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US Federal Funder Public Access Policies: NIH

This guide provides information and resources on federal research funding agencies' public access policies as outlined in the 2013 and 2022 Office of Science and Technology Policy Public Access Directives.

NIH Public Access Policy Overview

The National Institutes of Health has the longest-standing Public Access Policy for a U.S. federal research-funding agency (policy established 2008), and served as a model for many other policies when the OSTP directed other federal funding agencies to develop public access plans in early 2013. The NIH is a major source of funding for UC San Diego Research.

In short, the NIH Public Access Policy is an open access mandate requiring that research papers describing research funded by the National Institutes of Health must be available to the public for free through PubMed Central within 12 months of publication. Failure to comply with this mandate can jeopardize continued and future funding.

NIH Scientific Data Sharing

NIH has issued a new Data Management and Sharing policy, effective January 25, 2023. This policy promotes data sharing in order to accelerate biomedical research. Researchers and institutions are expected to:

  • Plan and budget for data management and sharing
  • Submit a Data Management and Sharing Plan with each funding application
  • Comply with approved Data Management and Sharing Plans

Further information to assist UC San Diego researchers with understanding the new requirements is available at UC San Diego Libraries' NIH Public Access Policy guide. NIH's comprehensive guidance on the new policy is available at sharing.nih.gov.

NIH indicates that it anticipates no changes to its new Data Management and Sharing policy as a result of the 2022 OSTP memo on public access to the results of federally-funded research.

Table Comparing the 2008 Public Access Policy to new Draft Public Access Policy:

2008 NIH Public Access Policy

2024 NIH Draft Public Access Policy

Scope

Applies to final peer-reviewed manuscripts funded directly by NIH.

Applies to peer-reviewed Manuscripts supported in whole or in part by NIH funding. Policy applies regardless of whether non-NIH funds contributed to developing or writing the Manuscript.

Key Definitions

N/A

Manuscript: Author's final version that has been accepted for journal publication and includes all revisions resulting from the peer review process, including all associated tables, graphics, and supplemental material.

Official Date of Publication: The date on which the article is first made available in final, edited form, whether in print or electronic ( i.e., online) format.

Policy Requirement

Requires submission of the final peer-reviewed manuscript to PubMed Central upon acceptance for publication. NIH makes manuscripts available within 12 months of the official date of publication.

Requires

Submission of the final peer-reviewed Manuscript to PubMed Central upon its acceptance for publication, for public availability without embargo upon the Official Date of Publication.

A statement in the Manuscript acknowledging federal funding.

When a Manuscript is submitted to NIH, providing NIH with a standard license that mirrors that of the Government Use License at 45 CFR 75.322(b), explicitly granting NIH the right to make the Manuscript publicly available through PubMed Central without embargo upon the Official Date of Publication.

Rights in Manuscripts

In FAQs, NIH provides sample language an author or institution might add to a copyright agreement with a journal. In addition, authors submitting Manuscripts to PubMed Central must agree to the NIH Manuscript Submission Statement that, in part, allows NIH to tag the Manuscript and make it available on PubMed Central.

NIH proposes:

  • To clarify that government use rights are given to NIH upon acceptance of funding.
  • That those submitting Manuscripts to PubMed Central will provide a license to NIH that mirrors the Government Use License.
  • Encourages authors to clearly communicate NIH's rights through a statement in the Manuscript itself (see Draft Guidance on Government Use License and Rights on suggested language).

Compliance and Enforcement

The awardee institution is responsible for complying with the terms and conditions of the award. NIH may take one or more enforcement actions, depending on the severity and duration of the non-compliance.

NIH proposes to maintain the same pathways to compliance as under the current policy but adds that non-compliance with the requirement to properly communicate and acknowledge federal funding is itself a violation of the terms and conditions of award and may result in non-compliance with the NIH Public Access Policy.

Effective Date

April 7, 2008

October 1, 2025, subject to public comment period before finalization.

 

2024-06 Table by Agnes Balla, Director for Research Policy Analysis and Coordination, University of California, Office of the President

Compliance Resources

Versions:

  • The Published version is the article as it appears in the journal when published.  
  • Final Peer-Reviewed Manuscript version—also known as the author's final draft, author’s accepted manuscript or post-print—is the author’s version of the draft document that incorporates peer review suggestions. It often a Microsoft Word document that has the same content as the published version, but lacks the typesetting and page numbering of the published version. 

Compliance and Submission Resources:

NIH Public Access is the home page for the NIH Public Access Policy.
 
NIH Submission Methods contains a table illustrating the four different methods used to comply with the NIH mandate and specific instructions for each method.
 
Journals that can submit articles on behalf of researchers (Method A) lists journals that can deposit the published version of articles directly to PubMed Central without the author's involvement. Pay close attention to the starting date. If the article was published before that date, contact the publisher to see if they can deposit or if you need to do so.
 
Publishers that Will Deposit a Specific Paper in PubMed Central on Request (Methods B and D) lists those publishers that will deposit work for an author, sometimes for a fee. See "Journal and Publisher Information" below for a resource that will help if you don't know who published a journal.
 
Journal and Publisher Information The SHERPA/RoMEO database contains information about publisher policies on open sharing, including NIH compliance. It is searchable by journal title or by publisher. It is an easy way to see who publishes a particular journal, as well as links to publisher and journal websites with contact information that might be needed as you work your way through the compliance process.

Medicine and Global Public Health Librarian

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Karen Heskett
Contact:
858/534-1199