NIH To Cap Publishing Fees for Federally Funded Research
Some good news for federally funded researchers.
Complete the form below to unlock access to ALL audio articles.
Some good news for federally funded researchers: the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) is set to cap publishing fees.
In an announcement on July 8, the federal agency said it “plans to implement a new policy that will cap how much publishers can charge NIH-supported scientists to make their research findings publicly accessible.”
NIH caps fees
According to the NIH, some major scientific publishers charge as much as $13,000 per article for immediate open access, while also collecting substantial subscription fees from government agencies.
The federal agency claims that one publishing group receives more than $2 million annually just from NIH subscription fees, in addition to tens of millions more through exclusive article processing charges (APCs).
To “address this imbalance,” the NIH’s new cap will limit publication fees, curbing APCs and ensuring “the broad dissemination of research findings without unnecessary financial barriers.”
The cap is expected to come into effect next year. Its exact limit has yet to be announced.
“This policy marks a critical step in protecting the integrity of the scientific publishing system while ensuring that public investments in research deliver maximum public benefit,” NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya said in a statement.
The NIH says the cap builds on its other public-first commitments, such as its public access policy, which ensures that peer-reviewed publications resulting from NIH funding are made freely available to the public without embargo.
“Creating an open, honest, and transparent research atmosphere is a key part of restoring public trust in public health,” Bhattacharya stated.
“This reform will make science accessible not only to the public but also to the broader scientific community, while ending perverse incentives that don’t benefit taxpayers,” he added.
What is the NIH and what does it fund?
The NIH is one of the United States’ leading medical research agencies and one of the largest public funders of biomedical research. In 2023’s Fiscal Year, it spent over $35 billion on ~50,000 competitive grants awarded to over 300,000 researchers across 2,500 universities.
Since coming into office in January, the Trump administration has pulled substantial funding (40%) from the agency and other key US health institutions.
