Scholarly Communication Toolkit - Legislation And Policies

NIH Public Access Policy (effective April 7, 2008)

The NIH Public Access Policy implements Division G, Title II, Section 218 of PL 110-161 (Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008). The law 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.

NIH Public Access Website

• Submission Process
• Instructional Aids
  
• Frequently Asked Questions
• SPARC Summary of NIH Updates to FAQ on Public Access Policy (May 2, 2008)
• Journals That Already Submit Articles to PubMed Central
  This is a list of the journals that submit articles directly to PubMed Central on behalf of their authors. If you publish in one of these journals, no further action is needed to comply with the submission requirement of NIH Public Access Policy.

NIH Policy-Related Sites of Interest

• Flowchart for Complying with the Revised NIH Public Access Policy
  Excellent one-page flowchart developed by Washington University's Becker Medical Library and that
  they're making available to use as is or to adapt to the needs of libraries at other institutions.
• SPARC/ARL White Paper: Complying with the National Institutes of Health Public Access Policy: Copyright Considerations and Options
  Released February 29, 2008, and written by attorney and copyright expert Michael Carroll, the White Paper reviews the NIH policy, explains the legal context, and presents six alternative copyright management strategies to help grantee institutions in securing rights for deposit in PubMed Central. The paper will be useful in working with your university leadership and research offices to develop local procedures.
• NIH Open Access Mandate: A Careful Look at Two Options for Retaining Authors’ Rights – “Do Nothing" and “Do it Early and Efficiently” by Georgia K. Harper, Scholarly Communications Advisor, University of Texas at Austin Libraries.
  
• SPARC – NIH Public Access Policy Implementation
• Publishers' Policies on the NIH Public Access Policy - University of Rochester, Edward G. Miner Library
• Open Access Directory Publisher Policies on NIH-funded Authors - "This wiki list is under development and is temporarily closed for editing by most users. If you want to donate an existing list or join our band of volunteers, please contact us or use the discussion tab. It will soon be open for editing by all OAD users."