Making Manuscripts Publicly Available

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 scholarlycommunication@library.columbia.edu.

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

Considerations for Authors

  • 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.

Additional Resources

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