Happy to get this email on NIH Policy on Enhancing Public Access to Archived Publications ....

Well, the new NIH policy is not perfect, but it is a good first step. And I must say, I got a tingle of excitement when I got this email from the UC Davis Administration:

March 20, 2008

I am writing to alert you to a new requirement for investigators who receive funding from the NIH. Under the Consolidated Appropriation Act of 2008, the NIH will require that all NIH-funded investigators submit or arrange for the submission of an electronic version of their final, peer-reviewed manuscripts accepted for publication to the National Library of Medicine’s PubMed Central. PubMed Central (PMC) is the NIH’s publicly-accessible, digital archive of full-text, peer-reviewed journal articles. This new law requires manuscripts to be made publicly available via PMC no later than 12 months after the official date of publication. Please note:

1. This requirement applies to all peer-reviewed articles that arise, in whole or in part, from direct costs funded by NIH, or from work of NIH staff, that are accepted for publication on or after April 7, 2008.

2. UC Davis investigators are responsible for ensuring that any publishing or copyright agreements concerning submitted articles fully comply with this requirement. To satisfy this obligation, UC Davis investigators should enclose a copy of the one-page letter prepared by the UC Office of the President with any articles submitted to publishers for possible publication either at the time the article is submitted or with the publication agreement. The subject letter is available at: http://www.ucop.edu/raohome/cgmemos/08-05a.pdf).

3. The final, peer-reviewed manuscript submitted to PMC must include all graphics and supplemental material that are associated with the article.

4. Beginning May 25, 2008, anyone submitting an application, proposal or progress report to the NIH is also required to include the PMC reference number when citing applicable articles arising from NIH-funded research. This requirement applies to proposals submitted to the NIH for the May 25, 2008 due date, as well as subsequent due dates.

5. Certain publishers have agreed to automatically submit articles to PMC on behalf of the authors. The list of these publishers can be accessed at http://publicaccess.nih.gov/submit_process_journals.htm

Even if a publisher is on this list, UC Davis investigators should verify that their published articles will be submitted to PMC in compliance with the law. If the publisher is not on the list, UC Davis investigators are responsible for submitting their articles to PMC and verifying receipt of the article.

6. Failure to comply with this policy may jeopardize future NIH funding.

Additional information about this law is available at http://publicaccess.nih.gov. Also, the UC Davis Library can provide further assistance to investigators. Please see http://www.lib.ucdavis.edu/dept/hsl/resources/other/nihmandate/ or contact the Library’s sciences department heads: