NIH Public Access Policy

The NIH Public Access Policy is an open access mandate for NIH-funded research established by the National Institutes of Health in 2008 and updated in 2024. 

Under the updated policy, final peer-reviewed manuscripts or the Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM) reporting NIH-funded research that are accepted for publication on or after July 1, 2025, must be immediately deposited in NLM’s digital archive, PubMed Central (PMC) upon acceptance of publication at no embargo upon Official Date of Publication.

For an overview of the policy, visit the NIH's Public Access Policy website.

Submitting Your Research Output

• When signing publication agreements be sure to retain the right to deposit your article in PubMed Central (PMC); remember to assert that your manuscript is subject to the 2024 NIH Public Access Policy
• There are four methods of submission to PMC
  • For two of the submission methods (A and B), the journal/publisher will submit your Final Published Article for you
  • For the other submission methods (C and D), you or the publisher are required to submit your Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM)/Final Peer-Reviewed Manuscript to the NIH Manuscript Submission System (NIHMS)
  • See Submission to PMC for more information

Reporting, Citing, and Managing Your Submission

• You are required to provide the PubMed Central ID (PMCID) when citing your article; the PMCID is also proof of on time Policy compliance
• If you have not been issued a PMCID, use the NIHMS number until you received the PMCID
• See After Submission to PMC for more information