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NIH Public Access Compliance: Publisher Responses to New NIH Policy, 2025

This LibGuide will walk users through issues of publication compliance with the NIH

Overview

We are actively seeking information for CSHL researchers on how journals and publishers are responding to the upcoming implementation of the NIH Public Access Policy for scholarly publications. This will go into effect for papers accepted on or after July 1, 2025 if the associated NIH funding is active on this date. The table below contains policy information for publishers most relevant to the CSHL research community. We are updating the information below as we hear from publishers and journals.

Please bear in mind that the policy's impact on how you achieve compliance will depend on a variety factors including the publisher, journal, and publishing model that you choose for your article. To get individualized assistance on how you should comply with the updated policy, please contact Katie McGuire (x6844, kmcguire@cshl.edu).  

Steps to Take to Ensure that You are In Compliance with the New Policy

Does this policy apply to me?

To determine which public access policy applies to your publication, please use the following chart:

a decision tree to determine which NIH policy applies to a publication based on if the award is closed and when the manuscript was accepted

Chart Credit: Dana Haugh, Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library, Yale (Compliance Presentation); found via Dave Hansen's Authors Alliance Article on the NIH Policy Updates 

There are several steps you can take to make sure that you are in compliance with the new policy. The information below was modified from guidance written by Anna Biszaha with the Ohio State Health Sciences Library and the NIH Public Access Policy Website. 

  • Disclose that the publication is NIH-funded when you submit the paper.
    • This will inform the publisher/journal that the publication needs to be made compliant with the NIH policy. 
    • This includes acknowledging the NIH grant number in the acknowledgments and/or funding section of your manuscript. 
  • Choose the most appropriate license when signing the author's agreement with the publisher. 
    • You want to ensure that you retain the necessary rights to comply with the NIH Policy. 
  • Determine what submission method will be the most appropriate for your publication. 
    • Depending on the publishing route you choose, the publisher might deposit the final published manuscript for you or you might need to deposit the Author's Accepted Manuscript into PubMed Central using NIHMS. 
  • If you have to deposit the publication yourself into PubMed Central via NIHMS, start the process as soon after acceptance as possible. 
    • Depositing a publication into PubMed Central can take up to 2-3 weeks, assuming there are no issues with the conversion process. Starting deposit as soon as possible after acceptance ensures you have time to achieve compliance before you need to report your publications to the NIH on an RPPR. 
  • Monitor the progress of your deposited publication using the My Bibliography. 
    • The My Bibliography associated with your NIH account enables you to associate grants with your publications and monitor compliance. 

The NIH has also published a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) page for the new policy. 

Publisher Policies

The Author's Associated Manuscript (AAM) is the version of the publication after peer review but before publisher copyediting, typesetting, and formatting. 

The NIH Manuscript Submission System (NIHMS) is the online portal where authors can deposit their publications into PubMed Central. For more information on depositing via NIHMS, please visit the "How Do I Make This Paper Compliant?" tab of this guide. 

 

Publisher Current Policy Response to New NIH Policy

American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)

  • Journals include Cancer Research, Cancer Discovery, etc.

Link to Policy

Open Access Route: AACR will deposit the final version of the manuscript into PubMed Central without an embargo.

Subscription Route: Authors can deposit the AAM into PubMed Central with a 6-month embargo. 

Open Access Route: AACR will continue to deposit the final version of the manuscript into PubMed Central without an embargo.

Subscription Route: AACR has changed their policy to allow authors to deposit the AAM (via NIHMS) into PubMed Central without an embargo  

  • If a corresponding author is an active member of AACR: the publisher can initiate the deposit for them. Authors will need to approve the materials in NIHMS.

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Link to Policy

  • Science Advances
 Open Access: AAAS automatically deposits the final version into PubMed Central without an embargo.  No change to their policy was needed.
  • All other journals including Science
 Subscription Route: Authors can deposit the AAM into PubMed Central via NIHMS without an embargo.  No change to their policy was needed.

Cell Press & Elsevier

Link to Policy

Open Access Route: Elsevier will deposit the final version of the article in PubMed Central without an embargo. 

Subscription Route: Authors can deposit the AAM into PubMed Central via NIHMS with an embargo. 

