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PubMed Central Submission Assistance

Submit your peer-reviewed final manuscripts, accepted for publication, to PubMed Central (PMC) with the help of NIH Library staff. The NIH Manuscript Submission System (NIHMS) is easy to use and the process of submitting is quick. This free service (for NIH staff only) is the Library's way of supporting NIH Public Access.

 

Submit Your Manuscript to PubMed Central

 

NIH and Publisher Policies

 

Archived NIH Manuscripts

 

Submission Process

As noted on the public access Web site, since April 7, 2008, your peer-reviewed papers should be submitted to PubMed Central (PMC) immediately upon acceptance for publication by a journal. PMC will make these papers publicly available within 12 months of publication. The Policy applies to all peer-reviewed papers that you author or co-author as part of your NIH or NIH-funded duties, even if the corresponding author or other authors are not supported by NIH. There are four methods to ensure that an applicable paper is submitted to PubMed Central (PMC) in compliance with the NIH Public Access Policy. Authors may use whichever method is most appropriate for them and consistent with their publishing agreement. Click on the method in the table below for details.

  Method A
Journal deposits final published articles in PubMed Central without author involvement
Method B
Author asks publisher to deposit specific final published article in PMC
Method C
Author deposits final peer-reviewed manuscript in PMC via the NIHMS
Method D
Author completes submission of final peer-reviewed manuscript deposited by publisher in the NIHMS
Version of Paper Submitted Final Published Article Final Published Article Final Peer-Reviewed Manuscript Final Peer-Reviewed Manuscript
Task 1: Who starts the deposit process? Publisher Publisher Author or designee, via NIHMS Publisher
Task 2: Who approves paper for processing? Publisher Publisher Author, via NIHMS Author, via NIHMS
Task 3: Who approves paper for Pub Med Central display? Publisher Publisher Author, via NIHMS Author, via NIHMS
Participating journal/publisher Method A Journals Make arrangements with these publishers Check publishing agreement Check publishing agreement
Who is Responsible? NIH Awardee NIH Awardee NIH Awardee NIH Awardee
To cite papers, from acceptance for publication to 3 months post publication PMCID or “PMC Journal- In Process” PMCID or “PMC Journal- In Process” PMCID or NIHMSID PMCID or NIHMSID
To cite papers, 3 months post publication and beyond PMCID PMCID PMCID PMCID

For more information on submitting your peer-reviewed journal articles to PubMed Central, visit: http://publicaccess.nih.gov/submit_process.htm.