The 2024 NIH Public Access Policy is effective July 1, 2025. It requires Author Accepted Manuscripts accepted for publication in a journal on or after July 1, 2025, to be submitted to PubMed Central upon acceptance for publication, for public availability without embargo upon the Official Date of Publication. On the effective date, this policy replaces the previous 2008 Public Access Policy, which provided for an embargo of up to twelve months on the PubMed Central copy of the article.
The 2024 NIH Public Access Policy applies to any Author Accepted Manuscript accepted for publication in a journal, on or after July 1, 2025, that is the result of funding by NIH in whole or in part through:
The NIH Public Access Policy applies regardless of whether the NIH-funded principal investigator or project director is an author and regardless of whether non-NIH funds contributed to developing or writing the Author Accepted Manuscript. Upon the Effective Date, this Policy replaces the 2008 NIH Public Access Policy.
Beginning July 1, 2025, submit any Accepted Manuscripts to the NIH Manuscript Submission System upon acceptance by the journal. If prompted, specify that there be no embargo period. While some journals may offer to submit on behalf of the author as they do under the 2008 Public Access Policy, we recommend that authors submit their accepted manuscripts directly until NIH provides guidance on submission methods that is updated to reflect the 2024 Policy.
Consider including the following recommended text from NIH in new manuscript submissions to journals: This manuscript is the result of funding in whole or in part by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). It is subject to the NIH Public Access Policy. Through acceptance of this federal funding, NIH has been given a right to make this manuscript publicly available in PubMed Central upon the Official Date of Publication, as defined by NIH. This text may accompany the required funding acknowledgement.
No. Authors can deposit their Accepted Manuscripts in PubMed Central without paying a fee to the publisher.
Upon accepting NIH funding, recipients grant to NIH the right to make Author Accepted Manuscripts resulting from the funding publicly available in PubMed Central upon the Official Date of Publication. This is the Government Use License, also known as the Federal Purpose License. For more information about the Federal Purpose License, please see this factsheet from the Higher Educational Leadership Initiative for Open Scholarship.
Authors also agree to a license mirroring that license during the PubMed Central submission process.
NIH encourages, but does not require, authors to indicate in their Submitted Manuscript that, if it is accepted, NIH has a license to make the Accepted Manuscript publicly available upon the Official Date of Publication. In its guidance on the government use license, NIH provides the following sample language for this purpose:
This manuscript is the result of funding in whole or in part by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). It is subject to the NIH Public Access Policy. Through acceptance of this federal funding, NIH has been given a right to make this manuscript publicly available in PubMed Central upon the Official Date of Publication, as defined by NIH.
During the transition from the 2008 Public Access Policy to the 2024 Public Access Policy, Public Access to NIH-Supported Research, from the NIH Office of Science Policy is a good overview of NIH resources.
NIH Data Management and Sharing Policy
The NIH has issued a Data Management and Sharing (DMS) policy, effective January 25, 2023, to promote the sharing of scientific data. There are multiple benefits to sharing scientific data, and ultimately this will facilitate the development of treatments and products that improve human health.
GSU URSA NIH Data Management and Sharing Policy (2023)
University Research and Administration Page on NIH Policy
Unless otherwise noted, all content on this guide is icensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