 Elsevier has not changed their policy to remove the embargo on subscription articles, indicating that the only pathway to compliance is by publishing open access. 

Company of Biologists

  • Journals include Development, Disease Models & Mechanisms, etc.

Open Access Route: CoB deposits the final version of the manuscript into PubMed Central without an embargo for papers that have CSHL researchers as corresponding authors. 

  • If a CSHL researcher is not a corresponding author, then the paper will be subject to a 12-month embargo in PubMed. 

Open Access Route: The CoB will continue to automatically deposit the final publication into PubMed Central.

  • If a CSHL researcher is not a corresponding author, then the AAM can be deposited into PubMed Central via NIHMS without an embargo. 
eLife Open Access Route: eLife automatically deposits publications into PubMed Central without an embargo. No change to their policy was needed.

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.

  • Journals include Antioxidants & Redox Signaling, Journal of Computational Biology, etc.

Link to Policy

Open Access Route:  Mary Ann Liebert automatically deposits the final publication into PubMed Central.

  • However, depending on the journal, it might be subject to an embargo. If subject to an embargo, can deposit the AAM into PubMed Central without an embargo. 

Subscription Route: Authors can deposit the AAM into PubMed Central via NIHMS without an embargo. 

 No change to their policy was needed.

National Academy of Sciences

  • Journals include PNAS

Link to Policy

 Open Access Route: The NAS automatically deposits the final publication into PubMed Central. However, a separate fee must be paid for immediate open access without an embargo. 

Open Access Route: The NAS will continue to automatically deposit the final publication into PubMed Central.

  • If authors do not want to pay the immediate open access fee, they can deposit the AAM into PubMed Central via NIHMS without an embargo. 

Oxford University Press

Link to Policy

Open Access Route: For some journals, Oxford automatically deposits the final publication into PubMed Central.

  • However, depending on the journal, it might be subject to an embargo. 

Subscription Route: Many Oxford journals require deposit of the AAM into PubMed Central with an embargo. 

 Oxford has not modified their policies on embargoes on subscription articles, indicating that the only pathway to compliance is by publishing a paper via an open access route. 
Public Library of Science (PLoS) Open Access Route: PLoS automatically deposits publications into PubMed Central without an embargo. No change to their policy was needed.

Rockefeller University Press

  • Journals include the Journal of Experimental Medicine 

Link to Policy

Open Access Route: Rockefeller deposits the final version of the manuscript into PubMed Central without an embargo. 

Subscription Route: Rockefeller permits the deposit of the AAM into PubMed Central without an embargo. 

 No change to their policy was needed.

Society for Neuroscience

  • Journals include Journal of Neuroscience and eNeuro

Open Access Route: SFN deposits the final version of the manuscript into PubMed Central. 

  • However, if authors do not pay the fee for immediate open access (Open Choice), then the paper will be under a 6-month embargo.

Open Access Route: SFN will continue to automatically deposit the final publication into PubMed Central.

  • If authors do not want to pay the immediate open access fee, they can deposit the AAM into PubMed Central via NIHMS without an embargo.

Springer Nature

  • Journals include Nature, Nature Communications, etc.

Link to Springer Nature Policy Compliance FAQs

Open Access Route: For some journals, Springer Nature deposits the final version of the manuscript into PubMed Central without an embargo. 

Subscription Route: Many Springer Nature journals require deposit of the AAM into PubMed Central with an embargo. 

Open Access Route: Springer Nature will continue to automatically deposit the final publication into PubMed Central without an embargo. 

  • This includes all papers published in Nature Communications

Subscription Route: Springer Nature has confirmed that they will not be changing their policy that the AAM must be deposited (depending on the journal) with an embargo.

Wiley

Link to Policy

Open Access Route: For some journals, Wiley deposits the final version of the manuscript into PubMed Central without an embargo. 

Subscription Route: Many Wiley journals require deposit of the AAM into PubMed Central with an embargo. 

Open Access Route: Wiley will continue to automatically deposit the final publication into PubMed Central without an embargo. 

Subscription Route: Wiley's policy states that there is only one route to compliance for hybrid journals: "choose the open access publishing route". Wiley did not change their policy to permit deposit of the AAM without an embargo.