NIH Public Access Policy

Welcome to the NIH Public Access Policy Guide, where you'll find a variety of resources to assist you in navigating the mandatory policy for NIH-funded investigators.

Effective July 1, 2025, an update to the NIH Public Access policy removed the 12 month delay (embargo) from the previous policy. All of the requirements of the previous public access policy described below are still in effect, but there is no longer a 12 month delay. Articles must be made available in PubMed Central (PMC) by the time of the article's official publication date. 

What this means for NIH-funded researchers.

• All peer-reviewed articles arising from NIH funds must be submitted to PubMed Central (PMC) upon acceptance for publication.

• NIH applications, proposals, and progress reports must include the PubMed Central reference number (PMCID) when citing an article that falls under the policy and is authored or co-authored by the investigator, or arose from the investigator’s NIH award.

• Investigators who are not in compliance with the policy will experience delays in the processing of non-competing continuation grant awards.

Official NIH Public Access Page

Effective July 1, 2025, an update to the NIH Public Access policy removed the 12 month delay (embargo) from the previous policy. All of the requirements of the previous public access policy described below are still in effect, but there is no longer a 12 month delay. Articles must be made available in PubMed Central (PMC) by the time of the article's official publication date. 

Which articles are included under the policy?

• Peer-reviewed journal articles that arise from any direct funding from an NIH grant or cooperative agreement, direct funding from the NIH Intramural Program, or from an NIH employee. The policy does not apply to dissertations, book chapters, or interim research products like preprints.

Which version of my article should I submit to PubMed Central?

• You should submit your final, peer-reviewed manuscript. However, NIH will accept the final published article in lieu of the final peer-reviewed manuscript, provided that you have the right to submit this version (for example, if it is an open access article).
• Final peer-reviewed manuscript: The investigator's final manuscript of a peer-reviewed paper accepted for journal publication, including all modifications from the peer review process. 
• Final published article: The journal’s authoritative copy of the paper, including all modifications from the publishing peer review process, copyediting and stylistic edits, and formatting changes.

How does the NIH determine the official date of publication?

• NIH uses the official date of publication that is listed in the PubMed citation display for a paper immediately after the journal title abbreviation (which is based on information received from the publisher).
• An "epub ahead of print" date for a citation in PubMed is not considered the official date of publication, and these papers are still considered in press.

Will my journal send my article to PubMed Central for me?

• Possibly. Search the PMC Journal List for your journal, and make sure the Release delay (Embargo) filter checkbox is checked for Immediate Release.

What if my journal won't deposit to PMC for me?

• If the VCU Libraries have an agreement subsidizing open access with your journal publisher, that agreement may also include immediate release deposit with PMC.

• You can deposit your Author Accepted Manuscript (the final peer reviewed Word document and figures for the manuscript) manually through the NIH Manuscript Submission (NIHMS) system. More information in in the left sidebar.

Can't I just charge my grant to pay a journal to deposit for me?

• No, fees for PMC deposit are not allowable costs.

Do you have a question that isn't answered here?

Beginning in 2008, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) made it mandatory for funded investigators to submit final versions of their manuscripts to PubMed Central, the National Library of Medicine's digital archive.  All NIH grantees were required to deposit their peer-reviewed articles upon acceptance for publication and make them available to the public within 12 months after publication. The legislation came after many years of lobbying by advocacy groups for such open access language and just as many years of opposition by publishers.  See the news release from the Alliance for Taxpayer Access, Dec. 26, 2007 for more details.