NIH Public Access Policy: Submission Method C

Submission Method C allows for two options for submission of the final, peer-reviewed manuscript (or in some instances, the final, published article): author self-submits or the author assigns a third party such as a lab assistant or Becker Medical Library to submit.

Publication:

• Acknowledge grant award/s in manuscript
• Review copyright form to confirm that the journal allows authors to self-submit upon acceptance of publication and that the embargo period is 12 months or less
• Self-submit the work to NIHMS OR assign third party
• Complete NIHMS approval steps (answer emails from NIHMS)

My Bilbiography and Compliance:

• Add the work to My Bibliography when a record for the work is in PubMed (or add manually if not)
• NIHMSID will appear after work is submitted to NIHMS
• Follow-up with authors if no NIHMSID one month after acceptance of publication
• PMCID will appear after work is posted to PMC

Method C (if author self-submits):

The submitting author will receive one email from NIHMS:

    1. “NIHMS: Approve Web Version”

Method C (if third party submits)

The author designated as the responsible author by the authors will receive two emails from NIHMS:

  1. “NIHMS: Approve Submission of Manuscript”

  2. “NIHMS: Approve Web  Version”

NIHMS sends multiple reminder emails.

Timely completion of the approval process will help ensure that a PMCID is assigned.

A PMCID is required within 90 days post-publication.

Some publishers allow authors to self-submit the final peer-reviewed manuscript (or in some instances, the final, published article) to NIHMS; NIHMS prepares the manuscript for posting to PMC. Authors who exercise this option must retain the right to do so. When reviewing the copyright agreement form authors should confirm that the publisher will:

• Allow the author to self-submit the final peer-reviewed manuscript upon acceptance of publication.
• Allow the final peer-reviewed manuscript to be publicly available no later than 12 months after the official date of publication.

If not, authors are advised seek clarification from the publisher or use a different journal in order to be in full compliance with the NIH Public Access Policy.

Before self-submitting, authors will need to find out the stipulations that some journal publishers require authors to follow. Stipulations are usually listed in the publisher copyright agreement form.

Some stipulations include:

• Embargo period (12 months maximum per NIH)
• Version to post (peer-reviewed version or final published version)
• Noting a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) for the final published version
• Statement as specified by the publisher
• Link to the journal publisher
• Link to the final published version on the journal web site
• Noting the full citation of the work

Authors should self-submit via NIHMS using the eRA Commons account logon route. If there are multiple authors, one author should be designated as the reviewer responsible for approving the submission by responding to NIHMS for approval of the PMC web version – in this instance, the author who submits usually assumes this role.  Any supplemental data or images associated with the manuscript are considered part of the manuscript per NIH policy. The author will need the following materials:

• Name and email of the author designated as the reviewer to complete NIHMS approval tasks
• Title of the journal
• Title of the manuscript
• Manuscript files of the final, peer-reviewed manuscript version (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, TIFF, JPEG, PDF, etc.).  The final, peer-reviewed manuscript is the version that reflects all changes made as a result of the peer review process and includes all tables, graphs, figures, plus the captions/legends for each. There should also be a title page with the title, the author names, the corresponding author, and their affiliations. This version is usually a word document and is the version that is uploaded to the journal after the work has been accepted for publication. It should NOT contain any publisher markings such as watermarks, logos, graphics, pagination, etc. It may be helpful to check with the corresponding author of the work for a copy of the final, peer-reviewed manuscript version of the work
• Supplemental materials or graphics associated with the manuscript
• Grant number/s and names of PIs (full alpha numeric number)*
• All information as necessary for following the stipulations as set forth by some journal publishers including the embargo period

*Multiple grant numbers can be entered for a single publication

A NIHMSID is assigned to the manuscript as soon as it is submitted by the author.

Guidance: NIHMS Tutorials

Becker Medical Library provides third party submitter services for WU NIH-funded authors.

If there are multiple authors, one author should be designated as the reviewer responsible for approving the submission by responding to two emails from NIHMS to complete approval tasks.

Materials/Information Needed:

• Name and email of the author designated as the reviewer to complete NIHMS approval tasks
• Title of the journal
• Title of the manuscript
• Grant number/s (full alpha numeric number)* and PI name/s
• Manuscript files of the final, peer-reviewed manuscript version (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, TIFF, JPEG, PDF, etc.).  The final, peer-reviewed manuscript is the version that reflects all changes made as a result of the peer review process and includes all tables and figures, plus the captions/legends for each. There should also be a title page with the title, the author names, the corresponding author, and their affiliations. This version is usually a word document and is the version that is uploaded to the journal after the work has been accepted for publication. It should NOT contain any publisher markings such as watermarks, logos, graphics, pagination, etc. It may be helpful to check with the corresponding author of the work for a copy of the final, peer-reviewed manuscript version of the work
• Supplemental data or images associated with the manuscript
• Embargo period as specified by publisher and any other known publisher instructions

*Multiple grant awards can be entered for a single publication

Send all materials to Cathy Sarli or Amy Suiter.

Once a work is submitted, Becker Medical Library will send an email to the designated author informing them of the submission, the NIHMSID, and the embargo period.

The designated author is required to complete two NIHMS tasks in order for a PMCID to be assigned to the manuscript.

If a work was published in a Submission Method C or D journal and the responsible author is not timely completing their NIHMS approval steps required for a PMCID, any other author or the PI for awards associated with the work can be assigned as the responsible author. This is done by sending an email to the NIHMS Help Desk.

Sample language to the NIHMS Help Desk:

Please assign me [INSERT NAME AND EMAIL ADDRESS] as the responsible author for review and approval for the following work per NIH Public Access Policy: [INSERT CITATION TO THE WORK AND PMID].

The author can also designate a third party (lab assistant, library, etc.) to handle submissions on their behalf under Submission Method C. Third party submissions should be submitted via NIHMS using the MyNCBI account logon route. The third party will need to create a My NCBI Account (free), if necessary. Any supplemental data or images associated with the manuscript are considered part of the manuscript per NIH policy.  If there are multiple authors, one author should be designated as the reviewer responsible for approving the submission by responding to two emails from NIHMS to complete approval tasks.

Third party submitters will need the following materials from the author:

• Name and email of the author designated as the reviewer to complete NIHMS approval tasks
• Title of the journal
• Title of the manuscript
• Manuscript files of the final, peer-reviewed manuscript version (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, TIFF, JPEG, PDF, etc.).  The final, peer-reviewed manuscript is the version that reflects all changes made as a result of the peer review process and includes all tables, graphs, figures, plus the captions/legends for each. There should also be a title page with the title, the author names, the corresponding author, and their affiliations. This version is usually a word document and is the version that is uploaded to the journal after the work has been accepted for publication. It should NOT contain any publisher markings such as watermarks, logos, graphics, pagination, etc. It may be helpful to check with the corresponding author of the work for a copy of the final, peer-reviewed manuscript version of the work
• Supplemental materials or graphics associated with the manuscript
• Grant number/s and names of PIs (full alpha numeric number)*
• All information as necessary for following the stipulations as set forth by some journal publishers

*multiple grant numbers can be entered for a single publication

A NIHMSID is assigned to the manuscript as soon as it is submitted by the third party.