Recently, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) released a new public access policy that accelerates broad access to NIH-funded research results. The policy meets expectations set forth in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy’s (OSTP) memo Ensuring Free, Immediate, and Equitable Access to Federally Funded Research and removes the 12-month embargo period before manuscripts resulting from NIH funding must be made publicly available.
The NIH Public Access Policy currently in place – and in place since 2008 – requires that researchers supported by the NIH submit their final peer-reviewed manuscripts to the National Library of Medicine’s PubMed Central® digital archive of full-text biomedical and life sciences journal literature upon acceptance for publication. That manuscript must then be made freely available to the public after an embargo period not to exceed 12 months from the official date of publication. Since the implementation of the Policy, more than 1.5 million articles have been made available to the public in PubMed Central® as a result of NIH-funding.
In addition to removing the 12 month embargo period, the new policy also clarifies that because PubMed Central® accepts both Author Accepted Manuscripts (submissions by the author) as well as Final Published Articles (submissions from the journal), the term “article” is used generally to refer to both types of articles. The new Policy also clarifies that the Official Date of Publication will be the “date on which the Final Published Article is first made available in final, edited form, whether in print or electronic (i.e., online) format.”
Further, the Policy clarified that the scope of the new Policy remains the same as the 2008 Policy and applies to “any Manuscript accepted for publication in a journal that results from funding by NIH in whole or in part.” Additionally, the new Policy is not limited in scope to Manuscripts reporting only on research, with the NIH noting that a peer-reviewed article with NIH funding and described an infrastructure project would be covered.
As far as compliance is concerned, it is the responsibility of the institution. NIH intends to continue monitoring compliance with the Policy using existing processes.
The new policy attempts to maximize and accelerate the access to scientific data and scholarly articles that stem from federal funding and make research more transparent and easier to find. NIH emphasizes the importance of transparency, noting that when patients, families, and healthcare professionals can access published findings, “they are able to better understand and address the most critical health concerns facing their communities.” Additionally, public access to the findings can “accelerate future research, lead to collaboration, and allow interested readers and patients to follow the latest advances more closely.”
In addition to the updated policy, NIH issued supplemental guidance on publication costs and government use license and rights. The updated policy and guidance were both developed after considering feedback the NIH received on draft proposals and will go into effect for peer-reviewed manuscripts accepted on or after December 31, 2025. Until that time, the current Public Access Policy will remain in effect.
When announcing the new policy, Monica M. Bertagnolli, MD, NIH Director, referenced NIH’s “commitment to the responsible stewardship of the nation’s investment in biomedical research by improving transparency and accessibility of taxpayer-funded research.”