Learn how ACS Publications is supporting researchers and institutions to meet new federal public access mandates through a temporary sponsored program and expanded open access agreements, including new read and green agreements.
On July 1, 2025, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) implemented a policy requiring any accepted manuscript resulting from research they fund to be made publicly available in PubMed Central at the time of publication. Other US federal agency funders are expected to implement similar policies by January 1, 2026.
ACS Publications has proactively provided options to help ease the burden on the library and research communities, and to collaborate in pursuing sustainable pathways to open access (OA) publishing while complying with funder requirements.
Sponsoring Temporary Zero-Embargo Green Open Access for NIH-Funded Authors
Through August 31, 2025, ACS Publications is sponsoring zero-embargo green open access for authors whose research is funded by the NIH. Eligible authors will be notified upon manuscript acceptance that they may choose to retain copyright of the accepted manuscript and subsequently deposit it in PubMed Central, at no cost. This ensures full compliance with NIH’s updated public access policy.
Under this temporary program, ACS Publications is covering the $2,500 article development charge for zero-embargo green OA.
Enabling Public Access through “Read and Green” Agreements
Since July 1, 2025, more than 100 institutions in the US have transitioned to read and green OA agreements with ACS Publications. These agreements provide subscription access to ACS journals along with enabling affiliated corresponding authors the ability to:
- Choose to retain copyright
- Immediately share/deposit accepted manuscripts
- Meet public access requirements from the NIH and other US funding agencies
At institutions with read and green OA agreements, all affiliated submitting corresponding authors are automatically notified at acceptance that they may choose to retain copyright and immediately share the accepted manuscript at no cost to them—due to the agreement in place.
Use our Lookup Tool to find out if your institution has an institutional OA agreement and the detailed benefits. To explore options for acquiring an institutional OA agreement, please have the appropriate decision maker at your institution get in touch with us or find your regional ACS representative.
Partnering to Find Solutions for All Institutions
For institutions without an ACS OA agreement in place, we are actively engaging with the library representatives to explore their options and find creative solutions, including leveraging existing subscription investments to offset the cost of green or gold open access.
Complying with these accelerated public access policies is a significant challenge for libraries, researchers, and publishers alike, and we are committed to finding the most sustainable, fair, and effective ways forward.