Assistant Professor, Research & Education Librarian

Background for the Policy

Since 2008, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Public Access Policy has been promoting public access to NIH-funded research by requiring that its researchers deposit their publications in PubMed Central. However, this policy allowed for a 12-month embargo on the release of these publications, which meant the public may not be able to access them until 12 months after the publication appeared in a journal.

In August 2022, the Office of Science and Technology (OSTP) released a memo instructing all federal agencies to develop policies that would allow immediate (i.e., without embargo) access to funded research. As a result, the NIH has released a new 2024 Public Access Policy, which goes into effect at the beginning of July 2025 (previously the end of calendar year 2025) and removes the 12-month embargo period that was previously allowed.

In preparation for this new policy, an initial “Plan to Enhance Public Access to the Results of NIH-Supported Research” was first released in February 2023, followed by two rounds of public comment on the draft policy in June and August of 2024. The final version of the policy incorporating feedback received during the public comment periods was then released in December 2024, along with two supplemental guidance documents on government use license and rights and publication costs.

What This Means for Researchers

The new policy goes into effect on July 1, 2025, and will apply to all manuscripts accepted for publication on or after this date, regardless of when the grant was initiated. As noted above, the main change is the removal of the 12-month embargo period, which means that authors will need to take steps to ensure their manuscripts are immediately available in PubMed Central.

There are several key actions you can take as an NIH-supported researcher to ensure your compliance with this new policy:

• Make sure that you clearly state any NIH funding associated with your publications at the time of submission. This will help ensure that your publisher knows you are NIH-funded and will need to comply with the NIH Public Access Policy.
• Select an appropriate licensing model when signing your author’s agreement. You want to make sure you retain the necessary rights to post a copy of your manuscript to PubMed Central and don’t accidentally sign an agreement that prohibits it.
• Initiate the submission of your article to PubMed Central upon acceptance of your article. Processing an author’s final version manuscript can take some time and your goal should be to have it in place when the journal publication goes live.
• Identify which submission method your journal/publisher utilizes. The exact steps of the submission process will vary depending on the specific journal and publisher you are working with. Knowing up front which method they follow can save you time and trouble in the end.
• Track the compliance of your publications proactively using the My Bibliography tool. My Bibliography (part of your MyNCBI account) is required to manage and report the compliance of all manuscripts associated with your NIH funding. By regularly monitoring your compliance status, you can avoid delays and possible issues with non-compliance down the road.

As of the writing of this article, the overall process for maintaining compliance with the new Public Access Policy appears to be the same as the previous policy. The only major change is the compressed timeline due to the immediate release of publications without an embargo.

For more information on the NIH Public Access Policy and how to maintain your compliance, check out the HSL’s NIH Public Access Policy Guide or the NIH Sharing webpage.