Policy Updates
Researchers holding federal funding should be aware of critical updates to the NIH Public Access Policy took place on July 1, 2025.
Originally scheduled to go into effect on December 31, 2025, these changes have been expedited by the federal government, and it is imperative that researchers understand and comply with the new requirements to avoid jeopardizing their current and future funding opportunities.
Key Changes to Note:
- Immediate Submission to PubMed Central: Researchers must submit their Author Accepted Manuscripts (AAM) (final peer-reviewed version of manuscript without journal formatting) to PubMed Central (PMC) on the same day as the article is published. This ensures that research is accessible to the public as soon as possible.
- No Embargo Period: There will no longer be an embargo period for journal articles. Full-text must be made publicly available in PubMed Central upon publication.
- Impact on Funding: Non-compliance with these new requirements could affect current and future funding opportunities, including grant renewals. It is crucial to adhere to these guidelines to maintain funding status.
- No Cost to Authors: Authors can submit their Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM) files to PubMed Central at no cost, regardless of whether they have published open access or not.
NIH researchers and their associates are encouraged to learn the various publishing Methods to make their manuscripts accepted for publication on or after July 1, 2025 comply with the new NIH Public Access Policy.
NIH Notice
The NIH Public Access Policy ensures that the public has access to the published results of NIH funded research. To help advance science and improve human health, the Policy requires that these papers are accessible to the public on the digital archive PubMed Central (PMC). To meet this deadline, the PI or author needs to submit final peer-reviewed journal manuscripts that arise from NIH funds to PMC upon acceptance for publication. A delegate may be assigned by the PI or author to submit the manuscript, however, the PI or author must still approve the submission electronically.
The NIH Public Access Policy applies to articles that meet ALL of the following criteria:
- A direct result of NIH funding
- Peer-reviewed
- Accepted for publication on or after April 7, 2008
The NIH Public Access Policy does NOT apply to the following:
- Books or Book Chapters
- Editorials
- Articles resulting from work funded by sources other than NIH
- Other materials that are NOT peer-reviewed
For non-competing continuation grant awards with a start date of July 1, 2013 or beyond:
1) NIH will delay processing of an award if publications arising from it are not in compliance with the NIH public access policy.
2) Investigators will need to use My NCBI to enter papers onto progress reports (see MyNCBI Help). Papers can be associated electronically using the Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR), or included in the Non-Competing Continuation Progress Report (PHS 2590) using the My NCBI generated compliance report PDF.
Please see the following NIH notices for more details:
Need Help?
If you have any questions about the NIH's policy and how to make sure that you're in compliance, reach out to schlemba@illinois.edu!
Librarian
Acknowledgements
Parts of this article are pulled from the Duke University Medical Center Library & Archives' LibGuide "NIH Public Access Policy Compliance" by Beth Blackwood.