Communications from the Chief Scientific Officer

Dear Colleagues, 

Please be aware of recent NIH notices focused on: (1) the NIH initiative to prioritize human-based research and its impact on the use of laboratory animals; (2) the use of AI in grant proposal creation; and (3) immediate open access to published papers.

1. Human-Based Research and Animal Models.

See statement regarding the NIH initiative to prioritize human-based research and its impact on the use of laboratory animals on the Grants and Funding web site.  It is important to note that the “NIH will continue to support grants that use laboratory animal models if scientifically appropriate, justifiable, and with appropriate animal welfare oversight.”

2. Use of AI in Grant Proposals.

NIH has published a new policy on the use of AI in grant proposals – NOT-OD-25-132: Supporting Fairness and Originality in NIH Research Applications – which will be effective on September 25, 2025. Key elements of the policy include:

• Proposals substantially developed with AI or with sections substantially developed by AI will not be considered original ideas.  These proposals will not be considered for review.
• If substantial use of AI is detected post-award, there may be referral to the Office of Research Integrity for consideration of research misconduct.
• NIH will only accept 6 new, renewal, resubmission, or revision applications from a single PI, PD, MPI for all council rounds in a calendar year. This does not include T activity codes or R13 conference applications.

3. Public Access Policy.

The NIH has implemented public access policies, requiring free and immediate access to articles and datasets that result from federally funded research. The policy (linked on the NIH web site) was effective July 1, 2025.  Penn Libraries developed a guide to support researchers and authors in navigating these new policies. The guide features specific details about the NIH policy and will grow to include pages for each agency policy.

• The policy impacts all articles accepted for publication on or after July 1, 2025.  
• For publications, the NIH requires an Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM) to be deposited in Pubmed Central on or before the work’s official date of publication, without embargo. An AAM is the version of a manuscript after it has incorporated all editor and peer reviewer comments, but before the work is formatted and typeset. No payment is required to deposit an AAM into PubMed Central.
• Not all publishers permit AAM deposit without embargo. We advise checking the manuscript deposit policies of specific journals and publishers early in the process. It may be necessary to negotiate a revised publishing agreement or consider finding a different publisher.

Thanks, 

Mike

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E. Michael Ostap, PhD

Professor of Physiology

Senior Vice Dean and Chief Scientific Officer,

Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania