Public access means providing access to published research free of charge to everyone. The US federal government, through the Office of Science Policy, promotes this through its research funding policies.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced a new Public Access Policy that goes into effect on July 1, 2025.
The new NIH Public Access Policy requires Author Accepted Manuscripts accepted for publication in a journal on or after July 1, 2025, to be submitted to PubMed Central upon acceptance for publication, for public availability without embargo upon the Official Date of Publication. On the effective date, this policy replaces the previous 2008 Public Access Policy, which provided for an embargo of up to twelve months on the PubMed Central copy of the article.
For more information, visit Penn State’s page on NIH Public Access Requirements: Publications and Data at this link: NIH Public Access and Data Management Policies - Research Support . With questions, please attend the workshop below or contact the University Libraries’ Office of Scholarly Communications and Copyright at copyright@psu.edu.
University Libraries Workshop: Federal Public Access Policies: May 28, 1-2 p.m., Zoom (registration required)
Registration requires your Penn State Access ID. Can't access registration form? Contact copyright@psu.edu
Join a team of experts from the University Libraries to discuss federal funders’ public access policies. We will discuss public access to publications as well as data management and sharing. We will especially focus on the policies of the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation, but we welcome public access questions about any federal agency.