NIH Public Access Policy Now Required

The National Institutes of Health has issued Revised Policy on Enhancing Public Access to Archived Publications Resulting from NIH-Funded Research (NOT-OD-08-033). The revised policy implements Division G, Title II, Section 218 of PL 110-161 (Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008), which states:

The Director of the National Institutes of Health shall require that all investigators funded by the NIH submit or have submitted for them to the National Library of Medicine’s PubMed Central an electronic version of their final, peer-reviewed manuscripts upon acceptance for publication, to be made publicly available no later than 12 months after the official date of publication: Provided, That the NIH shall implement the public access policy in a manner consistent with copyright law.

As of April 7, 2008, all articles arising from NIH funds must be submitted to PubMed Central upon acceptance for publication. As of May 25, 2008, NIH applications, proposals, and progress reports must include the PubMed Central reference number when citing an article that falls under the policy and is authored or co-authored by the investigator, or arose from the investigator’s NIH award. This policy includes applications submitted to NIH for the May 25, 2008 due date and subsequent due dates.

See http://PublicAccess.NIH.gov/ for more information.