General Information
The NIH Library currently provides limited funding assistance in an effort to support authors affiliated with the National Institutes of Health to publish in an open access format.
PubMed Central
APC Funding Pilot FAQs
Open Access Publishing Agreements
The National Institutes of Health Library has agreements with several publishers that allow you to publish open access in selected journal titles free of charge. See funding request instructions to submit a request for APC coverage.
Do I have to submit my manuscript to PubMed Central?
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 |
Method B |
Method C |
Method D |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
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 |
Editing
The NIH Library provides editing services and can suggest resources to assist NIH and select HHS authors who are preparing manuscripts for journal submission (or book chapter[s] for publication). As a free service, we provide light and medium editing for NIH- and HHS-related work. Authors who submit a request for editing will have their manuscript returned with suggested edits marked in MS Word track changes. Providing editing results in this manner, allows authors to clearly see suggestions and decide which edits to keep or omit.
PubMed Central Submission Assistance
Submit your peer-reviewed final manuscripts, accepted for publication, to PubMed Central (PMC). The NIH Manuscript Submission System (NIHMS) is easy to use and the process of submitting is quick.