

Reporting, Citing, and Managing Your Article

• You are required to provide the PubMed Central ID (PMCID) number when citing your article.
• If you have not been issued a PMCID, use the NIHMS number in reports for the first three months after the article has been published.
• After three months, use the article's PMCID whenever citing it.
• See the After Submission to PMC tab of this guide for more information.

For more information or questions about this guide, find your informationist.

A new Biographical Sketch format, using SciENcv, is required for all NIH- and AHRQ-funded grants. As of October 2015, the NIH has made clarifications to the Biosketch requirement, which can be found at the end of this announcement.

For instructions, see the NLM Technical Bulletin's blog post or view the YouTube video tutorial.

Find more information on the new Biosketch format and SciENcv updates for grant applications with due dates after May 24, 2015.