NIH Public Access Policy

Before submitting, authors should ask the publisher to submit on their behalf ask the publisher to submit on the author’s behalf. 

What Information Do I Need in Order to Submit to NIHMS?

1. The final peer-reviewed manuscript. (Non-peer-reviewed materials do not need to be submitted, including editorials, commentaries, dissertations, book chapters.)
2. The grant numbers attached to the manuscript.
3. An eRA Commons or NCBI login.
4. Check for an article embargo. (Some journals will require authors to place an embargo period of 6-12 months on the article before it is released in PubMed Central.)

1. Sign into NIHMS to start the submission process. If you do not have an eRA Commons account, create a free NCBI Account. After signing in, click the Submit New Manuscript button.

2. Next, add the Title Information by selecting selecting Option 2 and Search for Citation in PubMed. Enter your PubMed ID, Search and check the box next to your publication. (It’s important to search by the PMID. This will attach the PMID to your manuscript so it is easily matched to any duplicate manuscripts.)

Next, select Add Funding.

3. Search by the PI’s name or grant number to add funding. Select Search. Check the box in the Select column to add the grant to your list of funding support. If you are adding the Cancer Center Support Grant, enter Peter Pisters into the search boxes and select Grant/Project ID P30 CA016672.

Select Upload Files.

4. Upload the manuscript files. You can submit the manuscript in one file or in separate files for each component. Select Check Files.

5. Review the PDF Receipt, and Select Set Reviewer and Embargo.

If you are an author and are submitting to NIHMS yourself, you will review the submission, set an embargo if required and select Approve. Select Agree to finalize your approval.

If you are a designee/support staff and are submitting on behalf of the authors, provide the author’s name and e-mail address and Select Send to Reviewer.

Your manuscript submission will now have a NIHMS ID until the PMCID is assigned.

Throughout this process, over the course of a few weeks, the author will be e-mailed to approve two separate drafts of the submission to NIHMS. Authors must approve their NIHMS files at least twice. They may also be contacted to correct submission details. In order to complete this process, the author must login to NIHMS to correct any submission details that may arise, as well as approve the submission. 

1. Initial Approval (Authors will receive this approval notice a few days after the initial submission)

• If you are an author and receive an e-mail asking you to login and review a manuscript submission, click on the access link to login to NIHMS. Login using your eRA Commons or NCBI account. Select the manuscript you need to approve under the Needs Your Attention tab. Approve or Reject the manuscript.

2. Final Approval (Authors will receive this approval 2-3 weeks after the initial approval)

• For the final approval, login to NIHMS and select the manuscript you need to approve. This should be under the Needs Your Attention tab. Review the documents and Approve or Request Corrections.