Requirements for Depositing Your Article in PubMed Central (PMC)

What is PMC?

PMC was established in 2000 as the National Library of Medicine’s full-text, journal article repository. Since 2005, PMC has also been the designated repository for papers submitted in accordance with the NIH Public Access Policy. Today, PMC serves as the full-text repository for papers across a variety of scientific disciplines that fall under several funding agency public access policies. These public access policies require scientists to submit final peer-reviewed journal manuscripts that are funded by NIH and other participating funders to PubMed Central immediately upon acceptance for publication. Should my paper be in PMC?

Your paper should be in PMC if it falls under the public or open access policies of participating funding agencies and organizations. A list of participating funding agencies and organizations are included below. For specific information on how to comply with the policies of these participating funders, please visit their websites. If your funding agency is not listed below, you may need to contact them directly to see if your article should be deposited in PMC.

• National Institutes of Health (NIH)

• Administration for Community Living (ACL) [PDF]

• Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)

• Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

• Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

• Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI)

• National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

• National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

• Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR)

• Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) [PDF]

• U.S. Department of Homeland Security

• U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)

How does my paper get into PMC?

1. Direct Deposit. Your article may be directly deposited in PMC if it is published in a PMC-participating journal. Journals may participate at different levels (e.g., full, selective) so please check with your journal about their level of participation and whether your specific article falls under direct deposit agreements. 2. The Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation is NOT a participating journal. Although JHTR is not a participating journal, your article will be directly deposited in PMC if you paid an open access fee to a participating publisher program or your work was funded by NIH, Research Councils UK or the Wellcome Trust. 3. Author Submits via NIH Manuscript Submission (NIHMS) portal. If your paper falls under the public access policies of your funding agency but is not being published in a participating journal, you will need to submit an author manuscript version through the NIHMS system. Find out more about author manuscript version and NIHMS here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/about/authorms/. Note: JHTR’s embargo period is 12 months. As described on the portal, the version of your manuscript to upload is the final Word document that was accepted by the editor.

Source: U.S. National Institutes of Health's National Library of Medicine (NIH/NLM). PMC Overview. 14 Nov 2011. Available at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/about/intro/. Accessed 27 Sept 2018.