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NIH Public Access Policy

My Bibliography

My Bibliography

My Bibliography is a reference tool available from the My NCBI account. It lets authors save their citations to a centralized location. Citations can be added to My Bibliography directly from PubMed, a file, or entered manually. When the My NCBI account is linked to an eRA Commons account, it lets authors manage public access compliance for their publications, including associating awards with publications and editing compliance status. 

My Bibliography can be accessed by way of PubMed. Click the Login button located in the top right of PubMed's homepage to access My NCBI and the My Bibliography reference tool. 

How do I Track my Publications?

Track Publications

  1. Go to PubMed > Click the Login button located in the top right of the window
  2. Select the Login.gov login option > If you do not have Login.gov credentials, create an account
    • Alternatively, select the eRA Commons login option
  3. Click on your username located in the top right of the window > Select Publications
  4. Click + Add citations to add publications to your bibliography
  5. Publications may already appear in your bibliography. These publications are automatically added when your eRA Commons account is linked to your My NCBI account. 

Detailed instructions with screenshots

How do I Associate an Award with a Paper?

Associate Awards

  1. Go to PubMed > Click the Login button located in the top right of the window
  2. Select the Login.gov login option > If you do not have Login.gov credentials, create an account
    • Alternatively, select the eRA Commons login option
  3. Click on your username located in the top right of the window > Select Publications
  4. Select a publication citation (multiple citations can be selected)
  5. Click Manage citations > Select Manage awards
  6. Select the appropriate funding agency tab > Select the appropriate award from the list presented
  7. Click the Close button - your selections will be saved 

Detailed instructions with screenshots 

Check & Manage Compliance Status

Check Compliance Status

Authors can check the compliance status of publications anytime by accessing their My Bibliography. Each citation with associated funding will display a compliance status tag. Compliance status tags include:

Green  Compliant and complete; has a PMCID
Red  Non-compliant or not defined; does not have a PMCID
Blue  Newly submitted to NIHMS and in process; does not have a PMCID, but has a NIHMS article ID number (which can be used for provisional compliance reporting)
Gray  Not applicable and exempt from the policy

You can view only applicable publications (those to which the NIH PAP applies) by selecting the Public Access Compliance option from the Sort by menu.

Manage Compliance Status

Authors can begin the compliance process for non-compliant publications. 

  1. Click the Edit Status link in the color-coded status tag next to the citation 
  2. In the pop-up form, select the appropriate action:
    • Begin submission in the NIHMS
    • Enter a NIHMS ID for the publication (submission has already been initiated in the NIHMS)
    • Arrangements have been made with the publisher to submit directly to PubMed Central on the author's behalf
    • The publication is exempt from the NIH PAP for reason because...
  3. Click the Save button

Not Defined Publications

Publications tagged as Not defined have to be identified as supported or not supported by NIH grants; click the Edit Status link to confirm that the publication was partly or wholly supported by NIH grants.