Procedures for Non-Peer-Reviewed Publications

The following policy applies to Non-Peer-Reviewed Publications. For peer-reviewed papers published in journals, follow the instructions provided in the NIH Employee Procedures for Complying with the NIH Public Access Policy (for peer-reviewed publications).

The following procedures and forms apply to non-peer-reviewed works published by NIH employees, contractors working at NIH, and trainees working at NIH (henceforth referred to as “NIH Employees” in this document). These procedures and forms do not apply to extramural awardees.

You must do the following for every non-peer-reviewed publication, which includes authoring or editing most books and chapters:

Part I – Publishing Agreement

1. Obtain clearance for your publication. In general, any writing by an NIH employee on a work-related subject, whether intended for electronic or print publication, or for oral delivery, must be prepared according to accepted NIH standards, reviewed for substantive content, and administratively approved. NIH intramural scientists should use this IC Manuscript Submission Approval Form and employees of the Office of the NIH Director should use this form. Other NIH Employees may have different procedures, depending on their IC. Please see NIH Policy Manual Issuance 1184 for more information.
2. You must use the “NIH Publishing Agreement Cover Sheet for Books and Chapters.” NIH employees may only sign the Cover Sheet as written, and no other publishing agreements. The Cover Sheet should be used for any work that is not peer-reviewed, which includes most books and chapters that you author or edit. By attaching the Cover Sheet to the publisher’s agreement, you are accepting those terms of the publisher’s agreement that are not in conflict with the terms specified in the NIH Cover Sheet.
   Ensure that the Cover Sheet is sent even if you do not submit the work personally, or if the corresponding author is not an NIH employee. Some publishers may process these agreements electronically. You will not need to submit a Cover Sheet directly if your publisher allows you to approve a Cover Sheet on their website (for example, by checking a box on their website that refers to a copy of the Cover Sheet on our website or theirs). You are also permitted to supply any needed information or check any boxes on the publisher form or website (e.g. identifying information, financial and conflict of interest information, data sharing arrangements) at your discretion.
   The Cover Sheet has been approved in advance by the NIH Deputy Director for Intramural Research (DDIR), Dr. Michael Gottesman, and must be signed by at least one of the NIH employee authors. It allows you to complete a publisher’s submission process, including clicking any boxes on a publisher website as part of an electronic submission, while protecting NIH’s interests.
3. If the publisher refuses to accept the Cover Sheet or wants to negotiate, refer them to your IC Technology Development Coordinator.

Part II

This publication type does not need to be submitted to PubMed Central.