NIH Public Access Policy
Answers to Common Questions
The information below was compiled by University of Maryland Libraries staff based on information from public sources provided by the NIH. Many details relating to the policy have not yet been announced.
- Why has NIH adopted a public access policy?
- When does this policy come into effect?
- What works does this policy cover?
- How will I deposit my work? Will there be anything special I need to do?
- Do I have to deposit my journal articles?
- This seems like extra work for me. How will depositing my work help me?
- Can I limit my submission to an abstract only?
- What if I have already signed an agreement with my publisher stating that I cannot post my work elsewhere?
- The University of Maryland has a similar program, right? Are they related?
- Only some of my work is funded by NIH, is there somewhere else I can archive my work?
- My work is funded by other government agencies. Will they be implementing similar programs?
1. Why has NIH adopted a public access policy?
The rationale behind the NIH policy focuses on three major principles:
permanence, access, and management of research works. This policy will create
a permanent home for all NIH funded research works which will be maintained into
the future and make those works and their results easily accessible to other
researchers as well as the general public without extra fee or membership
requirements. In addition, the NIH expects that public deposit will help
NIH manage its research programs.
You can read the full text of the policy at:
http://www.nih.gov/about/publicaccess/.
2. When does this policy come into effect?
The NIH system will not be ready to accept submissions until May 2, 2005. At this time, authors may submit current NIH funded articles as well as past articles. NIH will be posting further information at https://nihms.nih.gov as the launch date approaches.
3. What works does this policy cover?
Grant recipients can deposit any articles based on research funded in whole or
in part by NIH. The NIH system will only accept articles, not book chapters,
editorials, or other kinds of works. For information about other places to deposit
scholarly works in addition to articles, see question 9.
Although the system will not be ready to accept submission until May 2, 2005, articles
written before that date may be submitted at that time.
4. How will I deposit my work? Will there be anything special I need to do?
Although NIH will not be accepting deposits until May 2, there are actions you
can take now.
NIH has stated that it will provide a secure website through which authors will
deposit their articles. Although not available yet, the site will have a required
login ID and password and each author will be able to track their works through
this site. No formatting will be necessary, other than what is required by the
publisher of the work. Instructions will be provided at
https://nihms.nih.gov.
Authors will need to be sure that the author agreement they sign with publishers
allows submission of the manuscript to PubMed Central. The NIH strongly recommends
that authors “exercise their right to give NIH a copy of their final manuscript.”
As an author you may need to make changes to the agreements you sign with publishers
to be able to deposit your work. An easy way to ensure that you can deposit your
work is to use the Author Addendum at
http://www.arl.org/sparc/author/docs/AuthorsAddendum2_1.pdf developed by the
Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC). This document
offers sample language created by NIH which you can write into a publication
agreement, or a one page attachment you can staple to your agreement.
*** If you use the one page SPARC author’s addendum, you can also deposit your works into institutional repositories such as DRUM, distribute it for class usage, or distribute it with an online teaching utility such as WebCT.
5. Do I have to deposit my journal articles?
Although participation is not mandatory, the NIH "requests and strongly encourages that posting for public accessibility through PubMed Central occur as soon as possible." (https://nihms.nih.gov)
6. This seems like extra work for me. How will depositing my work help me?
Participation in PubMed Central offers many benefits to authors. First, it meets the current reporting requirements as set forth by the NIH for all NIH funded research. That means that you may substitute electronic submission for paper submission. It provides greater visibility for your research to other scholars and the general public through open access and through cross-indexing in other federally funded databases. Finally, it ensures the preservation of your research into the future.
7. Can I limit my submission to an abstract only?
PubMed Central is designed to hold the full text of journals and individual articles. The premise behind the public access policy is the idea of disseminating the full content of recent developments in medical research without prohibitive costs. Abstracts are likely to already be availabe in the PubMed database which the National Library of Medicine makes freely available at http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/.
8. What if I have already signed an agreement with my publisher stating that I cannot post my work elsewhere?
Signing an author agreement that explicitly or implicity prohibits posting your work online does not necessarily mean that you will not be able to post your work in PubMed Central. If you have not retained any rights allowing you to deposit a work, you will need to write to your publisher and request permission to deposit your article in PubMed Central. Publishers are often quite willing to honor this type of request. A sample letter requesting deposit permission can be found at: http://www.lib.umd.edu/CLMD/INSTREP/NIHPermissionletter.html.
9. The University of Maryland has a similar program, right? Are they related?
DRUM is a repository for University of Maryland faculty research works. It is
important to note that submission of your article to DRUM
DRUM operates on many of the same principles as PubMed Central, but offers some
different features. DRUM is designed to hold all types of research works, so
materials not covered by the NIH policy can be submitted to DRUM for permanent
access. Book chapters, conference presentations, data sets, and other works are
welcome additions to DRUM. Like PMC, DRUM is designed to maintain those works into
the future, helping to preserve your research legacy and increase the visibility of
your whole research program.
Because neither PMC or DRUM requires exclusive deposit, you can place work into both
collections. If you use the Author Addendum developed by SPARC to modify your
publication agreement, you can deposit your article into both DRUM and PubMed Central.
For more information about DRUM, go to:
http://www.lib.umd.edu/drum/index.jsp.
10. Only some of my work is funded by NIH, is there somewhere else I can archive my work?
The University of Maryland operates an institutional repository for faculty research works, DRUM. DRUM is designed to permanently store and provide open access to faculty research works, including journal articles, book chapters, data sets, images, etc. The only restrictions on deposit are that the author must be a UM faculty member and that the work is a complete work of scholarship (e.g. class notes are not appropriate). You can read more about DRUM at http://www.lib.umd.edu/drum/index.jsp.
11. My work is funded by other government agencies. Will they be implementing similar programs?
Right now, NIH is the only US government agency that has announced a public access policy. However, the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes (http://www.hhmi.org/pdf/IntellectualProperty.pdf) and the Welcome Trust (http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/doc%5Fwtd002766.html) have recently announced similar policies for research they fund. Clearly powerful trends toward greater open access to scholarly works are developing.
