What is PubMed Central?

PubMed Central (PMC) is a free, full-text archive of biomedical and life sciences journal literature. It is a repository for the life sciences and biomedical articles published in journals that are part of the PubMed database.

Key Features:

• Open Access: Articles in PMC are freely accessible to all users.
• Comprehensive Database: The archive includes a wide variety of journals and articles, promoting a broad array of research disciplines.

What are the benefits of posting peer-reviewed papers to PubMed Central?

Posting peer-reviewed papers to PMC offers several advantages:

1. Increased Visibility: Research articles published in PMC receive greater visibility as they are available for free to the public.
2. Compliance with Funding Guidelines: Many funding agencies require that research outputs are deposited in a public repository such as PMC.
3. Long-term Preservation: Articles are preserved in PMC, ensuring long-term accessibility.

What is the NIH Public Access Policy?

The NIH Public Access Policy ensures that the public has access to the published results of NIH-funded research. Under this policy, researchers are required to deposit their peer-reviewed manuscripts in PMC, where they must be made publicly available no later than 12 months after publication.