NIH Public Access Policy and You: Home

!! NIH-funded researchers should be aware of critical updates to the NIH Public Access Policy that will take effect on July 1, 2025. 

The NIH has announced that the 2024 NIH Public Access Policy will now apply to all articles accepted for publication on or after July 1, 2025. Due to the significant policy changes and the new, accelerated implementation timeline, it is important for all NIH-funded researchers to understand the requirements and adjust their research plans to comply with them in order to avoid jeopardizing their current and future funding opportunities.

Key Information:

• Immediate submission to PubMed Central (PMC): Authors should submit the Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM) to PMC as soon as it is accepted for publications, to be made publicly available on the official date of publication (with “zero embargo”). 

• July 1st acceptance date: The new requirements will apply to articles accepted for publication on or after July 1, 2025 even if they were already submitted for peer review when the policy was announced. For some, this may result in unplanned expenses. 

• Open Access fees: Authors should investigate their preferred journals’ policies on Green Open Access and depositing to PMC. While the NIH does not require payment from authors, many journals will charge open access fees, so the only free path to compliance may be choosing a different journal. 

• Self-archiving: Even if a journal allows authors to make their AAM available immediately, many require authors to deposit the manuscript to PMC on their own. 

• Compliance and enforcement: Non-compliance may affect NIH's future funding decisions for the author’s institution or result in delayed award processing. 

Preparation Steps

• Learn what the updated 2024 NIH Public Access Policy requires and consider the publishing options that work best for your situation.
  • Review publishing options in the UNC Libraries' Open Access and Scholarly Communications guide.
• Review the Q&A for Authors on the updated NIH Public Access Policy from the Authors Alliance.
• Make the necessary preparations to ensure that manuscripts accepted for publication on or after July 1, 2025 comply with the new 2024 NIH Public Access Policy.
• If you need help understanding a journal’s policies, the Public Access Policy requirements, or how to submit a manuscript to PMC, ask a Librarian.  
  • UNC Lineberger affiliates can email Jamie Ede
  • All other UNC researchers can contact the Health Sciences Library or email OAPublishing@unc.edu. 

Public Access Requirement

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Public Access Policy applies to all grants, including those awarded prior to the implementation date.  Visit the Applicability criteria to determine if the NIH Public Access Policy applies to you.

The Policy requires that all peer-reviewed publications arising from research funded by NIH, in whole or in part, must be submitted to the digital archive PubMed Central upon acceptance for publication. The current 2008 Policy requires that the Author Accepted Manuscript (AAMs) or Final Published Article is accessible to the public in PubMed Central no later than 12 months after publication. The full policy can be found here: https://sharing.nih.gov/public-access-policy/public-access-policy-overview   The current 2008 Public Access Policy remains in effect for papers accepted for publication prior to July 1, 2025.

Policy Changes

As described above, the new 2024 NIH Public Access Policy is effective for manuscripts accepted for publication on or after July 1, 2025. This 2024 Policy update requires that an Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM) accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal is submitted to PubMed Central (PMC) upon acceptance for publication, for public availability without embargo upon the Official Date of Publication.

Authors must include a statement in the AAM and Final Published Article that satisfies the requirements in the NIH Grants Policy Statements GPS 4.2.1 and GPS 8.2.1 and other requirements for acknowledging federal (NIH) funding in the terms of Other Transaction agreements and applicable contracts.

When submitting to NIH, authors must also agree to a license similar to the Government Use License (2 CFR 200.315), explicitly granting NIH the right to make the AAM publicly available in PMC, with no embargo, on the Official Date of Publication.

Definitions

• Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM): "The 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."
• Final Published Article: "The journal's authoritative copy, including journal or publisher copyediting and stylistic edits, and formatting changes, even prior to the compilation of a volume or issue or the assignment of associated metadata."
• Official Date of Publication: "The date on which the Final Published Article is first made available in final, edited form, whether in print or electronic (i.e., online) format.

How do I comply?

NIH requires that investigators submit manuscripts upon acceptance for publication. Instructions for doing so can be found on the "Submit When Publishing" page.

If you are trying to demonstrate compliance retrospectively, instructions for doing so can be found on the "Retrospective Submission" page.

If the journal in which you wish to publish will not comply with one of the four submission methods described in this guide, it is the responsibility of the author/awardee to choose a different journal that does comply with the public access policy.

How Do I Monitor My Compliance?

You can monitor compliance for your grant using My NCBI. A tutorial for how do this can be found on the “Manage Compliance with My NCBI” page.