NIH Public Access Policy
Answers to Frequently Asked Questions
About the NIH Public Access Policy
- Journal of Neuroscience Copyright Assignment Form: Click here (PDF)
- Instructions for Authors: Click here
What is the NIH Public Access Policy?
On February 3, 2005, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) released a new policy (NOT-OD-05-022) entitled Policy on Enhancing Public Access to Archived Publications Resulting from NIH-Funded Research. The intent of this voluntary policy is to enhance public access to publications resulting from NIH-funded research. The policy itself and information about it are available at http://www.nih.gov/about/publicaccess/index.htm.
The NIH Policy requests that NIH-funded investigators submit electronic copies of final manuscripts that have been accepted for publication in peer-reviewed journals to the National Library of Medicine's PubMed Central (PMC). The policy applies only to those articles that were accepted for publication on or after May 2, 2005.
Is This Policy Mandatory for All NIH-supported Researchers?
Since this policy was announced, many researchers have asked whether participation is truly voluntary. When the policy was published, NIH Director Elias Zerhouni sent a letter to all extramural scientists and their research institutions describing the policy and urging them to participate. Although Dr. Zerhouni stated that the policy is a request, many researchers as well as university offices of sponsored programs and even some NIH program officers have interpreted it as mandatory for grantees. In public statements, Dr. Zerhouni and other NIH officials have repeatedly said that the policy is voluntary and there will be no repercussions for those who choose not to participate. Funded investigators and grantees may still fulfill their progress report requirements by providing print copies of their publications with their annual progress reports.
How May Journal of Neuroscience Authors Comply with the NIH Policy?
At this time, the NIH Manuscript Submission System (NIHMS) does not allow publishers to deposit accepted manuscripts on behalf of their authors. Authors who wish to deposit their manuscripts in PMC should submit final, peer-reviewed and accepted manuscripts, including any additional files containing figures, tables, or supplementary information, to NIHMS at http://www.nihms.nih.gov/. The system accepts a variety of word-processing file formats.
The Society for Neuroscience will continue to retain copyright to articles published in The Journal of Neuroscience. However, the Society has modified the Copyright Assignment and Experimental Procedures Statement for The Journal to allow our authors to deposit their accepted manuscripts in PMC (or similar repositories of other government funding agencies), provided access to the manuscript is granted no earlier than 6 months after the manuscript has been published in The Journal of Neuroscience, the Society's current open access policy for The Journal.
As part of the submission process, NIH requests that the principal investigator designate when the manuscript may be posted on PMC for public access. The public access date will be in the form of a delay period from the date of journal publication. Consistent with the Society's modified copyright agreement, Journal of Neuroscience authors should stipulate that their articles be made available to the public no earlier than 6 months after journal publication. The Society's leadership continues to review its open access policy, and any future changes to the embargo period will be reflected in the copyright agreement.
The manuscript submitted to PMC must be identical to the accepted, unedited manuscript that was accepted for publication by The Journal; authors may not submit the final copyedited version of their Journal of Neuroscience articles to PMC. Journal authors are required to insert the following phrase on the title page of the manuscript before it is uploaded to PMC: "This article is an un-copyedited author manuscript that has been accepted for publication in The Journal of Neuroscience, copyright 200_ Society for Neuroscience. The Society for Neuroscience disclaims any responsibility or liability for errors or omissions in this version of the manuscript or any version derived from it by NIH or other parties." The PMC entry will include a link back to the author's final publication in The Journal of Neuroscience, which is the version of record. The intent is to make clear to the reader that the PMC manuscript is not the final version of your article. By directing readers to the article of record, we hope to ensure accurate (and accurately counted) citations to your paper.