Here are a collection of questions posed during the brary NIH Public Access Policy classes. Excerpts are taken from the NIH FAQ (http://publicaccess.nih.gov/FAQ.htm) unless otherwise indicated.

Are contracts covered, or only grants?

The following sources of funding are subject to the policy:

1. Directly funded by an NIH grant or cooperative agreement active in Fiscal Year 2008 (October 1, 2007- September 30, 2008) or beyond;
2. Directly funded by a contract signed on or after April 7, 2008;
3. Directly funded by the NIH Intramural Program.
4. If NIH pays your salary.

If two Principal Investigators from two different grants collaborate, how is the submission process altered?

My article has multiple authors and/or is funded from multiple NIH sources. Who should submit the article?

Any author may submit the article, but each Principal Investigator and Institution is responsible for ensuring that the terms and conditions of their award are met. An article need only be submitted once to the NIH Manuscript Submission system. Authors will be notified during the submission process if they try to submit an article that has already been submitted.

Articles can be assigned multiple NIH award numbers during submission. They can also be linked to an award electronically via the Commons when completing an electronic Progress Report, or listed as arising from any NIH award in writing when submitting an application, proposal or progress report.

How do you submit the copyright addenda when the entire article submission process is electronic?

Those details will need to worked out with the individual publisher.

What are the consequences, if any, of post submission modifications of the abstract, title, body, etc. by the publisher?

Final peer-reviewed article: The Investigator's final manuscript of a peer-reviewed article accepted for journal publication, including all modifications from the peer review process.

Final published article: The journal's authoritative copy of the article, including all modifications from the publishing peer review process, copyediting and stylistic edits, and formatting changes.

The final editing changes made by the publisher will not be reflected in the PubMed Central version. The final peer-reviewed manuscript is what appears in PubMed Central. At the top of each author manuscript in PMC, it says something like:

Published in final edited form as:

Brain Res. 2008 February 15; 1194: 28–36.

How are grant numbers to be submitted and cited when each number refers to a different year or the same grant or an extension of a grant?

In this situation, you need only attach your manuscript to the most recent funding year.

If I run an NIH funded center, and an NIH funded investigator in my center publishes an article, do I have to approve the submission?

Only direct funding(1) is applicable.

1. Costs that can be specifically identified with a particular project or activity. NIH Grants Policy Statement, Rev. 12/2003; http://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/nihgps_2003/NIHGPS_Part2.htm#_Toc54600040

Do articles submitted to PubMed Central appear in the PMC database in abbreviated form before the embargo period?

PubMed Central will not display an article until after the embargo period has finished. To cite articles still in process, use the NIHMS ID number, located within the submission system.

If Library staff submit the information to PubMed Central on behalf of the PI, how do we notify them that the work has been completed?

After Library staff complete their part of the submission process, the PI receives a message from NIH to view the PDF document and submit the final approval (PDF overview of process at http://www.nihms.nih.gov/web-help/PI-PDFAPP/PI-PDFAPP.pdf) before the article will be added to PubMed Central.