Author Services

Publishing open access through one of the listed agreements can often streamline the work to meet federal agency grant requirements as some publishers will automatically deposit the funded manuscript into the required repository. This workflow does vary by publisher and we are in the process of updating this guide to reflect which publishers will auto deposit and where.

For more information regarding agency requirements, please consult the following sites.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) established the NIH Public Access Policy in 2008 and revised it in 2024. The revised policy requires Author Accepted Manuscripts (AAMs) reporting NIH-funded research that are accepted for publication on or after July 1, 2025, to be immediately deposited in the National Library of Medicine’s (NLM) PubMed Central (PMC) upon acceptance for publication without embargo.

Key Information

• Zero Embargo: Authors should submit the Author Accepted Mansucripts to PubMed Central without embargo upon the Official Date of Publication.
• Effective Date July 1, 2025: Articles accepted for publication on or after July 1, 2025 even if they were already submitted for peer review when the policy was announced.
• Open Access Fees: Journal or publisher fees that arise during the course of the publication process for the sole purpose of submitting the Author Accepted Manuscript to PubMed Central are not allowable costs.
• Funder Details: Authors should always include the research funder details and grant number during the manuscript submission process.

Key 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Submitting Your Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM) to PubMed Central

For an overview of the updated methods for submitting an AAM to PubMed Central (PMC), see this Overview of Submission Methods. NIH indicates guidance on submitting to PMC is forthcoming. 

Consult this PMC information on submitting papers for steps and tips for authors. In brief the steps are:

Step 1: Check the Journal List (formerly called Method A)  More details.

Determine if journal/publisher deposits the final published article directly to PMC. Check that the journal's embargo period is set to zero (0 months) such that the journal allows the article to be made publicly available in PMC upon the Official Date of Publication, without embargo.

Note: if the journal list indicates your journal has a default embargo, you need to either make special arrangements with the journal or publisher to have the final published article deposited without embargo or proceed to Step 3.

Step 2: Review the Selective Deposit Programs (formerly Method B)  More details.

The author can choose to arrange with the journal for the deposit of a specific article; this usually involves choosing the journal's fee-based open access option for publishing that article. Please contact the respective journal or publisher directly for details.

Step 3: Deposit the Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM) (formerly Method C)  More details.

If neither of the 2 deposit options above apply or if the selected journal allows you to submit your AAM with no embargo for no/lower fee, you may deposit your author accepted manuscript (AAM) to NIHMS.

When submitting manuscripts through NIHMS, NIHMS will confirm the publication date before posting the manuscript to PMC.

Note:  Start your deposit at the time of acceptance for publication. This ensures you have the files readily accessible and allows for manuscript processing times, which may take up to 4 weeks during periods of high volume submissions.

The Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries have made it easier for Vanderbilt-affiliated authors to comply with the recently implemented National Institutes of Health Public Access Policy by negotiating more than 40 open access publisher agreements that streamline the compliance process. 

These agreements enable Vanderbilt authors to publish open access in thousands of journals without incurring article processing charges (APCs), and in most cases, seamlessly fulfill the NIH Public Access Policy through the open access article deposit program publishers have established with the National Library of Medicine for PubMed Central.