Public Access Update: Clarifying Use of the NIH Manuscript Submission Reference Number (NIHMSID)

The NIH Public Access Policy ensures that the public has access to published results of NIH funded research. Awardees are required to provide NIH with evidence of compliance for applicable papers that are authored by the Principal Investigator (PI) or that arise from the PI’s NIH-funded research.

NIHAs described in a recent Guide Notice, effective August 21, 2009, the NIHMSID may be used to demonstrate compliance on NIH applications, proposals or reports, for up to three months after a paper is published. Three or more months after publication, a PubMed Central® reference number (PMCID) must be provided. Only the PMCID signifies that all steps of the NIH Public Access submission process are complete and that the paper is ready for posting at PubMed Central.

This Notice also reminds awardee institutions of the actions they can take to ensure compliance with the NIH Public Access Policy. Its release corresponds to an update and simplification of the NIH Public Access Web site.

This is a reprint of the announcement published on the National Institutes of Health Public Access Web site on August 12, 2009.

~ Barbara Epstein

Posted in the 2009 Issue