Update to the NIH Public Access Policy: Beginning July 1, 2025, authors will be required to start the PMCID process immediately upon acceptance for publication. There will be no embargo period. Authors will need to work with their journal or begin the submission process to PMCID to ensure that the manuscript is available in PubMed Central upon the official date of publication.
What is the NIH Public Access Policy?
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Public Access Policy requires authors to obtain a PMCID for peer-reviewed journal manuscripts that are funded in part or whole by the NIH. All institutions and investigators who receive NIH funds are required to adhere to this policy.
Do I need to comply?
You will need to comply with the NIH Public Access Policy if your manuscript meets the following criteria:
- Peer-reviewed
- Research article
- Book chapters, commentaries, replies, conference proceedings or editorials do not need a PMCID. Review articles do not need a PMCID unless they have a co-author who is a CCSG Leader or Co-Leader or a connection to core facilities.
- Funded in part or whole by NIH or CPRIT funds. This includes researchers who used a Core Facilities at MD Anderson.
How do I comply (get a PMCID)?
- Be sure to cite NIH or CPRIT funds when you publish.
- Example: This research was supported in part by the National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute through a Cancer Center Support Grant (P30CA016672) to The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and used the [name of the CCSG shared resource(s)]*
- When you publish, let the journal know that you have NIH funds attached to your manuscript.
- Search the PMC journal list to determine if the journal will submit on behalf of the authors.
- If the journal will not submit for the authors, the authors will need to submit to the NIHMS system.
- Note: Obtaining a PMCID through the NIHMS system takes four to six weeks on average.
