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NIH and other Federal Open Access Policies: Overview of the NIH Public Access Policy

The NIH Public Access Policy

The 2024 NIH Public Access Policy is in effect as of July 1, 2025. Under this policy, peer-reviewed articles that result from NIH-funded awards active on or after July 1, 2025 must be deposited in PubMed Central and made publicly available upon initial publication in a journal.   Peer-reviewed journal articles from NIH-funded research closed before July 1, 2025 should continue to follow the 2008 Public Access Policy (allows 12-month embargo before public access).

This guide will: 

  • Explain the different methods for ensuring policy compliance
  • Provide step-by-step instructions for using My NCBI or NIHMS 
  • Answer frequently asked questions related to the policy

Start with the NIH Public Access Policy & Checklist for a quick reference and steps to follow. Or look through the guide for detailed instructions on creating an NCBI account, navigating the NIH Manuscript Submission System, using the Compliance Monitor, and more. 

If you have questions about the NIH Public Access Policy itself, authors and Principal Investigators can contact the NIH Public Access helpdesk by email to publicaccess@nih.gov.

If you have questions about your responsibilities as a GW faculty author or Principal Investigator, Himmelfarb and LAI library staff can be contacted by email at nihaccess@gwu.edu

How to Use This Guide

This Guide provides instructions on various steps you must take to ensure your compliance with the policy. In this guide, you will find:

Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library acknowledges the original creator of most of this guide, Emily Mazure at Duke University Medical Library, for giving permission to reproduce content from her NIH Public Access Policy Compliance guide.