PIs must use the NCBI My Bibliography tool to track publications and related grants, rather than entering them manually through eRA Commons. My Bibliography is part of the My NCBI toolbox in PubMed. Current eRA Commons users can link their eRA Commons account to My Bibliography.

Detailed instructions for using My Bibliography can be found here.

My Bibliography Highlights

• To go directly to My Bibliography through PubMed, click on Log In in the upper right corner, and then log into My NCBI using your HawkID and password. Click on your username (where it previously said Log In) and select Publications. 
  • If you are not prompted to log in with your HawkID, click More Login Options and type Iowa in the search box.  The HawkID prompt will appear after you click University of Iowa. 
  • NIH grants are managed through eRA Commons.  Your eRA Commons account and your My Bibliography account should be linked (there will be an "eRA linked account" button at the top of the page).  If they are not, click your username in the upper right corner and choose Account Settings, where you can see your linked accounts and add additional ones.
• Click the plus icon next to Actions to add citations. Articles listed in PubMed can easily be added to My Bibliography by searching for author, title, publication date, journal, grant number, and PMID. Publications not in PubMed can be added manually or from a file in RIS format.  RIS files can be generated from EndNote or other citation management tools. 
• My Bibliography allows you to track the Public Access Policy compliance status of your articles.  When you are signed in with your eRA Commons username, you will see a dollar sign ($) icon next to View, in the area above your bibliography.  Clicking it will show you the compliance status of each article.  You will be able to associate missing grants with articles, when necessary.

(See also:  Manage Your Publications for information on the using NCBI's My Bibliography, required since July 23, 2010.)

NIH grant applications and biosketches must cite PubMed Central reference numbers (PMCID) for all articles accepted for publication on or after April 7, 2008 that resulted from your previous NIH grants.  (Note that the PMCID is NOT the same as the PMID [PubMed ID] found on all articles in PubMed.)

If a manuscript was submitted through the NIH Manuscript Submission System (NIHMS) and a PubMed Central reference number is not yet available, include the NIH Manuscript Submission System reference number (NIHMS ID) instead.

Example, before PMCID is available:

• Cerrato, A., et al. Genetic interactions between Drosophila melanogaster menin and Jun/Fos. Dev Biol. 2006 Oct 1; 298(1): 59-70. NIHMSID: NIHMS44135

The same article, once the PMCID is available:

• Cerrato, A., et al. Genetic interactions between Drosophila melanogaster menin and Jun/Fos. Dev Biol. 2006 Oct 1; 298(1): 59-70. PMCID: PMC2291284

If you publish in a journal that submits articles for you, a PMCID may not be assigned until several weeks after publication. During this time, please indicate compliance with the policy by indicating “PMC Journal - In Process”.

Example, before PMCID is available:

• Sala-Torra, O., et al., Connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) expression and outcome in adult patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Blood. 2007 April 1; 109(7): 3080–3083. PMCID: PMC Journal - In Process

The same article, once the PMCID is available:

• Sala-Torra, O., et al., Connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) expression and outcome in adult patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Blood. 2007 April 1; 109(7): 3080–3083. PMCID: PMC1852221

PubMed Central provides a useful PMID : PMCID Converter that will locate an articles PMCID based on it's PMID (PubMed ID).  If the PMCID is not yet available, the converter will give you the NIHMS ID instead.

Your Librarian Liaison can also help you find PMCID or NIHMS ID numbers.

NIH provides more information here.