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NIH Public Access Policy
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Overview
The NIH Public Access Policy requires that peer-reviewed journal publications resulting from NIH-funded research be made publicly available through the repository PubMed Central (PMC).
For authors, this means:
- You must ensure that your author agreement retains your right to deposit your paper into PubMed Central. The University of California Office of Scholarly Communication provides more information for UC authors.
- Your final manuscript must be submitted to PubMed Central upon acceptance for publication. You may do this yourself, or your journal or publisher may initiate the process on your behalf. Click here for an overview of submission methods.
- You are responsible for confirming that your manuscript was successfully submitted, even if the journal or publisher deposits it for you.
For Principle Investigators, this means:
- You are responsible for the compliance of all papers associated with your NIH funding, even if you're not an author.
- NIH will delay processing of an award if publications arising from it are not in compliance.
Making research results publicly accessible is important not only to the NIH. It is also an essential element of UCLA's commitment to academic freedom and its mission as a public research university to create and disseminate knowledge for the betterment of society. For more information about the policy, and instructions on how to submit your publication to PubMed Central, check out our NIH Public Access guide.
If you have any questions regarding compliance, please contact us or visit the Biomedical Library.
Tutorial - My Bibliography: Public Access Compliance in MyNCBI
This video demonstrates how NIH-funded scientists can link funding to their citations and manage compliance with the NIH Public Access Policy.