NIH Public Access Policy for Publications: Recap and Recommendations

By — February 18, 2026

Recap 

  • The 2024 NIH Policy for Publications requires that Author Accepted Manuscripts (AAMs) accepted for publication on or after July 01, 2025 be made publicly available in PubMed Central (PMC) upon the official date of publication. 
  • Submission of the Final Published Article to PMC from journals or publishers with formal agreements with National Library of Medicine (NLM) upon the official date of publication, for public availability without embargo, is also acceptable.
  • Compliance with the Policy does not require the payment of an Open Access fee to a journal. The free pathway to compliance can be achieved by depositing the AAM to PMC for public availability upon the official date of publication without embargo.
  • A PMCID serves as documentation of compliance and is required within 90 days post-publication.

Recommendations for NIH-funded Authors

Plan ahead. Communicate with co-authors about funder requirements and journal decisions before submitting a manuscript for peer review.

Include the NIH Rights Statement in manuscripts submitted for peer review. This statement can be included with the grants acknowledgement section. The NIH Rights Statement serves to inform publishers and journals that the work is subject to the NIH Policy and that NIH, as the funding agency, has the right to make the AAM publicly available in PMC upon the Official Date of Publication.

“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.”

Include the Acknowledgement of NIH Funding and theDisclaimer on manuscripts submitted for peer review and for any undergoing revision during the peer review process.

Confirm journal policies for NIH-funded authors. Authors may need to be more proactive to be compliant as some journals who support the zero embargo are no longer submitting the AAM to the NIH Manuscript Submission System (NIHMS) on behalf of authors to prepare a version for posting to PMC. Other journals are advising NIH-funded authors that a zero embargo is not allowed and that authors must publish under an Open Access license to be compliant with the Policy. Questions for authors to ask are:

  • What is the journal policy for NIH funded authors?
  • How will the AAM or the Final Published Article be submitted to NIHMS to prepare for posting to PMC?
  • Does the journal have a formal agreement with NLM to submit the Final Published Article to PMC?

Review  WashU’s guidance for NIH-funded authors. Federal agencies have, by law, certain rights to products resulting from federal funding under the “Government Use License” (or Federal Purpose License). Under the Government Use License, NIH-funded authors have the right to submit an AAM to PMC without an embargo, contrary to any publisher assertion or requirement that an author publish under an open access license and pay an APC.

Be prepared to submit the AAM to NIHMS upon acceptance of publication to prepare for posting to PMC and PMCID assignment. Or reach out to Becker Library for Submission services. 

Confirm that the PMCID is noted on citations for publications that apply under the NIH Policy on your NIH biosketches, applications and progress reports. 

Check for library agreements with publishers. Becker Library and WashU Libraries have over 20 agreements with publishers (6,000+ journals) that allow for a waiver or discount of the Article Processing Charge (APC) for WashU Corresponding Authors who publish under an Open Access license. If you publish under an Open Access license, the publisher will submit the Final Published Article to NIHMS upon publication to prepare for posting to PMC (authors are advised to confirm submission status with the publisher). If you do not find a publisher on our agreement list, check with your non-WashU co-authors as to agreements from their institutions. Note: Most agreements require that the Corresponding Author be affiliated with the institution that holds the agreement.

Keep copies of all final peer-reviewed manuscripts (Author Accepted Manuscript), including tables, figures, and supplemental files.

Complete approval steps in NIHMS to ensure timely PMCID assignment.

Add citations for your publications to your My Bibliography.

Monitor the compliance status of your publications using your My Bibliography.

Resources from Becker Library