NIH’s Open Access Policy Updates: What Librarians and Researchers Need to Know

Posted by liaison on August 18th, 2025 Posted in: Blog

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As of July 1, 2025, the 2024 NIH Public Access Policy is officially in effect, bringing important changes that impact how NIH-funded research is managed and shared. The National Library of Medicine (NLM) and its National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) have rolled out several updates to help researchers, institutions, and staff, including librarians and health information professionals, navigate these changes smoothly:

• My Bibliography – My Bibliography, a tool within My NCBI, now offers improved features for tracking compliance. Users can specify the acceptance date of a publication, which determines which version of the Public Access Policy applies and a new “Embargoed in PMC” status helps identify citations that are temporarily non-compliant due to embargo restrictions. These updates make it easier for librarians and administrators to assist researchers in maintaining accurate and compliant publication records.
• PubMed Central (PMC) Submission Guidance – PMC’s For Authors page has been refreshed to clarify eligibility for submission, who can deposit manuscripts, and how to handle online first (OLF) or early view articles. This guidance is especially useful for library staff who support faculty and researchers with manuscript submissions.
• NIH Manuscript Submission (NIHMS) System – NIHMS has updated its interface and help documentation to provide clearer error messaging and guide reviewers in applying the correct embargo periods. These changes aim to reduce submission errors and improve the overall user experience for those managing NIH-funded manuscripts.

Institutions are advised to review updated publisher agreements and submission pathways, prepare training of authors, and monitor NIH’s continued rollout of support tools and information. Additional information can be found on the NLM Technical Bulletin. If you have any questions or would like to provide feedback, reach out to the National Library of Medicine.