NIH Public Access Policy

For decades, the National Institute of Health (NIH)'s has pioneered efforts to maximize transparency and public access to publications resulting from research and research findings supported by NIH funding.

In 2022, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) released updated policy guidance (2022 OSTP Memorandum) to all federal agencies with research and development expenditures to further promote trust in science and advance scientific leadership in America. Following the 2022 OSTP Memorandum, the 2024 NIH Public Access Policy was developed to provide a roadmap for accelerating access to scholarly publications without an embargo period.

Starting July 1st, 2025, the 2024 NIH Public Access Policy goes into effect. This policy replaces the previous 2008 Public Access Policy, which allowed a 12 month embargo to be placed on the author's article deposit to PubMed Central. This embargo period has been eliminated by the new NIH Public Access Policy.

Does this policy apply to my research?

If you are an author or co-author of a journal article that is a result of NIH funding, in part or in whole, you must submit your article to PubMed Central for public availability without embargo. Submissions should be made as soon as possible, including as early as when researchers or authors receive an acceptance for publication from a journal. NIH funding may include the following: a grant or cooperative agreement; training grant; contract; other transactions; the official work of an NIH employee; or NIH intramural research. The NIH Policy applies (1) regardless of whether the NIH-funded principal investigator or project director is an author and (2) regardless of whether non-NIH funds also contributed to developing or writing the article or manuscript.

How do I comply with this new policy?

From July 1st, 2025 onward, submit NIH-funded articles that have been accepted for publication at a journal to the NIH Manuscripts Submission System. Please ensure that there is no embargo period selected for your article. Even if a journal offers to submit your work to the NIH portal on your behalf, it is recommended that you proactively submit a copy to the NIH as some journal processes do not yet reflect the new policy guidance. In the funding acknowledgement section, please consider using the following text: "This manuscript is the result of funding in whole or in part by the NIH. It is subject to the NIH Public Access Policy. Through acceptance of this funding, NIH has the right to make this manuscript publicly available in PubMed Central upon the Official Date of Publication, as defined by NIH."

For further questions, please contact Agnes Gambill, Head of Scholarly Communications, at gambillab@appstate.edu.

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