We recommend that you don't include any intellectual property that isn't protected by copyright or patent, or at least submitted for one. Read more at General Tips for a Successful Research Plan in the NIH Grant Cycle: Application to Renewal.

Be aware that if we fund your application, your abstract becomes a public document in the NIH Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tool Expenditures and Results (RePORTER) database. Don't include confidential or proprietary information.

Can I copyright publications describing work developed during my grant?

Unless your Notice of Award explicitly says otherwise, you don't need NIH approval to copyright publications developed under an NIH grant. See Rights in Data (Publication and Copyrighting) from the NIH Grants Policy Statement.

Copyright ownership is between you and your institution. As the grantee, your institution may exercise its right of ownership over any work created during your official duties.

Do I need to register my copyright?

According to law, copyright is defined as soon as a work is fixed in a tangible medium of expression, such as print. However, in the United States you must register a copyright with the U.S. Copyright Office before you can assert it in court.

Does NIH retain any rights to my work?

NIH can only use your work for the federal government's purposes. See 45 CFR 74.36 and the terms and conditions listed in your Notice of Award for NIH's rights with regard to work resulting from your grant.

I developed work under an educational grant. Do I have copyright ownership rights?

Yes. Awardees of training and fellowship grants have the same copyright privileges as recipients of other NIH grants.

Are there any exceptions to grantee ownership of research results?

A cooperative agreement or an RFA may have special terms and conditions that indicate alternative rights, but this isn't common.

Does NIH ever make a grant application available to the public?

It can, if someone asks for a copy through the Freedom of Information Act. Read Can my grant be made public under a Freedom of Information Act request? in the Privacy, Conduct, Conflict of Interest, and Clinical Research Ethics questions and answers.

Publication

Can I publish work conducted under an NIH grant?

Yes. NIH encourages you to publish NIH-supported research in primary scientific journals. When necessary, you should also use a copyright in articles to be published or included in proceedings of scientific conferences or other professional activities. You'll likely need approval from your institution to publish.

Should I cite NIH when I publish?

Yes. You must acknowledge NIH in any publication of directly funded research. Include a disclaimer such as the following:

"This publication was made possible by Grant Number [insert six-digit grant number] from [insert funding source, e.g., NIAID]" or "The project described was supported by Grant Number [insert six-digit grant number] from [insert funding source, e.g., NIAID]" and "Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the [name of awarding office or NIH]."

For data queries, do not credit NIH with the support unless you include the grant (or contract) number, which must include "AI" for NIAID.

Check the galleys to make sure the number is correct and complete. Accurate reporting is key to making a case to Congress that the money it gives us is well spent, which helps preserve the flow of funds to grantees.

If a journal objects to the disclaimer, contact your program officer for advice.

Also talk to your program officer if you have an upcoming publication.

You should mention only the NIH grant or grants that directly support your published research -- don't cite grants that pay for a different line of work, even if they pay part of your salary.

When citing research, include the PubMed Central identification number to comply with NIH's public access policy. This requirement also applies to your applications and progress reports.

Materials written in non-Latin scripts (e.g., papers written in Cyrillic or Japanese) do not require a PMC ID when cited in NIH applications, proposals, or reports. See the Public Access of Publications SOP.

Do I need to cite my NIH grant in a review article?

No, you don't need to cite your grant in review articles -- just research articles.

Should I include publications in the Appendix of my grant application?

NIH has rules about including publications in an application's Appendix. For more information, read If You Need an Appendix in the NIH Grant Cycle: Application to Renewal.

Can NIAID help me publicize my findings?

Yes. If you have a newsworthy discovery, notify our Office of Communications and Government Relations as soon as you know the article has been accepted for publication. That branch helps publicize your findings in a news release and fields questions from the media.

For help or information, contact Laurie Doepel.

Also, read the Public Access of Publications SOP to learn how to put your article in NIH's public PubMed Central database.

What is the NIH public access policy?

NIH requires investigators to submit an electronic version of their final manuscript to NIH's public PubMed Central database. Its goal is to create an online searchable archive of peer-reviewed research publications resulting from NIH funding.

For more information, read the Public Access of Publications SOP.

What types of publications may I submit to PubMed Central?

NIH's public PubMed Central database features final peer-reviewed manuscripts that have been accepted for publication and describe research fully or partially funded by NIH. Do not submit contributed book chapters, editorials, reviews, or conference proceedings. See the Public Access of Publications SOP for more information.

How do I post my article on PubMed Central?

Submit manuscripts through the NIH Manuscript Submission System. You need an eRA Commons or an NIH login to upload materials. For more information, see the Public Access of Publications SOP.

Can I choose when my manuscript will be released on PubMed Central?

Yes. You can choose when your manuscript will be released to the public -- up to 12 months after publication.

Do I have to post my published research to PubMed Central?

Yes. NIH requires investigators to submit an electronic version of their final manuscript to the database. For more information, see the January 11, 2008, Guide notice, and go to the Public Access of Publications SOP.

Does the public access policy affect my application and progress report?

Yes. In both documents, when you cite a paper that results from NIH funding, you have to use the PubMed Central (PMC) identification number, except papers written in non-Latin scripts (for example, Cyrillic or Japanese).. See the Public Access of Publications SOP for details about this citation requirement.

For your progress report, if you fail to cite a PMC ID, you will get an email from NIAID requiring you to prove compliance with the public access policy.

Does complying with the public access policy fulfill my data sharing requirement?

No. The public access policy requires investigators to post their published manuscripts on NIH's public PubMed Central database, while the data sharing policy requires investigators to release their final data sets after removing identifiers.

For more information, see the Data Sharing for Grants: Final Research Data SOP and the Data Sharing for Grants: Genome-Wide Association Studies SOP.

Do NIAID staff have any restrictions on publishing papers with grantees?

Yes. Conflict of interest guidelines apply to employees who co-author papers with NIAID-funded or intramural investigators. For details, see the Clearance of Extramural Publications and Presentations SOP.

Can I request money for publishing costs in my budget proposal?

Yes, if you're publishing research from your grant. You may include the cost of publishing as a direct cost but only for submissions to journals that publish both private and government-funded research.

Where should I include the PMC or NIH Manuscript Submission reference number in applications, proposals, and progress reports when citing articles from NIH-funded research?

List the PMC reference number (PMCID) at the end of the full journal citation. You won't need to update previously submitted applications, proposals, or progress reports.

For more on the citation requirement, read the Public Access of Publications SOP.

To see a sample citation, go to Other Project Information Form: Bibliography and References Cited in the NIH Grant Cycle.

What if my question wasn't answered here, or I'd like to suggest a question?

Email deaweb@niaid.nih.gov with the title of this page or its URL and your question or comment. We answer questions by email and post them here. Thanks for helping us clarify and expand our knowledge base.

Look It Up

See the Glossary for terms.