How does the Public Access Policy affect copyright holders?
Rights to the final peer-reviewed manuscript arise in the author as the work is created. Non-authors, such as publishers, have obtained rights from the author in a negotiated agreement. Authors can meet their Public Access responsibilities if they retain a small strand of the worldwide rights; the right to allow display of their final peer-reviewed manuscripts on PubMed Central. Public Access does not require authors to retain any other rights to papers arising from NIH funds, such as depositing the final published article, reproducing papers, preparing derivative works, or distributing copies to the public by transfer or sale. Other arrangements may be possible as well — investigators should work with their institutions to ensure agreements they sign are consistent with the NIH Public Access Policy.
