This guide contains a collection of resources about the 2024 NIH Public Access Policy, which supersedes the 2008 NIH Public Access Policy.

The information in the guide applies to all manuscripts that are the result of funding by the National Institutes of Health and that were accepted for publication on or after July 1, 2025.

The 2024 NIH Public Access Policy contains important policy changes from the 2008 policy.

Article embargos are no longer permitted. The Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM) must be deposited in PubMed Central (PMC) on article acceptance for publication. The AAM must be made publicly available upon the article's Official Date of Publication.

Alternatively, a Journal or Journal Publisher may continue to deposit in PMC for authors, as long as the Final Published Article is publicly available on the article's Official Date of Publication. 2024 NIH Public Access Policy

NIH Grants and Policy Statement acknowledgement. Authors must include a statement in the AAM and Final Published Article communicating and acknowledging federal funding (GPS 4.2.1 and GPS 8.2.1)

Authors grant the NIH a Government Use License. PMC's submission statement currently reads, "I hereby grant to NIH, a royalty-free, nonexclusive, and irrevocable right to reproduce, publish, or otherwise use this work for Federal purposes and to authorize others to do so. This grant of rights includes the right to make the final, peer-reviewed manuscript publicly available in PubMed Central upon the Official Date of Publication." Supplemental Guidance to the 2024 NIH Public Access Policy: Government Use License and Rights

The 2024 NIH Public Access Policy offers the following definitions:

Author Accepted Manuscript: The author’s final version that has been accepted for journal publication and includes all revisions resulting from the peer review process, including all associated tables, graphics, and supplemental material.

Final Published Article: The journal's authoritative copy, including journal or publisher copyediting and stylistic edits, and formatting changes, even prior to the compilation of a volume or issue or the assignment of associated metadata.

Journal: A periodical publication that is either 1) included in the “journal” section of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) Catalog or 2) meets all of the following criteria:

• Requirements for ISSN assignment;
• Content is issued over time under a common title;
• Is a collection of articles by different authors; and
• Is intended to be published indefinitely.

Official Date of Publication: The date on which the Final Published Article is first made available in final, edited form, whether in print or electronic (i.e., online) format.