![[cupola]](/img/cupola.jpg)
NIH Public Access
Policy Resources
In late 2007, President Bush signed into law an omnibus appropriations bill, whereby the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will require all investigators who receive NIH funding to make digital copies of their final, peer-reviewed manuscripts publicly available in the National Library of Medicine's digital repository, PubMed Central. This law betokens the emergence of Open Access (OA) publishing as a viable alternative for the dissemination of scholarly information. For more information...
Guidelines
- ARL Guide for Research Universities
- When do NIH-funded authors need to comply?
- Locating PMCID Reference Numbers
Dual Notification Strategy
In order to reserve the rights needed to comply with the policy and ensure that publishers are fully aware that articles submitted for review fall under the policy, it is recommended that authors use a dual notification approach of a cover letter and an addendum. The first step is to attach a cover letter alerting publishers that the article being submitted arose from research funded by the NIH, and therefore rights will need to be granted by the publisher to the author allowing the author to submit the final peer-reviewed manuscript to PubMed Central. Use of this cover letter is recommended for all NIH-funded articles, regardless of publishers' stated policies on allowing compliance.
If the publisher does not explicitly grant authors the rights needed to comply with the policy, either through publication agreements or policy statements, authors will need to attach an addendum to the publication or copyright transfer agreement. When attaching an addendum, write the phrase "subject to attached addendum" beneath the author's signature on the publisher's contract, and staple the addendum to the contract. Further instructions, and additional addenda, can be found below under the "Copyright Management" section.
Back to topCopyright Management
In addition to using addenda with copyright agreements, authors may also want to notify editors via a cover letter that the article submitted for review falls under the policy.
Sample language an author or institution might add to copyright agreements to ensure the right to archive publications:
Back to top"Journal acknowledges that Author retains the right to provide a copy of the final manuscript to the NIH upon acceptance for Journal publication, for public archiving in PubMed Central as soon as possible but no later than 12 months after publication by Journal." (Print version)
Highlights
-
April 7, 2008
From this date forward, all peer-reviewed articles resulting from NIH-funded research must be submitted to PubMed Central upon acceptance for publication.
-
May 25, 2008
Publications cited in proposals, applications and progress reports must include the PubMed Central reference number (PMCID) for articles that fall under the Policy and are authored or co-authored by the investigator, or arose from the investigator's award. This includes applications submitted for the May 25, 2008, due date and subsequent due dates. If the PMCID is not yet available, the NIH Manuscript Submission system reference number (NIHMS ID) should be submitted.
For More Information...
- NIH Public Access (FAQ)
- NIH Manuscript Submission (Help)
- PubMed Central
- Journals that Submit Articles to PubMed Central
- SHERPA/RoMEO (Publisher Copyright Policies and Self-Archiving)
See also WFU Coy C. Carpenter Library's NIH Public Access policy resources. For more information or if you have questions about the policy, contact Molly Keener, 716-4203.
Back to top