In a significant stride toward promoting broad access to publicly funded research, NIH announced the forthcoming implementation of its 2024 NIH Public Access Policy, which will replace the 2008 version of the policy.
The policy will apply to all *author-accepted manuscripts accepted for publication in a journal on or after December 31, 2025. Sharing this announcement now gives organizations, researchers, publishers, and scholarly societies time to understand and adapt to the changes.
*Author-Accepted Manuscript: The author’s final version that has been accepted for journal publication and includes all revisions resulting from the peer review process, including all associated tables, graphics, and supplemental material.
Enhancing Accessibility
The new policy mandates the submission of author-accepted manuscripts to NIH's PubMed Central (PMC) upon acceptance for publication. Crucially, these manuscripts will be made available to the public without a 12-month embargo period. This is a pivotal shift from the previous policy and adheres to the 2022 White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) Memorandum aimed at removing barriers to accessing federally funded research.
Key Requirements of the New Policy:
1. Immediate Public Availability: Researchers will be required to submit their author-accepted manuscripts to PMC upon acceptance. These manuscripts will be publicly accessible from the Official Date of Publication, eliminating the prior 12-month embargo period.
2. Acknowledgment of Federal Funding: All manuscripts must include a statement acknowledging NIH funding. This acknowledgment is critical in maintaining transparency about the source of research funding.
3. Standard Licensing Agreement: The policy requires authors to agree to a license that aligns with the Government Use License at 2 CFR 200.315, granting NIH rights to make the manuscripts publicly available.
Addressing Public Comments
NIH carefully reviewed 144 public comments received during the draft phase of this policy. A broad spectrum of stakeholders from universities, professional associations, nonprofit organizations, and publishers provided valuable insights, shaping the final form of the policy. One of the prominent themes in the feedback was the necessity for clear communications and sufficient planning time for compliance.
Effective Date and Applicability
Again, the policy will apply to all author-accepted manuscripts accepted for publication in a journal on or after December 31, 2025, that is the result of funding by NIH in whole or in part through a grant or cooperative agreement, including training grants; a contract; an Other Transaction; NIH intramural research; or the official work of an NIH employee. This uniform applicability ensures the seamless transition from the 2008 policy, avoiding administrative burdens and ensuring clarity for readers and researchers alike.
Working Together
While allowable publication costs may be budgeted, as publishing itself may incur costs, NIH maintains a free pathway for compliance with the NIH Public Access Policy by submission of the manuscript to PubMed Central. This free pathway for policy compliance helps to support the goals of equitable public access. Additionally, the benefits of eliminating costs and delays in access to publications will likely be greatest for lower resourced institutions, researchers, and the public.
Publication costs are allowable when they comport with the existing NIH cost principles (Grants Policy Statement (GPS) 7.2 and GPS 7.9.1 (Publication and Printing Costs)) e.g., what is considered direct versus indirect costs.
Following the comments on the draft Policy, NIH released Supplemental Guidance to the 2024 NIH Public Access Policy: Publication Costs that addresses various requirements related to costs, unallowable costs, points for authors and institutions to consider in assessing reasonable costs, and other guidance.
NIH will continue to consider appropriate methods to monitor costs for potential impacts on relevant communities once the final Public Access Policy has been implemented and any downstream effects are more readily apparent.