4g. Public access
- What is the NIH Public Access Policy?
- Whom can I contact?
- Is there training from the NIH?
- What is PubMed Central and how is it different from PubMed?
- Does the NIH Public Access Policy apply to me?
- What must I do to comply with the NIH Public Access Policy?
- My paper is based on research only partially funded by NIH. Is the paper required to be submitted to PubMed Central?
- Am I responsible for papers that result from my NIH-funded project for which I am not an author?
- How do I submit the final peer-reviewed manuscript to NIH/PubMed Central?
- If I am not funded by NIH, how do I find out more information about the open access policies of other sponsors of research?
- Links to relevant policies and procedures.
1. What is the NIH Public Access Policy?
The NIH Public Access Policy requires all investigators funded by the NIH to submit an electronic version of their final peer-reviewed manuscripts upon its journal acceptance to PubMed Central, to be publicly available in PubMed Central no later than 12 months after the official date of publication.
2. Whom can I contact?
The UIowa's Hardin Library staff provides compliance guidelines and resources; training for departments and labs; and a manuscript submission service for completing the PubMed submission. For more information, visit the Hardin Library’s NIH Public Access Policy website.
The Division of Sponsored Programs is also available to assist with questions concerning PubMed requirements and compliance.
3. Is there training from the NIH?
The NIH has online tutorials and videos to demonstrate:
4. What is PubMed Central and how is it different from PubMed?
PubMed Central (PMC) is an electronic archive of peer-reviewed full-text journal articles and offers free access to its contents. PMC contains nearly 2 million articles, most of which have a corresponding entry in PubMed. PubMed is a database of citations and abstracts for millions of articles from thousands of journals in medical and biomedical sciences. It includes links to full-text articles at several thousand journal web sites as well as to most of the articles in PubMed Central.
5. Does the NIH Public Access Policy apply to me?
The NIH Public Access Policy applies to all peer-reviewed articles that arise, in whole or in part, from direct costs funded by NIH and accepted for publication on or after April 7, 2008. The Public Access Policy does not apply to dissertations, book chapters, conference proceedings or letters to the editor. For assistance in determining applicability, click here.
6. What must I do to comply with the NIH Public Access Policy?
You must determine applicability, address copyright, submit the paper to PubMed Central PMC and include the PMCID in citations.
7. My paper has multiple authors and/or is funded from multiple NIH sources. Who should submit the final peer-reviewed manuscript to PubMed Central?
Any author may submit the final peer-reviewed manuscript. A final peer-reviewed manuscript need only be submitted once to the NIH Manuscript Submission system. Authors will be notified during the submission process if they try to submit a manuscript that has already been submitted.
Papers can be assigned multiple NIH award numbers during submission. They can also be linked to an award via the eRA Commons when completing an electronic Progress Report, or listed as arising from any NIH award in writing when submitting an application, proposal or progress report.
8. Am I responsible for papers that result from my NIH-funded project for which I am not an author?
You are responsible for ensuring the submission of final peer-reviewed manuscripts that arise directly from their awards, even if you are not an author or co-author of the paper. You should ensure that authors are aware of and comply with the NIH Public Access Policy.
9. How do I submit the final peer-reviewed manuscript to NIH/PubMed Central?
You must use the NIH Manuscript Submission (NIHMS) system when submitting the final peer-reviewed manuscript. Some journals will deposit the final, peer-reviewed manuscript files for you, in which case you still must provide the award information and review/approve the final peer-reviewed manuscript.
There are multiple methods for submission to PMC depending on the publishing agreement with the journal.
10. If I am not funded by NIH, how do I find out more information about the open access policies of other sponsors of research?
Visit http://roarmap.eprints.org, a registry of open access repositories mandating open access policies. Many national and international funders and educational institutions are included.