On 04/30/25, NIH announced an accelerated timeline for its public access policy. Previously planned for 12/31/25, the policy will now go into effect on 07/01/25.
What are the main impacts of these changes? As of 07/01/25, NIH will require immediate public access to articles that are the result of work funded in whole or in part by NIH. Immediate public access will be accomplished by the submission of an electronic version of the Author Accepted Manuscript to PubMed Central (PMC) without embargo upon acceptance for publication.
Is this policy retroactive? The policy applies to articles accepted for publication on or after 07/01/25, regardless of when the work was funded by NIH.
How do I submit to PubMed Central (PMC)? NIH will maintain its two existing submission pathways:
- submission of the final peer-reviewed manuscript to PMC directly, or
- submission of the final published article to PMC via a journal that has a formal agreement with the National Library of Medicine.
Is there a cost involved? No. Authors do not have to pay a fee to comply with this policy.
