NIH Public Access Policy

Costs & Fees

Understanding publication costs is an important part of planning for compliance with the 2024 NIH Public Access Policy. This page provides an overview of allowable and unallowable expenses, guidance on Article Processing Charges (APCs), and key information on budgeting, funding acknowledgment, and preparing for potential NIH updates to cost‑management requirements.

Per the NIHPAP certain costs from publishers are not allowable. This determines what publishers are allowed vs. not allowed charge authors.

Allowable: APCs for publication/open access
Unallowable: fees solely for uploading an article to PMC

An Article Processing Charge (APC) is a fee for open access and/or publishing with select journals/publishers.

Cost varies by journal
The NIH is currently reviewing cost-management options. Public responses for the proposed options were submitted to NIH by September 15, 2025. NIH proposed an original effective date of their option of choice by January 1, 2026. Currently, no further information on which choice NIH will choose has been release. This site will be updated once additional information is provided by NIH.
- See blog post under “helpful links” for details

Planning Ahead

Review journal terms and APC fees in advance
Budget and set aside funds for APCs
Grants fund may currently be used for APCs if included in the approved budget
- Subject to change based off NIH review of APC management options

Always acknowledge all NIH funding that contributed to the manuscript

Include NIH-funded resources if used and applicable, reach out to specific department if unsure which grant to cite

Clinical & Translational Science Institute (CTSI)

Utah Population Database (UPDB)

Utah Cancer Registry (UCR)

Always acknowledge all relevant NIH funding in the acknowledgment statement

"Research reported in this [publication/press release] was supported by [name of the Institute(s), Center, or other NIH offices] of the National Institutes of Health under award number [specific NIH grant number(s) in this format: R01GM987654]." (If you have more than one grant, only cite the grant(s) that supported the research described in the article or presentation.)”