NIH Public Access Policy

According to the NIH Public Access Policy (NOT-OD-05-022), investigators funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) must submit an electronic version of their final, peer-reviewed manuscripts to the National Library of Medicine’s PubMed Central (PMC) upon acceptance of publication.  PubMed Central, which is NIH’s free digital archive of biomedical and life sciences journal literature, will then make the paper freely available to the public no later than twelve months after publication.

Making research results publicly accessible is important not only to the NIH, but also an essential element of UCLA’s commitment to academic freedom and its mission as a public research university to create and disseminate knowledge for the betterment of society.

CHIPTS held a workshop on how to be in compliance with the NIH Public Policy and the slides can be downloaded here: NIH Public Access Policy Workshop (2020) - Slides

CHIPTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT IN PUBLICATIONS

Below is the recommended language for acknowledging the CHIPTS grant on publications. Feel free to edit as needed for your specific journal. All CHIPTS and CHIPTS-affiliated investigators are strongly encouraged to cite the CHIPTS grant for any HIV-related publications or publications related to the Center’s scientific theme.  Also any recipients of CHIPTS funds (including pilot grant recipients and scholarship awardees) should acknowledge the CHIPTS grant in their publications and presentations.

“This work was also supported by the Center for HIV Identification, Prevention, and Treatment Services (CHIPTS) NIMH grant MH58107. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of NIH.”

USING MyNCBI TO CREDIT CHIPTS

Investigators can credit the CHIPTS grant (MH58107) by linking their publications through the MyNCBI portal.  Investigators will need to log into their MyNCBI account using their NIH’s eRA Commons credentials.  Under MyBibliography, investigators can select the grant award number to be added to their publication.   For more information, click here. For additional support, please contact Enrique Sanchez at EESanchez@mednet.ucla.edu

All papers that are under the NIH Public Access Policy, whether in press or in print, MUST include evidence of compliance.

The NIH Public Access Policy applies if your manuscript is:

  • Peer-reviewed
  • And, accepted for publication in a journal on or after April 7, 2008
  • And, comes from
    • Any direct funding from an NIH grant or cooperative agreement active in Fiscal Year 2008 or beyond, or;
    • Any direct funding from an NIH contract signed on or after April 7, 2008, or;
    • Any direct funding from the NIH Intramural Program, or;
    • An NIH Employee

How to Comply

    1. Address Copyright
      –  BEFORE you sign a publication agreement or a copyright transfer agreement, make sure that the agreement allows the paper to be posted to PMC in line with the NIH Public Access Policy. The NIH recommends adding the following language to your contract with your publisher:

      “Journal acknowledges that Author retains the right to provide a copy of the final peer-reviewed manuscript to the NIH upon acceptance for journal publication, for public archiving in PubMed Central as soon as possible but no later than 12 months after publication by the journal.”

      –  Final peer-reviewed manuscripts must be posted to the NIH Manuscript Submission (NIHMS) system upon acceptance for publication, and be made publicly available on PMC no later than 12 months after the official date of publication.

    2. Submit Paper
      Depending on the method of submission, the author may need to submit their final peer-reviewed manuscript. To learn how, click the “Submit” tab
    3. Include PMCID in Citations
      Investigators must include the PMCID or NIH Manuscript Submission reference number when citing applicable articles that arise from NIH funded research.  To learn more, click “Cite” tab.

Your manuscript will fall in one of two categories: Final Published Article or Peer-Reviewed Manuscript. There are two methods per category (four methods in total) to ensure that your manuscript is properly submitted to PMC.

Final Published Article (1 step)

  • Method A: Journal deposits all final published articles in PMC directly
    • To find a list of journals that will automatically deposit all NIH-funded final published articles to PMC, see “List of Method A Journals
  • Method B: Arrangements made with publisher to deposit a specific published article into PMC
    • Upon request, and typically for a fee, publishers will deposit a specific article into PMC upon author request
    • To find a list of journals that have this option, see “List of Method B Journals

Final Peer-Reviewed Manuscript (3 steps)

  • Step 1:
    • Method C: Author or other designee deposits final peer-reviewed manuscript into PMC via the NIH Manuscript Submission System (NIHMS)
    • OR Method D: Publisher deposits the final peer-reviewed manuscript in the NIHMS, author or designee completes the submission process
  • Step 2: Authorize NIH to Process Manuscript
    • The Author designates the number of months after publication when the manuscript may be made publicly available in PMC. Then, via NIHMS, confirms that the deposit of the manuscript is consistent with any publication and copyright agreements so that NIH can begin processing the manuscript for use in PMC.
  • Step 3: Approve the PMC-Format Manuscript for Public Display
    • The Author must approve the PMC-format manuscript. After converting the manuscript to a PMC format, NIHMS will email the author for approval and corrections can be made at this time.

The NIHMS will email the authors the citation with the PMCID once it is assigned and the manuscript will be publicly available after the designated delay period.

Investigators must include the PMCID or NIH Manuscript Submission reference number when citing applicable articles that arise from NIH funded research.

For papers published more than 3 months before an application, proposal, and report are submitted:
List the PubMed Central reference number (PMCID) at the end of the full journal citation for the paper in NIH applications, proposals, and reports.  A PMCID is the only way to demonstrate compliance for these papers.

For papers in press, or published within 3 months of when an application, proposal, or report is submitted:

  • When using Submission Method A or B, indicate “PMC Journal – In Process” or the PMCID at the end of the full citation.
  • When using Submission Method C or D, provide a valid NIH Manuscript Submission System reference number (NIHMSID) or PMCID at the end of the full citation. (Note: NIH awardees are responsible for ensuring that all steps of the NIHMS submission process are complete within three months of publication).

NCBI and the National Library of Medicine have created information and tutorials on how to manage your compliance to the NIH Public Access Policy, using MyBibliography.

  • My Bibliography: Public Access Compliance(3:26 min. video) – Tutorial on how to use the MyNCBI and MyBibliography to manage your Public Access Policy compliance.
  • My NCBI Redesign– Instructions on using MyBibliography to view compliance status of your articles (under the “My Bibliography” section).

The UCLA library compiled the following resources on NIH compliance including tutorials, instructions, and information on how to comply with the Policy:

For help, the NIH has provided more resources for more guidance and help on how to submit your papers: