Q. Can I submit my article to NIH after it has been accepted by a publisher?

The Library cannot provide authors legal advice on matters of copyright law for specific publishers, but we do strongly recommend that authors check in with the publisher directly when there are questions or concerns. 

Please carefully review the NIH requirements if you have received federal funding: 

"The 2024 NIH Public Access Policy requires Author Accepted Manuscripts accepted for publication in a journal, on or after July 1, 2025, to be submitted to PubMed Central upon acceptance for publication, for public availability without embargo upon the Official Date of Publication. See all NIH Supported Articles by PubMed Central."

NIH documentation reminds authors that they must acknowledge their article was supported by federal funding:

2. How should I inform journals that my Author Accepted Manuscript is subject to the Policy?

Authors must clearly acknowledge NIH funding in their publications that satisfies longstanding requirements for acknowledging federal funding (see, GPS 4.2.1 and GPS 8.2.1 for grants). 

NIH encourages authors to be clear about the manuscript being the result of NIH funding and Policy applicability during manuscript submission.

(Updated by NIH:  06/23/2025)  More NIH information for authors can be found in their FAQs. 

Publishers typically provide specific instructions and copyright guidance to authors regarding submission of articles to non-commercial repositories, (eg. PubMed Central). Please check your publisher's specific guidelines for authors before you submit.