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NIH Public Access / PMCID

For questions or help with the PMCID process, please email publications@prc.utexas.edu.

Overview

All peer-reviewed journal articles arising from NIH-funded research — accepted for publication on or after July 1, 2025 — must comply with the updated NIH Public Access Policy.

Key Requirements & Compliance Steps

1. What to Submit: Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM) or Final Published Article

  • Upon acceptance for publication, the Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM) — the author’s final peer-reviewed version including all revisions, tables/figures, and supplementary materials — must be submitted to PubMed Central (PMC) for immediate public access.
  • Alternatively (if the journal has an agreement with the National Library of Medicine (NLM)), the Final Published Article (the journal’s formatted, edited version) may be deposited directly by the publisher upon the official publication date.

2. Timing — No Embargo Period Allowed

  • The updated policy eliminates the previous 12-month embargo. For articles accepted on or after July 1, 2025, manuscripts must become publicly available in PMC immediately upon publication (i.e., on the “Official Date of Publication”).
  • Embargo periods, which were previously permitted under the older (2008) policy, are no longer allowed.

3. Submission Process

  • Authors may deposit via the existing submission pathways (e.g., via the NIH Manuscript Submission (NIHMS) System or other recognized PMC submission routes).
  • When submitting, authors agree to a standard license (mirroring the “Government Use License” under 2 CFR 200.315 or successor regulation), granting NIH the right to make the manuscript publicly available without embargo.
  • Submission to PMC under the new policy remains free — authors are not required to pay a fee for compliance, regardless of whether the journal publishes open access or subscription-based.

4. Acknowledgments / Funding Disclosure / Rights Statement

  • The manuscript (both AAM and/or Final Published Article) must include the required acknowledgment of NIH grant support, including the relevant Institute or Center and grant number, as per the stipulations in the NIH Grants Policy Statement (GPS) (e.g., GPS 4.2.1 and 8.2.1).
  • NIH strongly encourages inclusion of a “NIH Rights Statement” in manuscripts submitted for peer review, to alert journals/publishers that the work is subject to the 2024 Public Access Policy. Sample language may accompany the funding acknowledgment.

5. Applicability

  • The 2024–2025 revised policy applies to all NIH-funded peer-reviewed journal articles accepted on or after July 1, 2025, regardless of when the grant was awarded or closed.
  • Articles accepted before July 1, 2025 remain under the older 2008 Policy, which allowed a 12-month embargo.

    Why the Change?

    These updates implement the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) directive requiring immediate public access to federally funded research outputs.

    The removal of embargo periods is intended to enhance accessibility, accelerate dissemination of research findings, and ensure equitable public access to taxpayer-funded research.

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