The NIH Public Access Policy was originally established in 2005, and compliance with the policy became mandatory in April of 2008.

See the full NIH Public Access Policy website which includes an overview, information on when and how to comply, answers to FAQs, policy details, presentations, and video training. 

UAMS Contacts for NIH Public Access Policy Questions

If you would like assistance communicating with the publisher, and/or submitting your manuscript and files, please call or email Susan Steelman [scsteelman@uams.edu / 686-6737]. Susan will be happy to assist in the submission process.

The following steps must be followed to be in compliance with the NIH Public Access Policy:

• Determine if articles are covered
• Retain the right to deposit final peer-reviewed manuscripts in PMC when negotiating copyright with publishers
• Deposit articles upon acceptance for publication, as articles must be available in PMC within 12 months of publication
• Include the PMCID# when citing articles in NIH proposals, progress reports, biosketches, etc.

The NIH public access policy applies to any manuscript¹ that:

• Is peer-reviewed;
• And, is accepted for publication in a journal² on or after April 7, 2008³;
• And, arises from:
  • Any direct funding⁴ from an NIH grant or cooperative agreement active in Fiscal Year 2008 or beyond, or;
  • Any direct funding from an NIH contract signed on or after April 7, 2008, or;
  • Any direct funding from the NIH Intramural Program, or;
  • An NIH employee.

Quoted from the NIH Public Access Policy: Determine Applicability

All final peer-reviewed manuscripts accepted for publication on or after April 7, 2008 are covered by the policy. Authors cannot submit the final published version of their articles unless their publishers have given permission. The manuscripts must be submitted electronically, and all peer-reviewed articles must be submitted regardless of whether they are indexed in MEDLINE/PubMed.

Works not covered by the policy include non peer-reviewed articles, articles in trade magazines, editorials or correspondence, abstracts or proceedings, books or book chapters, multimedia and other types of publications (publications not defined by NIH as a journal). 

If the publisher does not deposit articles in PubMed Central automatically or by request (as outlined below), the author must retain the right to deposit his/her articles in PubMed Central. A UAMS form letter which can be sent with article submissions to publishers outlining this requirement is available; contact Education & Research Services to obtain a copy of this letter. UAMS authors should insure that the copyright agreement they sign with the publisher includes the right for them to submit articles to PMC within 12 months of publication.

NIH Public Access Policy site: Submission Methods 

The NIH Manuscript Submission (NIHMS) Process

Check out the NIHMS Step-by-Step Tutorials

Overview of Submission Methods

Table above from the NIH Public Access Policy site: Submission Methods 

Additional notes regarding the four methods available for depositing files:

• Method A: Open Access – The author publishes an article in a journal that automatically deposits all NIH-funded final published articles in PMC. This requires no submission by the author. Check to see if a journal is Method A or view step-by-step instructions for Method A.
• Method B: Pay for Public Access – The author requests that the publisher deposit his/her final published article in PMC, and usually pays a publication fee to the publisher to deposit and make the article freely available. See Method B journals and publishers or view step-by-step instructions for Method B. 
• Method C: Author Uses Final Peer Reviewed Manuscript – The author or his/her designee deposits articles via NIH Manuscript Submission System (NIHMSS). The Final Peer Reviewed version is the copy that has corrections/edits from the peer review process but has not been formatted by the journal. See Methods C & D Best Practices. 
• Method D: Publisher Deposits, Author Makes Approvals – The publisher deposits the article in the NIHMSS upon author request, and then the author approves and completes the process. See Methods C & D Best Practices and Method D publishers. 

Include PMCID in Citations 

Principal investigators and their institutions are held responsible for making sure that all progress reports and proposals for new or continuing funding have PMCID numbers included for each article listed in the reports. Even if the PI is not one of the authors of an article related to the project for which s/he is the PI, s/he is still responsible for making sure that all articles are submitted to PMC and that the PMCID numbers are included in the reports. Citing may be done in one of three ways:

• Include the PMCID number at the end of the citations for the articles
• If the article has been submitted through the NIH manuscript submission system but not yet included in PMC, provide the NIHMS number (it may take several weeks for the article to make it from the NIHMS system to PMC)
• If the article is being deposited by the publisher but is not yet in PMC, put “PMC Journal- In Process” after the citation.

NIH Public Access Policy website

Compliance with the NIH Public Access Policy is a term and condition of NIH grants and contracts. NIH holds the principal investigator and his or her institution responsible for ensuring compliance, including compliance for sub-recipients. NIH program staff will check all reports and proposals for new or continuing funding to see if PMCID numbers are included. If some numbers are missing, an NIH Program Officer will send the Program Director or Principal Investigator a list of article citations with missing numbers and ask for the numbers to be provided, or for an explanation for why the numbers are not yet available. If the PI or institution does not provide the information and continues to fail to comply with the policy, NIH may take enforcement actions, which may include the following:

• Place special conditions on awards, such as closer monitoring
• Switch from advance payment to cost reimbursement
• Suspend, terminate or withhold support
• Seek recovery of funds
• Prevent grantee from receiving future NIH funding.

What are some of the actions NIH may take when investigators and institutions fail to take steps to ensure compliance with the NIH Public Access Policy?

A grantee’s failure to comply with the terms and conditions of award may cause NIH to take one or more enforcement actions, depending on the severity and duration of the non-compliance.  NIH will undertake any such action in accordance with applicable statutes, regulations, and policies.  NIH generally will afford the grantee an opportunity to correct the deficiencies before taking enforcement action unless public health or welfare concerns require immediate action.  However, even if a grantee is taking corrective action, NIH may take proactive action to protect the Federal government’s interests, including placing special conditions on awards or precluding the grantee from obtaining future awards for a specified period, or may take action designed to prevent future non-compliance, such as closer monitoring. See Enforcement Actions in the NIH Grants Policy Statement (10/12): http://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/nihgps_2012/nihgps_ch8.htm#_Toc271264977

Quoted from Frequently Asked Questions about the NIH Public Access Policy. 

For more information, to schedule presentations about or for assistance in complying with the NIH Public Access Policy, contact Sheila Thomas (slthomas2@uams.edu 501-686-6736) or Susan Steelman (steelmansusanc@uams.edu, 501-686-6737) in the UAMS Library. Information is also available at NIH’s website.

• Frequently Asked Questions
• Full-text of the law
• The Policy
• How to comply
• NIH Statement on Article Publication / Reputable Journals
• Submission tutorials