How to Navigate Public Access Requirements

How to Navigate Public Access Requirements

Staying up to date on research access rules.

As immediate access to federally funded research becomes the new standard, APS is streamlining compliance with tools and support to make the process easier for authors.

Mandates to access for research have evolved, with requirements differing by funder. Some, such as the 2008 National Institutes of Health (NIH) Public Access Policy, allow for a 12-month embargo. And others—such as the European Union’s Plan S, implemented in 2021—require publication in open access journals. In 2022, the U.S. Office of Science and Technology Policy made waves with the Nelson Memo, calling for immediate, unrestricted access to federally funded research. Implementation of the policy has been accelerated, and the shift to immediate public access is now underway. APS has kept pace with these changes and is ready to support journal authors in this transition.

In April, NIH announced that its 2024 Public Access Policy will now take effect for manuscripts accepted on or after July 1. What does this mean for authors? Any manuscript resulting from NIH funding—whether in whole or in part—must be made publicly available immediately without embargo upon the official date of publication (defined as “the date on which the final published article” appears online). Authors must deposit the accepted manuscript in PubMed Central (PMC) via the NIH Manuscript Submission (NIHMS) system. Once submitted, the file is converted and prepared for public access through PMC.

How APS Supports NIHMS Deposits

To reduce the burden on authors, APS Publications has implemented an automated process to deposit files in PMC on behalf of authors. We compare each manuscript’s listed funders against those supported by the NIHMS system. If a match is found—such as NIH or the Gates Foundation—the accepted manuscript, along with tables and figures, is packaged and submitted directly to NIHMS for processing. However, this process depends on authors providing complete funding information in the online manuscript submission system. A green checkmark confirms that the funder has been successfully added, so be sure to look for it when updating your funding details during revised submission.

Next Steps for Authors

Once APS completes the initial submission, the next step falls to the author. NIHMS will contact the corresponding author by email to confirm that all content—text, tables and figures—is included. The email includes a link to the NIHMS review site, and authors should log in using the portal associated with their funder, such as eRA Commons for NIH-funded research. If needed, a different reviewer can be designated with assistance from NIHMS Help. To support authors through this process, NIHMS provides step-by-step tutorials and a helpful video guide. After conversion to the PMC format, authors will receive a second email to review and approve both the online and PDF versions of the accepted manuscript before it is posted.

APS aims to ease funder compliance for authors wherever we can, enhancing the overall experience with APS journals. We also have an automated deposit workflow for some European funders that require deposit to Europe PMC plus. For funders not covered by these processes, authors may deposit their accepted manuscript to the repository designated by their funder.

This article was originally published in the July 2025 issue of The Physiologist Magazine. Copyright © 2025 by the American Physiological Society. Send questions or comments to tphysmag@physiology.org.