Policy Updates

Public Access (2024)

Important Update for Researchers NIH 2024 Public Access Policy - Accelerated Implementation

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has announced an accelerated implementation timeline for its 2024 Public Access Policy. The policy will now take effect on July 1, 2025, instead of the originally scheduled date of December 31, 2025.

Key Changes

The 2024 Public Access Policy updates the 2008 policy with one significant change:

Immediate Access Requirement: The previous 12-month embargo period has been eliminated. NIH-funded research must now be made publicly available in PubMed Central immediately upon the official date of publication.

TL;DR:

  • Researchers must submit their Author Accepted Manuscripts (AAM) to PubMed Central (PMC) upon acceptance for publication.
  • The Public Access Policy applies to all NIH grants, including those awarded prior to the implementation date.
  • There will be no embargo period for journals. Full text must be made publicly available in PMC upon publication.
  • Non-compliance with these new requirements could affect current and future funding opportunities, including grant renewals.
  • Authors can submit their manuscript files to PMC at no cost, regardless of whether they have published open access or not.
  • Authors must ensure that any publishing agreement allows for compliance with the NIH Public Access Policy

 

A. Core Requirements and Key Changes from the 2008 Policy

The most profound change introduced by the 2024 NIH Public Access policy (Notice Number: NOT-OD-25-047) is the elimination of the 12-month embargo period. Under the previous 2008 policy, researchers could delay making their publications publicly available in PubMed Central (PMC) for up to 12 months after the official publication date. The 2024 policy mandates that AAMs resulting from NIH funding must be submitted to PMC upon acceptance for publication and made publicly available without embargo upon the Official Date of Publication. This shift aligns with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) memo, "Ensuring Free, Immediate, and Equitable Access to Federally Funded Research," aiming to accelerate scientific discovery and ensure that taxpayer-funded research is promptly accessible to all. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced on April 30, 2025 an accelerated implementation date for the updated Public Access Policy. It will now go into effect July 1, 2025.

B. Public Access Requirements

  1. Manuscript Submission: Starting July 1, 2025, Researchers must ensure their AAM is submitted to PMC immediately upon acceptance by a journal. This can be done by the author, the institution, or the publisher, depending on the journal's policies and agreements with NIH. It is crucial to understand the submission method applicable to the chosen journal (Methods A, B, C, or D).
  2. Copyright and Licensing: Before signing publication agreements, authors must ensure the agreement allows for compliance with the NIH Public Access Policy. This includes retaining sufficient rights to authorize NIH to make the AAM publicly available in PMC. The policy requires authors to agree to a license similar to the Government Use License (2 CFR 200.315) when submitting their AAM, granting NIH a royalty-free, nonexclusive, and irrevocable right to reproduce, publish, or otherwise use the work for Federal purposes, including making it available in PMC. NIH encourages authors to include a statement in their manuscript indicating it is subject to this policy.
  3. Publication Costs: The NIH Public Access Policy does not require authors to pay open access fees (e.g., Article Processing Charges - APCs). Reasonable publication costs, if allowable under NIH cost principles (NIH Grants Policy Statement 7.2 and 7.9.1), can be included in grant budgets as direct costs. However, fees charged by journals solely for submitting an AAM to PMC are not allowable costs. Supplemental guidance NOT-OD-25-048 details allowable and unallowable publication costs.
  4. Compliance and Enforcement: Compliance is mandatory and is the responsibility of the institution. Non-compliance can affect future funding decisions and may lead to delays in award processing for non-competing continuation grants. NIH applications and progress reports must include the PubMed Central reference number (PMCID) when citing applicable works.

C. Guide and Resources for Researchers

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Public Access (2013)

In February 2013, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OTSP) issued a memo with the purpose of increasing access to federally funded research. This memo required any Federal agency that awards at least $100 million/year in support of research to develop a plan that would increase public access to publications and data resulting from federally-funded projects. In response to this memo, a number of public and private funders have established new requirements for researchers. 

Items to Consider in Data Sharing Plan*:

  • What data will be shared?
  • Who will have access?
  • Where will shared data be located?
  • When will data be shared?
  • How will the data be located and accessed?

Additional information about the requirements for NIH and NSF are available here:

*Source: NIH Data Sharing Plan. Individual funders may have different requirements for data sharing plans. 

Public Access Mandates and Resources

*A list of possible data repositories is available through re3data.org

Instructions for uploading to PubMed

The above list of private funders is not comprehensive and additional private funders' open access policies can be found on the Registry of Open Access Repository Mandates and Policies.