Skip to Main Content
The HSHSL is a part of the University of Maryland, Baltimore | My UMB The Elm UM Shuttle Blackboard
Library Logo

601 West Lombard Street
Baltimore MD 21201-1512

Reference: 410-706-7996
Circulation: 410-706-7928

NIH Public Access Policy: Manage Compliance

The instructions on this page provide steps to ensure compliance with the NIH Public Access Policy.

NIH Compliance FAQs

View the NIH's Frequently Asked Questions on Compliance, Responsibilities, and Process. Compliance with the policy is demonstrated by having a PubMed Central identification number (PMCID) for your publication. There is a 3-month grace period from the effective date of publication to allow for PMC processing time, during which an NIH Manuscript Submission Number (NIHMSID) may be used in place of a PMCID to demonstrate compliance. 

Viewing and Managing Compliance Status Using My Bibliography

For full instructions and guidance on using My Bibliography to manage compliance, refer to Managing Compliance to the NIH Public Access Policy. Highlights of this guidance are presented below:

After adding your citations to My Bibliography and linking your eRA Commons account, you should be able to see an overview of your compliance statuses at the top of your My Bibliography page. You can sort your citations by Public Access Compliance to quickly filter to applicable publications. 

Image mybibliography-Image024.jpg

An article may have one of the following statuses: Compliant, Non-Compliant, Not Defined, In Process, and Not Applicable - Exempted. 

Journal articles that are compliant with the Public Access Policy and have a PMCID number listed are marked with a green box:

Image mybibliography-Image027.jpg

Articles that are not compliant with the Public Access Policy are marked with a red box. Clicking on 'edit status' will begin the compliance process.

Image mybibliography-Image028.jpg

Articles that do not have NIH funding information associated with them are considered "not defined" and marked with a red box. Click on "Edit Status" to confirm whether the publication was based on NIH funding, and click on 'add award' to link the NIH funding information.

Image mybibliography-Image029.jpg

Articles that have recently been submitted to the NIH Manuscript Submission System are in process and are marked with a blue box. They have an NIHMS ID number assigned to them.

Image mybibliography-Image030.jpg

Articles that are not covered by the NIH Public Access Policy are labeled as Not Applicable - Exempted and marked with a gray box.

Image mybibliography-Image031.jpg

Contact for Help

Librarians at the HSHSL can help determine a researcher's compliance status, provide instructions for complying with the Public Access Policy, and answer questions about the NIH Policy. For assistance from the HSHSL, contact nihcompliance@hshsl.umaryland.edu.

NIH provides FAQs on various resources to help ensure compliance. Contacts for additional assistance are below:

NIH Office of Extramural Research: publicaccess@nih.gov

eRA Commons: https://www.era.nih.gov/need-help

NIHMS: nihms-help@ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

NCBI: info@ncbi.nlm.nih.gov