Skip to Main Content

NIH Public Access Policy

This Guide provides detailed information about the NIH Public Access Policy.

PubMed Central

PubMed Central

PubMed Central® (PMC) is a free full-text archive of biomedical and life sciences journal literature. Its content can be accessed by anyone online at: https://www.pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.

It serves as the repository for journal literature deposited by participating publishers, as well as for author manuscripts that have been submitted in compliance with the NIH Public Access Policy and similar policies of other research funding agencies.

Manuscript Submission

Submission Methods

Due to the recent implementation of the new NIH Public Access Policy (July 1, 2025), many government resources have been redirected to the Grants & Funding website or removed. We are monitoring this situation closely and we will update our materials as more information becomes available. 

A manuscript can be submitted to PubMed Central by one of four methods: Methods A, B, C, and D. Use the Determine Submission Method wizard to learn which method is required for your manuscript.

Method A

Journal
  • The journal is a "participating journal" of PubMed Central.
  • In this method, the final published article is automatically submitted to PMC by the journal.
  • If your journal is listed in the Participating Journals list, the process requires no action on the author's part. If your journal is NOT listed, you must identify an alternative method based on your circumstances (Methods B-D).

Method B

Journal & Author
  • The journal has an agreement with the NIH to submit articles where the author chooses the journal's fee-based open access option. 
  • In this method, the final published article is submitted to PMC by the journal.
  • Authors must ensure the submission process is completed by the journal. For questions about their NIH agreement and submission process, contact the journal.  

Method C

Author
  • The journal is NOT a "participating journal" of PubMed Central.
  • The journal does NOT have an agreement with the NIH to submit articles where the author chooses the journal's fee-based open access option.
  • In this method, the final published article is submitted to PMC by the author via the NIH Manuscript Submission System (NIHMS). 

Method D

Journal & Author
  • In an effort to facilitate compliance, the journal's publisher volunteers to begin the submission process to PMC for the author. 
  • In this method, the final published article is submitted to PMC via the NIH Manuscript Submission System (NIHMS) by the journal and a designated author of the article.
  • The publisher will begin the submission process by depositing article files into NIHMS, but a designated author must complete the submission process. The designated author will receive an email notification upon the publisher's deposit with instructions on how to proceed.