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NIH Public Access Policy: Compliance

Information and guidance for complying with the NIH Public Access Policy.

Demonstrate Compliance

Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) and Principal Investigators (PI) are responsible for compliance. The PI of the grant is also responsible even if he/she is not an author or co-author of a work that falls under the NIH policy. There are several ways to show compliance.

PMCID - PubMed Central reference number (this is different from the PMID)
                  Method A, B, C, and D forms of submission
NOTE: A PMCID is required for demonstration of compliance for works three months post publication and beyond.

Example:
Tai X, Van Laethem F, Pobezinsky L, Guinter T, Sharrow SO, Adams A, Granger L, Kruhlak M, Lindsten T, Thompson CB, Feigenbaum L, Singer A. Basis of CTLA-4 function in regulatory and conventional CD4(+) T cells. Blood. 2012 May 31;119(22):5155-63. PMCID: PMC3369608

In the interim, compliance can be demonstrated by:

  • Using the phrase “PMC Journal – In Process” (for Method A and B forms of submission)
  • Using the NIH Manuscript Submission (NIHMS) system reference number (for Method C and D forms of submission)
    NOTE: Using “PMC Journal – In Process” as interim documentation of compliance for works submitted via Method C or Method D forms of submission is contrary to the NIH Policy.

The PMCID is assigned after the work (final published article or final peer-reviewed manuscript) is posted to PMC via Method A, B, C or D forms of submission. The PMCID can be located in:

“PMC Journal – In Process” is a term used for final published articles via Method A and Method B forms of submission that are in the process of being submitted to PMC.

  • My NCBI/My Bibliography in eRA Commons: https://commons.era.nih.gov/
    Citations in My Bibliography will automatically note “PMC Journal –  In Process” when applicable.  

The NIHMS ID is assigned when a manuscript via Method C and Method D forms of submission is submitted to NIHMS in preparation for posting to PMC. The NIHMS ID is used temporarily until a PMCID is assigned. This number will be invalid three months after a work is published. The NIHMS ID can be located in:

  • NIHMS systemhttp://www.nihms.nih.gov/db/sub.cgi
    NIH-funded authors can check for manuscripts in NIHMS by logging in to eRA commons. The NIHMS ID is noted with the title of the manuscript. 
  • PMCID - PMID - Manuscript ID - DOI Converter: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/pmctopmid/    
  • My NCBI/My Bibliography in eRA Commons: https://commons.era.nih.gov/
    Citations in My Bibliography will automatically note the NIHMS ID when available. 
  • Public Access Compliance Monitor - The MSK Library has been assigned a "PACR" role and can access the compliance reports for MSK and locate and confirm NIHMS IDs.

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Jeanine McSweeney