Skip to Main Content

NIH Public Access Policy

Reminder: Preparation is Key to Avoiding Delays in Funding

  • Use My NCBI’s My Bibliography feature to monitor Public Access compliance* for all the applicable papers that you author or arise from your NIH award.  Be sure to create an account using your eRA Commons ID, or link your current account with your eRA Commons account.

  • As you plan a paper or support one with your NIH award, discuss with the authors how the paper and the NIH awards that support it will comply with the Public Access Policy. 

Compliance Steps

  1. Determine Applicability
    Does the NIH Public Access Policy apply to your paper? Check this overview for applicability guidelines. 
  2. Address Copyright
    Ensure your publishing agreement allows the paper to be posted to PubMed Central in accordance with the NIH Public Access Policy.
  3. Submit paper to PMC
    Submit papers to PubMed Central (PMC) and approve public release. 
  4. Include PMCID in Citations 
    Include the PMCID at the end of the full citation in your application or report (e.g. RPPR).

*All articles that fall under the NIH Public Access Policy, whether in press or in print, must include evidence of compliance in all of your NIH applications and reports. 

Use these links when having trouble with these parts of the NIH Public Access System