The National Institutes of Health (NIH) requires investigators to appropriately acknowledge federal funding in publications and other communications resulting from NIH-supported research. These requirements extend beyond identifying the sponsoring agency and award number to include specific financial disclosures and a required disclaimer. In a recent notice, NIH reiterated the importance of these longstanding requirements and the need for accurate reporting.
To help USC investigators and research administrators ensure compliance, the Department of Contracts and Grants (DCG) has outlined the required acknowledgment elements, recommended methods for calculating funding amounts and percentages, and practical examples to guide preparation of publications and other research-related communications.
Overview:
Publications and other communications describing research supported in whole or in part by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) must acknowledge the federal funding that supported the work. Under the Stevens Amendment (Public Law 101-166, Section 511), as implemented in the NIH Grants Policy Statement (GPS) Sections 4.2.1 and 8.2.1, each publication, press release, or other document describing NIH-supported research must include:
An acknowledgment of NIH award support;
The dollar amount and percentage of total project costs financed with federal funds;
When applicable, the dollar amount and percentage of total project costs financed by nongovernmental sources; and
The NIH disclaimer.
NIH reiterated in NOT-OD-26-084 (May 27, 2026) that this requirement applies to all publications describing NIH-funded work. NIH does not prescribe how to determine the applicable funding period or calculation method. To promote consistency, USC advises investigators to use cumulative federal funding awarded as of the date of publication and, when applicable, documented nongovernmental funding commitments through that date, rather than actual expenditures or anticipated future funding.
What Must Be Included:
For publications resulting from NIH-supported research, the acknowledgment should include:
The NIH Institute or Center (IC) and the NIH award number(s) that supported the work, in NIH’s standard format (e.g., R01GM012345);
Any other federal awards that supported the work;
The dollar amount and percentage of total project costs financed with federal funds;
When the project has nongovernmental funding (for example, mandatory or voluntary committed cost sharing), the dollar amount and percentage of total project costs financed by those sources; and
The required NIH disclaimer.
Cite only awards that actually supported the work described. NIH has cautioned that attributing a publication to an award that did not support it does not align with NIH policy and could result in compliance actions. If an award supported only part of the published work, make that clear in the acknowledgment and in the Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR).
Most NIH research programs do not require cost sharing; any requirement will be stated in the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) or award terms. Note that the current GPS asks recipients to disclose nongovernmental funding without limiting that disclosure to programs with mandatory cost sharing, while NOT-OD-26-084 describes it in the context of programs requiring cost sharing. Until NIH resolves this, USC advises disclosing any documented nongovernmental funding commitment to the project.
Required NIH Disclaimer:
In addition to the funding acknowledgment, NIH GPS Section 8.2.1 requires each publication, press release, or other document about NIH-supported research to include the following disclaimer:
The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
Use this wording exactly as written. Place it with the funding acknowledgment, typically in the Acknowledgments or Funding section of the publication. The disclaimer is required even when the funding acknowledgment is otherwise complete, and it applies to journal articles, press releases, presentations, posters, websites, and other public-facing materials describing NIH-supported research. When other sponsors also supported the work, include any disclaimers they require as well.
How Amounts and Percentages Are Determined:
USC advises investigators to determine the amounts reported as follows:
Federal funding: Total costs (direct plus facilities and administrative costs) awarded under the cited federal award(s) as of the publication date, including all prior budget periods. Exclude anticipated funding for future budget periods.
Nongovernmental funding: Documented nongovernmental commitments (such as committed cost sharing) applicable through the publication date. Exclude commitments attributable to future budget periods.
Total project costs: The sum of the federal funding, documented nongovernmental funding, and any other nonfederal governmental support (for example, state funding) applicable through the publication date.
Use awarded amounts and documented commitments, not actual expenditures.
Calculate the percentages as follows:
Federal percentage = Cumulative federal funding ÷ Total project costs × 100
Nongovernmental percentage = Cumulative documented nongovernmental funding ÷ Total project costs × 100
If the project has no nonfederal funding, federal funding represents 100% of total project costs. When more than one federal award supports the work, identify each award and report the combined federal funding from the cited awards. If USC’s support comes through a subaward, cite the prime NIH award number and consult your research administrator about the amounts to report.
Example 1 – 100% Federal Funding (No Nongovernmental Funding):
A five-year NIH-supported project is expected to receive $2 million in federal funding over the full project period. When a publication is issued during Year 2, $500,000 in federal funding (total costs) has been awarded as of the date of publication. There is no nongovernmental cost-sharing.
Following USC’s approach, the disclosure is based on the $500,000 awarded through the publication date, not anticipated future funding, future commitments, or actual expenditures:
Federal funding: $500,000 (100%)
Sample Acknowledgement:
The language below follows the NIH sample in GPS 8.2.1. Amounts and percentages are illustrative; use the figures for your project.
Research reported in this publication was supported by the [NIH Institute or Center] of the National Institutes of Health under award number [R01GM012345]. A total of $500,000, or 100 percent, of this project was financed with federal funds.
The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
Example 2 – Includes Both Federal & Non-Governmental Funding:
A five-year NIH-supported project is expected to receive $2 million in federal funding over the full project period. When a publication is issued during Year 2, $800,000 in federal funding (total costs) has been awarded as of the date of publication, and the project has a documented nongovernmental cost-sharing commitment of $200,000 applicable through Year 2.
Following USC’s approach, the disclosure is based on the $800,000 awarded and the $200,000 committed through the publication date, not anticipated future funding, future commitments, or actual expenditures:
Federal funding: $800,000 (80%)
Nongovernmental funding: $200,000 (20%)
Total project costs: $1,000,000
Sample Acknowledgment:
The language below follows the NIH sample in GPS 8.2.1. Amounts and percentages are illustrative; use the figures for your project.
Research reported in this publication was supported by the [NIH Institute or Center] of the National Institutes of Health under award number [R01GM012345]. A total of $800,000, or 80 percent, of this project was financed with federal funds. A total of $200,000, or 20 percent, of this project was financed with nongovernmental funds.
The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
When research is supported by multiple federal awards, identify each award and report the combined federal funding. Observe any additional acknowledgment or disclaimer requirements of other sponsors.
What Investigators Should Do:
Before submitting a publication resulting from NIH-supported research:
Identify the awards. List the NIH award(s) and any other federal awards that directly supported the work reported. Do not cite awards that did not support it.
Confirm amounts. Work with your departmental or school research administrator to confirm the federal funding awarded and any documented nongovernmental commitments through the publication date.
Calculate percentages. Use cumulative awarded federal funding and documented nongovernmental commitments, not expenditures or anticipated future funding.
Draft the acknowledgment and disclaimer. Include the IC, award number(s), financial disclosure, and NIH disclaimer. Note any award that supported only part of the work.
Check affiliations. List the affiliation where the NIH-funded work was performed, even if your current affiliation differs.
Verify before submission. Confirm award numbers, amounts, percentages, and affiliations.
Other Communications and Requirements:
The Stevens Amendment applies beyond journal articles, including to press releases, presentations, posters, websites, and other documents describing NIH-supported projects. If USC plans a press release about NIH-supported research, NIH asks that the funding IC be notified in advance. The acknowledgment requirement is separate from other NIH publication requirements, including the 2024 NIH Public Access Policy, which requires submitting the author accepted manuscript to PubMed Central upon acceptance for publication, for availability without embargo.
Publications must also be reported in RPPRs. NIH-funded publications that involve foreign co-authors may also raise foreign-component reporting questions; see NOT-OD-26-084.
Additional Resources: