Public Access

New Requirement

The updated NIH Public Access policy went into effect July 1, 2025.

Under the updated Policy, Author Accepted Manuscripts (AAM) accepted for publication in a journal on or after July 1, 2025, must be submitted to PubMed Central (PMC) upon acceptance for publication and be made publicly available without an embargo upon the official date of publication.

Impact of New Requirement

Submitting the AAM to PMC does not require payment to the publisher or publishing open access. Federal agencies have, by law, certain rights to products resulting from federal funding under the “Government Use License” (or “Federal Purpose License). The license provides the necessary permissions for NIH to legally make federally funded AAMs publicly available through PMC without embargo upon the official date of publication, contrary to any publisher assertion or requirement to publish open access.

Government Use License

The Government Use License is a nonexclusive license, meaning authors still retain rights to their research products. Authors sometimes sign over exclusive rights to publishers, which limits their ability to reuse, access, and build on their own work.

The Government Use License acts as a “prior license” that recipients grant to NIH upon accepting federal funding, taking effect immediately upon signing the grant agreement. This license cannot be overridden by agreements signed later in the research process, including publisher agreements that may ask for exclusive rights or impose embargo periods. Because of this prior license, NIH has the legal right to make federally funded AAMs publicly available through PMC without an embargo upon the official date of publication. This right is secured even if publishers assert that authors’ self-archiving of AAMs in PMC without an Article Processing Charge (APC) is a violation of their agreements.

NIH recommends that authors include the NIH Rights Statement in any manuscripts submitted for peer review. The NIH Rights Statement serves to inform publishers and journals that the work is subject to the NIH Public Access Policy and that NIH, as the funding agency, has the right to make the AAM publicly available in PMC upon the official date of publication. Such a statement may accompany the required funding acknowledgment. The recommended statement is:

“This manuscript is the result of funding in whole or in part by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). It is subject to the NIH Public Access Policy. Through acceptance of this federal funding, NIH has been given a right to make this manuscript publicly available in PubMed Central upon the Official Date of Publication, as defined by NIH.”

Applicability

Applies to

  • The 2024 Policy applies to any peer-reviewed manuscript (AAM) accepted for publication on or after July 1, 2025, that is funded in whole or in part by NIH. This includes manuscripts resulting from various types of NIH funding, such as grants, corporative agreements, training grants, contracts, Other Transaction agreements, and intramural research.
  • The Policy applies regardless of whether the NIH-funded PI or project director is an author and regardless of whether non-NIH funds contributed to developing or writing the AAM.

Does Not Apply to

The NIH states the 2024 Policy does not apply to:

  • Book chapters, dissertations, preprints, or other interim research products that have not been peer-reviewed or accepted for publication in a journal.
  • Peer-reviewed manuscripts from research not funded by NIH, including those that only used NIH data, resources, or infrastructure generated or supported by NIH funds.
  • Peer-reviewed manuscripts from funding that closed or expired prior to July 1, 2025. These remain subject to the 2008 Policy, which allows for an embargo of up to 12 months in PMC.

Deciding Where to Publish

Under the Government Use License, NIH-funded authors have the right to submit an AAM to PMC without an embargo, contrary to any publisher assertion or requirement that an author publish under an open access license and pay an APC.

Many publishers provide a no-cost pathway for immediate public access of AAMs in alignment with funder requirements: allowing authors to self-submit their AAM to PMC without an embargo, or in some cases, facilitating submission on their behalf.

Authors are advised to plan ahead and confirm publisher policies regarding federal public access requirements and allowable costs before submitting a manuscript for peer review.

How to Submit Manuscripts to NIH

Note: The following applies to any AAM accepted for publication in a journal that does not submit the final published article for immediate access directly to PMC. See PMC’s guidance on submission methods for more information.

  • When a manuscript is accepted for publication by the journal, the AAM must be submitted to the NIH Manuscript Submission System (NIHMS) upon acceptance for publication to prepare for posting to PMC without embargo.
  • If the journal submits the AAM to PMC, authors are responsible for ensuring the AAM is submitted by the journal and that all NIHMS approval steps are completed. Authors are advised to use My Bibliography to monitor compliance status for articles.
  • Authors do not need to pay a fee to the publisher to submit the AAM to PMC. If a publisher requires a fee for submitting the AAM to PMC, those costs cannot be charged to NIH funds. See Budgeting Publication Costs.
  • A PubMed Central Identifier (PMCID) is required within 90 days of the official date of publication to demonstrate compliance with the NIH Policy. The NIH Manuscript Submission Identifier (NIHMSID) can be used in the interim.
    • Non-compliance may be considered by NIH regarding future funding decisions and may also delay award processing for continuation awards.
  • WashU authors should keep copies of AAMs, including tables, figures, and supplemental files.

Budgeting Publication Costs

Compliance with the 2024 NIH Public Access Policy does not require the payment of an open access fee to a journal.

Direct funds may be used to pay “reasonable” publication costs (including APCs for the Version of Record) on grant budgets following agency guidelines (see NIH’s guidance on publication costs). Additional information on what is an allowable expense is expected from agencies soon.

  • Use the WashU APC Waiver Finder to search for journals that offer WashU Corresponding Authors a waiver or discount of the APC for articles published under an open access license.

Unallowable Costs

NIH guidance states that if, “during the course of the publication process, an author is asked to pay a fee for submission of the AAM to PMC, such costs are not allowable.” (see the NIH Policy, under “NIH Funding of Publication Costs”).

Resources

  • NIH Public Access Policy Guidance 
  • NIH Public Access Policy FAQs

Support