NIH and NSF Public Access Policy

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NIH and NSF Public Access Policy

Purpose

The National Science Foundation’s (NSF) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) Public Access Policies ensure that the public has access to the published results of federally-funded research. This Policy speaks to the obligations of NIH and NSF award recipients (e.g., faculty, staff, and students) to make the results of their research publicly available.

Policy

The public access requirements for NSF and NIH address two aspects: publications and data.

Publications:

For NSF-funded research, NSF requires that award recipients publish results of their work item (either the final accepted version or the version of record, as defined in NSF's public access plan) in the NSF-PAR hosted by the Department of Energy (DOE). Find more information on NSF-PAR

The NIH Public Access Policy requires award recipients to submit final peer-reviewed journal manuscripts that arise from NIH funds to the digital archive PubMed Central upon acceptance for publication. The Author Accepted Manuscript is sufficient to comply with the policy; the journal's Final Published Article is not required and the Final Published Article is not required to be Open Access. See 2024 NIH Public Access Policy for definitions.

New publication rule effective July 1, 2025: To help advance science and improve human health, the policy requires accessibility to the public on PubMed Central immediately upon publication. More information on the NIH Public Access Policy may be found at https://publicaccess.nih.gov/.

Both NSF and NIH require such uploads even if the articles are published in open access journals.

Data:

NSF and NIH both require that data be uploaded in accordance with the requirements of the data management plans submitted as part of grant proposals. NSF’s Data Sharing Policy addresses the requirements of what to submit, as does NIH’s Data Management and Sharing Policy. Original source data does not always need to be submitted. More information on what is required to submit, and what can be embargoed until a later time, are available at the FAQ links cited below (the guidance may change over time; please visit the links provided for the most updated requirements).

Both plans permit some costs of data sharing to be covered under the award budget. Davidson’s Sponsored Programs office can provide more information on the specifics of what types of costs can be covered.

Procedures

To learn more about when and how to comply with NSF’s Public Access Requirements, visit their Public Access Initiative webpage.

For instructions on when and how to comply with NIH’s Public Access Policy, visit their Public Access Policy Overview and Submitting to PubMed Central webpages.

Administration of Policy

The Assistant Dean for Research Development / Director of Sponsored Programs shall oversee this policy and review it at least once every three years. Changes to this policy shall be made in accordance with the college’s Policy on Policies.

Related Davidson College Policies: