NIH Public Access Policy: Home
About the Policy
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Public Access Policy requires that all peer-reviewed publications arising from NIH-funded research must be made available in PubMed Central (PMC) upon acceptance for publication. The Policy requires that these papers are accessible to the public in PMC no later than 12 months after publication. Awards may be delayed if publications are not in compliance.
The NIH's Frequently Asked Questions about the NIH Public Access Policy provides useful information about a number of policy-related issues.
This guide brings together several resources for complying with the NIH Public Access Policy. If you have any questions, or would like the library to help you comply with the policy, please contact us at publicaccesshelp@rice.edu.
Do you receive funding from other federal agencies? Learn more at Fondren's Funder Public Access Policies website.
Locating and Citing PMCIDs, NIHMS IDs, and articles in-process
NIH grantees need to demonstrate compliance with the Public Access Policy when submitting an application, proposal, or progress report to the NIH. Grantees should include the PubMed Central identification number (PMCID) for each paper that was accepted for publication after April 7, 2008 that arose from their NIH award, even if they are not an author or co-author on the paper.
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Include PMCID in CitationsWhere to find PMCIDs and how to cite NIH Public Access Policy-compliant articles.
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PMCID - PMID - Manuscript ID - DOI ConverterThis utility allows you to start with the unique identifier for an article that is in PMC in order to find additional unique identifiers that may apply to the article, such as: PMID (from PubMed), PMCID (from PMC), Manuscript ID (from NIHMS), and DOI (Digital Object Identifier).
Submitting Your Manuscript to PubMed Central (PMC)
There are several methods for submitting manuscripts to PMC. Sometimes, the author is responsible for submitting the manuscript; other times, the publisher submits the manuscript on the authors behalf. Be sure you are aware of the publisher's policy. The library can help with this.
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Overview of submission methodsThere are four methods to ensure that an applicable paper is submitted to PMC in compliance with the NIH Public Access Policy. Authors may use whichever method is most appropriate for them and consistent with their publishing agreement. To identify the submission and reporting method for a specific journal, use the submission method identification wizard.
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Submission Method Identification WizardUse the wizard to see if a journal uses Submission Method A, which make the final published version of all NIH-funded articles available in PMC no later than 12 months after publication without author involvement.
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NIH Public Access Policy and You: Retrospective SubmissionFrom the UNC Health Sciences Library, a useful guide if you already published and are in non-compliance with the NIH Public Access Policy.
Monitoring Compliance
PI's are responsible for compliance for all publications resulting from NIH-funded research, even if they are not a co-author. Fondren staff are available to help authors determine the compliance status of works under the NIH Public Access Policy and acquiring PMCIDs for past publications.
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NIH Public Access Policy and You: Manage Compliance with My NCBIResource from the UNC Health Sciences Library that covers managing compliance to the NIH Public Access Policy.