NIH Public Access Policy & CFAR Assistance

The NIH Public Access Policy ensures that the public has access to the published results of NIH funded research. It requires scientists to submit final peer-reviewed journal manuscripts that arise from NIH funds to the digital archive PubMed Central upon acceptance for publication.  To help advance science and improve human health, the Policy requires that these papers are accessible to the public on PubMed Central no later than 12 months after publication.

Guidance from the NIH can be found here.

Guidance from Hopkins on the policy can be found here.

Want to know which journals will do it for you?  Look it up here.  

You ARE required to upload the final version that you submitted to the journal with any editorial changes that were made, as opposed to the PDF of the published article. The journal should also specify the embargo period on public display of the article.

If you received CFAR support, you must acknowledge CFAR in any publication resulting from said support (see tab to the left for template language) and therefore must comply with the NIH Public Access Policy.  If you need assistance, contact us at cfar@jhmi.edu

FAQs regarding the policy: click here

CFAR Assistance with Compliance

We would be grateful if you would kindly cite the "Johns Hopkins University Center for AIDS Research (P30AI094189)" on all publications and presentations resulting from research projects for which you have received funding, services or mentorship through the JHU-CFAR.

If you cite the CFAR on a publication, we would be happy to manage the NIH public access compliance process for you.

  1. Send an e-mail to CFAR@jhmi.edu attaching:
  • The final version of the manuscript that you submitted to the journal with any edits the journal made included– WE CANNOT UPLOAD A PDF OF THE PUBLISHED ARTICLE – AS THAT IS COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT
  • Must include a title page with a list of all authors and affiliations.
  • Any tables or other items that are in the published article but are not in the manuscript file;

We will take it from there.

  1. You will receive an e-mail once the manuscript is submitted, at which point you will have to state the embargo period before your article is released to the public.