Declaring Independence at Penn
NIH Public Access Policy & NIH-funded research
Overview
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has released its new Public Access Policy which becomes effective April 7, 2008. Under a new federal law, NIH is now requiring that the author’s final version of any peer-reviewed journal article resulting from NIH-funded activities must be submitted to PubMed Central (PMC), NIH’s digital repository, where it will be made available to the public within 12 months after the journal article is published.
The information listed below will help with several of the compliance issues that University of Pennsylvania authors will need to address. In the coming weeks, more information regarding the new policy will be posted to this page. In the meantime, if you have questions about the new policy and how it affects you as an NIH researcher, contact the Biomedical Library at libref@mail.med.upenn.edu or 215-898-5818.
How to Comply
Copyright
Authors need to ensure that any copyright agreement between themselves and their publisher permits the submission of the author’s manuscript to PubMed Central. Suggested wording from NIH to be added to the publisher’s agreement can be found here.
Manuscript Submission
Authors may submit an article to the journal of their choice for publication.
  • If you choose to publish your article in a journal that automatically submits to PubMedCentral, you do not need to further comply with the new policy. For a listing of these journals click here.
  • For any other journal, authors must use the NIH Manuscript Submission System (NIHMS). This system is easy to use and submission can be done by the author or a third party in your lab or department. Submission is free, but some publishers will charge a fee to do this for you. Paying the publisher is NOT necessary if you or a third party submit the manuscript yourself.
Citing PubMed Central (PMC) ID Numbers
When you submit a manuscript to NIH you will receive a NIHMS ID number. Once it appears in PubMed Central, it will be assigned a PMC ID number.
  • Beginning May 25, 2008, you will need to cite the PMC ID or NIHMS ID number for any articles you cite in your progress report, new applications or renewals. This is only needed for articles accepted for publication on or after April 7, 2008.
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More information regarding the policy and manuscript submission:
Additional resources:
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