On April 7, 2008 a new reporting requirement goes into effect that affects researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Principal investigators must ensure that electronic versions of any peer-reviewed manuscripts arising from NIH funding and accepted for publication on or after April 7, 2008 are deposited in PubMed Central (PMC), NIH’s digital archive of biomedical and life sciences journal literature. Specifics:
- The manuscript must be made publicly available no later than 12 months after the official date of publication.
- Beginning May 25, 2008 researchers submitting an application, proposal, or progress report to NIH must include the PMC or NIH Manuscript Submission reference number when citing applicable articles that arise from their NIH funded research.
The policy applies to you if your peer-reviewed article meets the following criteria:
- Directly funded by an NIH grant or cooperative agreement active in FY2008 (October 1, 2007-September 30, 2008)
- Directly funded by a contract signed on or after April 7, 2008
- Directly funded by the NIH Intramural Program
- If NIH pays your salary
Important information on researcher rights:
- Some publishers will deposit your manuscript for you: they are listed here.
- Before you sign a publication agreement or similar copyright transfer agreement, make sure that the agreement allows the article to be submitted to NIH in accordance with the Public Access Policy.
The NIH estimates approximately 80,000 published articles arise yearly from NIH funds. Temple University researchers are one group of investigators who contribute to this scholarship, and as per the NIH, were awarded 119 research grants totalling $42,157,757 in 2006. Additional Information:
- NIH Public Access Policy Overview
- NIH Frequently Asked Questions
- SHERPA/Romeo: Publisher copyright policies & self-archiving information. Use this site to find a summary of permissions that are normally given as part of each publisher’s copyright transfer agreement.
- Revised Policy on Enhancing Public Access to Archived Publications Resulting from NIH-Funded Research
- NIH Public Access Policy: Guide for Research Universities (Association of Research Libraries [ARL] )
- Complying with the NIH Public Access Policy: Copyright Considerations and Options (Scholarly Publishing & Academic Resources Coalition /Science Commons/ARL joint white paper)
-Katherine Szigeti, Science Librarian