NIH Public Access Policy: Submitting Papers to PubMed Central - Methods A-D

There are four methods for getting articles into PubMed Central (PMC), depending on the journal the article is published in, whether it was published open access, and what method the publisher has chosen. Knowing which method the particular journal or publisher follows will dictate what steps you need to take to make sure your article complies with NIH's Public Access Policy.

When an article has a PMCID, it is compliant with the policy, even if the full text is still under embargo and not yet accessible on PMC.

NIH provides a Submission Method Wizard to help you determine which method to follow for your publication.

Under both Methods A and B, the publisher provides their final published version of the article directly to PMC on behalf of the author, no later than 12 months after publication. Starting on July 1, 2025, papers are required to be made available in PMC without an embargo period, upon the Official Date of Publication (NOT-OD-25-047). 

Method A is journal-based. Participating journals post all peer-reviewed, NIH-funded articles in PMC. Authors do not have to deposit the manuscript into NIHMS. However, the steps below must still be followed to ensure compliance. Approximately 3,400 journals are currently in this category, which is a small subset of all journals that are published.

Method B is for paid open access articles published with selected journals and publishers. These publishers have an agreement with NIH to deposit the final PDF in PMC when notified by the author that an article falls under the policy.

Steps to compliance:

1. Let the publisher know that the paper falls under NIH's policy during the submission and acceptance process.
2. Add the citation to My Bibliography (the publisher can not complete this step for an author).
3. Associate the fund(s) that applies to the the paper in My Bibliography.

The vast majority of articles fall under Methods C & D, which require the Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM) version of the paper to be deposited in the NIH Manuscript Submission System (NIHMS) in order to make it accessible in PMC. Method D journals and publishers deposit the AAM in NIHMS on behalf of the author. Under Method C, the author or their delegate deposits the AAM into NIHMS.

Key points:

• The Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM) is defined as 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. 
•  The AAM is deposited and processed in the NIH Manuscript Submission System (NIHMS), which feeds into PMC.
• There are several steps, detailed in the next section, to make an article compliant with NIH's Public Access Policy. The author or PI must complete all applicable steps, even if the AAM is deposited by the publisher.
• There is no comprehensive list of Method C publishers. If the publisher or journal is not on the A, B, or D lists, follow Method C for your paper.
• NIHMS's process requires 2-3 weeks and cannot be expedited.

Steps to the NIHMS process

The NIHMS system allows users such as authors, principal investigators, and publishers to supply material (Step 1) for conversion to XML documents in a format that can be ingested by PMC. Depositing a manuscript in NIHMS for inclusion in PMC is a multi-step process, requiring an author to approve the deposited files and associated funding before conversion (Step 2) and the PMC-ready documents after conversion (Step 4).

NIHMS Help: Overview of steps | FAQ | Glossary | Status definitions | Step-by-Step Tutorials | Video tutorial

1. Deposit files. A manuscript may be submitted by the author, the PI, the publisher, or another third party, such as an assistant. Third-party submitters must designate an author or a PI to serve as the Reviewer for an NIHMS submission. In these cases, the Reviewer will receive notification of the deposit via e-mail.
   • The release delay is set during deposit, which determines when the article will be publicly accessible in PMC. The default is 12 months after publication, unless your journal allows for a shorter release time. Starting on July 1, 2025, the release date will be the Official Date of Publication, with no embargo period.
2. Initial approval. The Reviewer reviews the submission, confirms or adds associated funding, and either rejects or approves the material for processing in NIHMS. An NIHMSID is assigned, which provides provisional compliance within three months of the publication date.
   • Manuscripts with only an NIHMSID will show a non-compliant status after three months until the PMCID is obtained.
3. NIHMS conversion. NIHMS staff reviews the approved files for completeness, and complete submissions are converted to archival XML. The PMC-ready documents (Web and PDF versions) are checked to ensure they accurately reflect the submitted files. An email notification is sent to the Reviewer when the record is available for final review. Allow 2-3 weeks for this step.
4. Final approval: The Reviewer reviews the PMC-ready documents (Web and PDF versions) and either requests corrections or approves them for inclusion in PMC. Final Approval is required to complete manuscript processing in NIHMS and for the PMCID to be assigned.
5. PMCID assigned. A PMCID is assigned when the final approval is complete and the manuscript is matched to a PubMed record with complete citation information. For details, see When will a PMCID be assigned to my manuscript? Once it has a PMCID, the article's status will show as "Complete".
6. Available in PMC. The manuscript is made available in PMC according to the release delay (embargo period) set during the deposit. A placeholder record will display in PMC with the article citation during an embargo period .