As noted on the NIH public access website, your peer-reviewed papers should be submitted to PubMed Central (PMC) immediately upon acceptance for publication by a journal. PMC will make these papers publicly available within 12 months of publication. The Policy applies to all peer-reviewed papers that you author or co-author as part of your NIH or NIH-funded duties, even if the corresponding author or other authors are not supported by NIH.
There are four methods to ensure that an applicable paper is submitted to PubMed Central (PMC) in compliance with the NIH Public Access Policy. Authors may use whichever method is most appropriate for them and consistent with their publishing agreement. Click on the method in the table below for details.
| Method A Journal deposits final published articles in PubMed Central without author involvement | Method B Author asks publisher to deposit specific final published article in PMC | Method C Author deposits final peer-reviewed manuscript in PMC via the NIHMS | Method D Author completes submission of final peer-reviewed manuscript deposited by publisher in the NIHMS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Version of Paper Submitted | Final Published Article | Final Published Article | Final Peer-Reviewed Manuscript | Final Peer-Reviewed Manuscript |
| Task 1: Who starts the deposit process? | Publisher | Publisher | Author or designee, via NIHMS | Publisher |
| Task 2: Who approves paper for processing? | Publisher | Publisher | Author, via NIHMS | Author, via NIHMS |
| Task 3: Who approves paper for Pub Med Central display? | Publisher | Publisher | Author, via NIHMS | Author, via NIHMS |
| Participating journal/publisher | Method A Journals | Make arrangements with these publishers | Check publishing agreement | Check publishing agreement |
| Who is Responsible? | NIH Awardee | NIH Awardee | NIH Awardee | NIH Awardee |
| To cite papers, from acceptance for publication to 3 months post publication | PMCID or “PMC Journal- In Process” | PMCID or “PMC Journal- In Process” | PMCID or NIHMSID | PMCID or NIHMSID |
| To cite papers, 3 months post publication and beyond | PMCID | PMCID | PMCID | PMCID |