This guide was created to assist Columbia authors who need to make the final manuscript version of their article available immediately upon publication in order to meet funder requirements. The motivation for creating this guide was the NIH’s accelerated timeline for implementing their new Public Access Policy. More general information can be found on the page NIH Public Access Policy, from the Columbia Office of Research, with information about the accelerated timeline shared on the NIH’s Public Access Policy page, and the specific notice communicating this change found on the NIH website. 

The NIH Public Access Policy: Q&A for Authors by Dave Hansen of the Authors Alliance is a detailed resource that contains information about changes to publisher fees and behavior resulting from this change, as well as recommendations about what authors can do to be compliant with this policy and not be put in the position to pay additional fees to publishers.

Columbia Libraries staff can provide advice about speaking with publishers. You can contact Open Scholarship staff at openscholarship@library.columbia.edu.

Columbia Libraries’ Open Access agreements with publishers are listed on the Open Access Publishing Agreements page. 

• The NIH Public Access Policy: Q&A for Authors from the Authors Alliance is currently the best resource to read in order to get an understanding of real-time changes - including new fees and workflow disruptions - that some publishers are making in response to this policy.
• Note that 2024 NIH Public Access Policy Notice Number: NOT-OD-25-047 states that “NIH reiterates that compliance with the Policy does not require the payment of an open access fee to a journal. NIH also reiterates that the free pathway to compliance can be achieved by depositing the Author Accepted Manuscript into PubMed Central for public availability upon the Official Date of Publication without embargo.” More information on allowable costs can be found on NOT-OD-25-048. Note that “Costs for publishing services that are charged differentially because an Author Accepted Manuscript is subject to the NIH Public Access Policy or the work is the result of NIH funding are unallowable because charges must be levied impartially on all items published by the journal, whether or not under a federal award (GPS 7.9.1).”
• The NIH Public Access Policy: Q&A for Authors notes that publishers currently depositing manuscripts to PMC on behalf of authors may no longer continue to do so with this no embargo change. They may also attempt to charge other fees - not expressly for deposit to PMC, but motivated by this policy change - that authors may feel it necessary to pay in order to be in compliance. Because these fees may not be allowable expenses, this may mean that authors feel it necessary to pay out of pocket.
• For authors submitting new manuscripts, conversations with publishers before submission are advised. Publishers are changing their fee structures and their services in response to this policy, and authors should not make assumptions about fee structures nor included services to assist with policy compliance (such as publisher deposit to PMC) based on past experiences with specific publishers.

Compatible with Funder Policies

• AAAS: authors of peer-reviewed research may place their accepted manuscript in a repository of their choice immediately upon publication
• AIP: authors may post the accepted manuscript immediately after acceptance
• ASME: acknowledges that journal authors retain the right to submit a copy of their final peer-reviewed manuscript to NIH
• BMJ: authors may post the Author’s Accepted Manuscript (AAM) widely
• IEEE: authors are free to follow funder public access mandates to post accepted articles in repositories
• Sage: authors may share accepted manuscript at any time after paper is accepted

Discordant with Funder Policies

• Elsevier: authors can share their accepted manuscript publicly, after the embargo period via non-commercial hosting platforms
• IOP: does not permit immediate public access via institutional or subject repositories, including PubMed Central, for articles published on a subscription basis
• Springer Nature: enable authors to comply with immediate access requirements through gold open access (OA) publication
• Taylor & Francis: immediate repository access is not compatible with the article sharing policies for most Taylor & Francis journals
• Wiley: embargo requirement of 12-24 months before self-archiving the accepted version of an article is allowed

Source: SPARC's Federal Public Access Policies: What You Need to Know (Note: if there are discrepancies between what is shared on this page and what is in the slide deck, please let us know at openscholarship@library.columbia.edu.)

• Public Access Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) from the NIH
  
• PMC Journal List from the NIH, which includes journals that have zero embargo policies and journals that directly submit manuscripts to PMC on behalf of their authors
• NIH Public Access Policy from from the Dahlgren Memorial Library of Georgetown University
• Publishers and Journals Allowing Green OA Without an Embargo from Penn State University Libraries
• Unfair publisher fees for deposit into repositories highlight the need for authors to exercise their rights from COAR
• Open Policy Finder from JISC
• Author withdraws manuscript upon payment request from COPE Council, advice to publishers
• Authors Alliance - Publication Contracts
• Author Rights & the SPARC Author Addendum
• Guide for Authors Complying with U.S. Federal Agency Public Access and Publisher Policies from SPARC
• Columbia affiliates can register for upcoming SPARC events, including events related to federal agency policy updates.