The NIH Public Access Policy requires authors who receive NIH funding to make their peer-reviewed manuscripts freely available in PubMed Central (PMC) within a year of publication.
The policy applies to any manuscript that:
If your manuscript meets this criteria, you must deposit the postprint into PubMed Central (PMC) to make it freely available within 12 months of publication.
The new 2024 NIH Public Access Policy will remove the 12-month embargo period of the current policy, requiring authors to make their NIH-funded articles available in PMC as soon as their work is published. The effective date is now July 1, 2025 (see notice NOT-OD-25-101). Eligible manuscripts accepted for publication on or after July 1, 2025 must comply with the new policy.
For more information on how this policy will affect your publishing agreements, potential conflicts with journal policies on embargoes, and more, see the Authors Alliance’s webpage: The NIH Public Access Policy: Q&A for Authors.
Before signing any of your author rights away to the publisher, make sure that your publishing agreement states that you can make your postprint freely available in PMC within 12 months after publication. To do this, either:
There are four different methods for depositing your manuscript into PMC. The method you follow depends on your journal or publisher. If you’re not sure which method applies to you, refer to the NIH's page Determine Submission Method.
My Bibliography is a tool available in My NCBI that allows you to add citations and link awards to those citations. Once you link your eRA Commons account to My NCBI, you’ll also be able to track the compliance status of your citations in My Bibliography.
With citations and awards added to My Bibliography, you'll be able to create a Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR) that shows compliance with the NIH Public Access Policy.
For information on other public access policies: