NIH’s new Public Access Policy does not mandate open access.
Implemented on July 1, 2025, NIH’s Public Access Policy requires the results of federally funded research to be made immediately available to the public. What can Emory researchers do to ensure they are in compliance?
- NIH-funded researchers can still publish using a subscription-based route and not have to pay open access fees (aka article processing charges or APCs), but they must immediately share the author-accepted manuscript (AAM, which is the version after peer review but not the final publisher’s version) on PubMed Central when their article is accepted. Many prestigious publishers allow this type of immediate sharing. Unfortunately, some do not. Please consult the lists of publishers here for more information.
- If you cannot find a publisher that allows immediate sharing of the AAM, Emory University currently has open access publishing agreements with six publishers, representing 730+ journals. By default, open access articles are compliant with the NIH policy.
- Most current agreements are with society publishers and have come at little or no additional costs to the Libraries’ existing subscriptions. They include all journals by the publisher, not just hybrid (both subscription & OA).
- Commercial publishers often omit fully OA journals from these agreements.
- Due to budget constraints, Emory University Libraries has cancelled selected Wiley and Elsevier journals.
- These budget constraints preclude the Libraries from entering into more OA publishing agreements, which would require additional annual expenditures.
- Most current agreements are with society publishers and have come at little or no additional costs to the Libraries’ existing subscriptions. They include all journals by the publisher, not just hybrid (both subscription & OA).
- Researchers publishing now (or soon) who did not request funding in their budgets to cover APCs can:
- Ask the publisher for an APC waiver, stating that the policy implementation was accelerated, and as a result, they were not aware that they would have to pay APCs.
- Reach out to their Program Officer for a discussion about possibilities (e.g., administrative supplements).
- Seek funding elsewhere (e.g., from their department or discretionary funds).
- Withdraw their publication from the publisher that requires a 12-month embargo and submit it to a publisher that allows immediate sharing of the AAM.
Find more information under “Additional resources” below.
- Going forward, Emory researchers receiving federal funding who want to publish in journals that do not allow immediate sharing of the AAM should include publication costs in the budget portion of their grant proposals so they will be sure to have the funds necessary to pay APCs.
Additional resources:
- The Office of the Senior Vice President for Research sponsored a town hall on September 30, 2025, that was focused on this new policy. To find the slide deck from that event and a link to the Q&A, please navigate to SVPR’s Federal Funding and Regulatory Updates webpage then scroll down to Communications and Monitoring. Scroll down to "Research Town Halls" then click on September 30, 2025 for the slide deck and September 30, 2025 Q&A (Emory University credentials required to view).
- Supporting Public Access to Funded Research: learn more about the NIH Public Access Policy and similar ones from other federal funders. Maintained by the Scholarly Communications Office (scholcomm@listserv.cc.emory.edu).