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NIH Public Access Compliance: Why Is This Paper Non-Compliant?

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

The Red Exclamation Point

If one of your publications has the red exclamation point, then that publication is Non-Compliant, and we need to address that as soon as possible.  The red exclamation point appears if the paper has been linked to NIH funding and has not been deposited into PubMed Central.  There are 2 ways to remove the red exclamation point:

  1. Submit the Paper through the NIHMS.  The tab "How Do I Make This Paper Compliant?" will walk you through this process.
  • If the publication has already been deposited into PubMed Central through the NIH Manuscript Submission System (NIHMS), see the box below this one to input the NIHMSID into the My Bibliography. 
  1. Edit the Status of the paper to be Non-Applicable if the publication is exempt from the policy. (see the tab labeled, "Do I Need to Deal With This?")

I have an NIHMSID for a paper. How do I use it to indicate progress towards compliance?

Once a publication has been approved in NIHMS for deposit in PubMed Central, it is given an NIHMSID. You can use this number to demonstrate provisional compliance on an RPPR for up to 90 days after the official publication date of the paper. Follow these steps to load the NIHMSID into your My Bibliography. 


Step 1. Locate the NIHMSID for the publication. You can do this by logging into the NIH Manuscript Submission System and locating the paper. It will most likely be in the "in process" tab of your submission system. Once you locate the correct manuscript information, locate the NIHMSID under the "Manuscript Information" heading and copy it.

Step 2. Next, navigate to the My Bibliography and find the citation for the publication for which you are trying to demonstrate compliance. Click "edit status" in the compliance box on the right side of the citation. Then, select the option that states "This citation has been submitted" and enter the NIHMSID into the box. Then, click save.  

If it has been less than 90 days since the official publication date, then the compliance box should turn blue and read as "in process" like in the example below. 

If it has been more than 90 days since the official publication date, then the compliance box will stay red and say "non-compliant" like in the example below. The publication will only be considered compliant at this stage when it has been given a PMCID. 

Additional Questions: