The NIH Public Access Policy implements Division G, Title II, Section 218 of PL 110-161 (Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008). The law states the following:
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.
VUMC must adhere to this mandatory policy as a grantee. Failure to do so could result in funding being withheld by NIH for any given project found out of compliance.
How to Find PMCID Numbers:
Anyone submitting an application, proposal, or report to the NIH must include the Pub Med Central reference number (PMCID) when citing applicable papers that they author or that arise from NIH-funded research. Applicable manuscripts include:
- Peer-reviewed manuscripts
- Accepted-for-publication manuscripts for journals published on or after April 7, 2008
- And from
- Any manuscripts deriving from an NIH grant or cooperative agreement active in FY2008 or beyond, or;
- Any manuscripts arising from an NIH contract signed on or after April 7, 2008, or;
- Any manuscripts deriving from the NIH Intramural Program, or
- Any manuscripts arising from an NIH employee
- Please be sure to include PMCID numbers in publications and on progress reports; failure to do so may result in NIH requesting additional information before releasing Type-5 continuation awards.
For more guidance surrounded PMCID numbers and how to properly report them, please visit NIH's website.