In 2013, when the National Institute of Health began enforcing its Public Access Policy to withhold or delay federal grant funding if peer-reviewed publications were not submitted to PubMed Central (PMC), it caused a great stir in the world of researchers and in the academic and medical library community.

Submitting publications to PMC for compliance can be a complicated process, but Cornell University librarians Sarah Young, Health Science and Policy Librarian, Gail Steinhart, Head of Research Services, Jenny Leijonhufvud, Instruction and Outreach Specialist at Albert R. Mann Library, and Erin Eldermire, Veterinary Outreach and Scholarly Services Librarian at Flower-Sprecher Veterinary Library, have attempted to simplify the process with the amazingly beautiful and helpful infographic above. Sarah explains:

Getting a publication into compliance with the policy is not always a straightforward process, nor is understanding what might have gone wrong. We thought an infographic might be a useful visual tool to help researchers and grant administrators make sense of the process and avoid common pitfalls.  This infographic seeks to clarify the who, what, where, when and how of compliance through friendly and concise Q & A sections. The infographic is designed to function both as a very quick primer on the basic steps of compliance, and as a more in-depth reference during any point in the process. The simplified linear timeline gives a 5 second overview of the steps of compliance from a manuscript’s first acceptance to when it appears in PMC.  The reader may then refer back to the infographic as needed throughout the process for quick and clear answers to questions regarding roles, materials, and deadlines, or just as a handy reference for relevant acronyms.

The Cornell librarians encourage other libraries who are dealing with NIH Compliance to use and modify this infographic for their own needs.  Just contact Sarah if you would access to the original design file.

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