NIH Public Access Policy

After starting the new manuscript submission process, you will be taken to a page to enter the paper's information. You have a few options.

• Manually: Enter the manuscript's title and journal title - not recommended if you have the PMID or DOI available.
  • Too often, authors or delegates will upload a manuscript to NIHMS and use the manual method instead of DOI, PMID or importing from My Bibliography. This creates an incomplete record. If this record is not later integrated with an official PubMed record or proper citation and DOI, it may remain "In process at NIHMS" and be flagged as non-compliant on subsequent RPPRs. If you must create a record this way, make sure you revisit it after publication to add a complete citation and match it to a PMID (or DOI).
• Populate from:
  • Search for the manuscript in PubMed
    • Note: this is the best option if your paper is listed in PubMed
  • DOI - if you don't have the PMID but you do have the DOI from the journal, use this button
  • Search for the manuscript in your My NCBI My Bibliography

After adding the manuscript information, use the Next button at the bottom of the page to navigate through the rest of the submission steps: adding funding, uploading files, approving the upload.

There is a walkthrough "wizard" available when you click on the walking person icon. Use the Help link to go to the NCBI's help pages.

When uploading files:

• For the manuscript file(s) you can upload text, tables and images all in one Word or PDF document, or you can upload figures and tables separately. Just make sure you put notation in the text file where each image or table should be, if they are not integrated.
• Make sure you upload ALL the files associated with the paper, including all supplemental materials.

• Remember that it is a violation of most publishers' copyright to upload the final copy-edited version of the manuscript from the journal, so it is best to upload the final corrected authors' version of the post-peer reviewed text and the original figures and tables. If you cannot access these files, you should ask the journal or publisher if you may upload their version to NIHMS.
• Check the box to certify that you have uploaded all files associated with the publication.

The NIHMS has several tutorials for various stages of the sign-in and upload process, available through the link below.

After you have uploaded all the files associated with the manuscript, the record must be approved for the submission to be complete and begin processing by the NIHMS staff.

If you are an author of the paper or a PI of any award associated with the paper:

• If you are uploading the files yourself, after you click the box to confirm all files are included, click the Next button.
• On this page, you can name yourself as the "Reviewer", or name another author or PI as the Reviewer.
  • The Reviewer is responsible for approving the uploaded files, acknowledging copyright and approving the submission.
  • If you name yourself as Reviewer and you have uploaded the files, you won't have to open and review the files.
  • If you name someone else as the Reviewer, they will receive an email notification to log into NIHMS and approve the submission.
• Specify the embargo period (Reviewer role only):
  • Currently, the maximum allowable embargo is 12 months. This is 12 months past the publication date of the paper, and is the length of time until the full text is available for public view in PMC. The PMCID, however, will be generated before this period of time and will be available to you as soon as the NIHMS process is completed.
    • PLEASE NOTE: The embargo period will change to Immediately in 2025. This means your full text must be processed by NIHMS and be viewable to the public in PMC by the first date of online publication of the manuscript.
  • If your publisher allows a shorter embargo period, you can specify that. Read your author agreement to find how long a publisher requires you to wait for full-text sharing in PubMed Central (or any repository).
  • Click the Confirm button to continue.
• On the next page, read and acknowledge the rights Submission Statement.
• Finally, click the Agree button to submit the record.
• You will see the submission confirmation page showing the manuscript's information (including a newly-assigned NIHMSID) and a timeline showing where the manuscript is in the NIHMS process.

If you are uploading files on behalf of an author or PI (as a delegate)

• After you upload all the files and click the box to confirm all files are included, click the Next button.
• On the next page, you must name an author or PI as the Reviewer. Use the dropdown menu to select the name of any PI who has already been associated with the submission OR enter a name and email address, if you're naming an author as Reviewer.
  • Only an author or PI of a supporting award can be a Reviewer in NIHMS.
  • Any author can be the Reviewer: it does not need to be the first or last author.
  • The Reviewer should be familiar enough with the manuscript to note if any corrections need to be made.
  • The Reviewer should also be someone who will reliably respond to the emails from the NIHMS system to log in and approve the submission.
    • The Reviewer is responsible for approving the uploaded files, acknowledging copyright and approving the submission.
    • When you name someone else as the Reviewer, they will receive an email notification to log into NIHMS and approve the submission.
• As a delegate, you cannot name an embargo period. This is only available to the Reviewer of the record.
• Click the Next button to submit the record.
• You will see the submission confirmation page showing the manuscript's information (including a newly-assigned NIHMSID) and a timeline showing where the manuscript is in the NIHMS process.