Scholarly Communications News

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has formally requested input from the community regarding the Policy on Enhancing Public Access to Archived Publications Resulting From NIH-Funded Research (NIH Public Access Policy). The Policy requires that all peer-reviewed articles arising from NIH funding be deposited into PubMed Central, the National Library of Medicine's public digital archive. The mandate takes effect April 7, 2008 and applies to articles based on work directly funded by an NIH grant or cooperative agreement active in Fiscal Year 2008 (Oct. 1, 2007 - Sept. 30, 2008). The notice asks for comments from all stakeholders regarding the implementation, monitoring and training for compliance with the Policy. Comments are due by May 31, 2008.

For additional information, see the VCU Libraries guide to Navigating the New NIH Mandatory Public Access Policy or the VCU Office of Research page on compliance.

Submit a Comment to NIH
View Comments Received
Federal Register Notice

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) released its Analysis of Comments and Implementation of the NIH Public Access Policy on September 30, 2008. The report summarizes findings from the open meetings held earlier this year. It also addresses the actions NIH has taken on the concerns including updates to the website and the release of new tools to assist with deposits.

With the signing of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, President Obama has made permanent the NIH Public Access Policy. Previously the policy was subject to annual renewal. A press release is available from the Alliance for Taxpayer Access.

April 7, 2009 marked the one-year anniversary of the NIH Public Access Mandate. An editorial published in Nature this week describes some of the results so far and highlights some of challenges.

Excerpt: "One year on, advocates of free public access to scientific literature are calling a law that requires researchers at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) to make their manuscripts publicly available at the PubMed Central repository a success. At the same time, the measure continues to be challenged by a senior congressman and some publishers." Read the full editorial…

VCU Libraries has created a Resource Guide on the NIH Public Access Policy with information and additional links to helpful sites.