How to comply in 3 steps

1. Address Copyright When Signing the Publisher's Agreement.

Before you sign a publication agreement or similar copyright transfer agreement, make sure that the agreement allows the article to be submitted to NIH in accordance with the Public Access policy.

To comply make sure you include the following language in your agreement, which would allow you to use your own works for teaching and research purposes, as well as comply with the NIH Public Access policy:

"Owner hereby grants the author a non-exclusive, world-wide, royalty-free perpetual and irrevocable right and license to copy, distribute, display, and perform this Work, in whole or in part, and to incorporate the Work, in whole or in part, in his/her teaching and research activities including publication of the Work on the author's non-profit educational Web site and to fulfill deposit mandates from funding agencies such as the NIH."

For further help in addressing copyright with publishers, see the Digital Scholarship & Publishing Center's page on retaining your rights or contact,

Shelby Shanks
Director for Digital Scholarship & Publishing Center
NCSU Libraries
shelby_shanks@ncsu.edu

2. Submit the Article to PubMed Central via NIH.

Upon acceptance for publication, you must submit an electronic copy of the peer-reviewed manuscript, using the NIH Manuscript Submission system, to be made publicly available no later than 12 months after publication.

Some journals may make submissions on your behalf; however you may still have responsibilities to submit additional documentation. Here are three common scenarios that you may encounter, and how it affects your responsibilies as an investigator. For more information and a list of journals that submit articles on your behalf, see the NIH FAQ.

You are also encouraged to submit your works to NC State's Scholarly Publications Repository.

3. Cite the Article including the PMCID.

As of May 25, 2008, when citing an article in NIH applications, proposals, and progress reports that fall under this Policy, you must include the PMCID.

Here is an example:

Zerhouni, EA. (2003) A New Vision for the National Institutes of Health. Journal of Biomedicine and Biotechnology (3), 159-160. PMCID: 400215