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PubMed/NCBI Personal Account Changes

Using a Third Party to Access PubMed/NCBI Account

You will need to use a third-party account to create and log into a PubMed/NCBI Account
  • When you create a personal account in PubMed, it is part of a larger system called an NCBI account
  • NCBI accounts require users to login using a 3rd party. 
  • These are called "federated credentials" and include systems like OSU, eRA Commons, ORCiD, Google, and more.
  • NCBI does not manage accounts directly.
  • These changes only affect the way you login to your personal PubMed/NCBI account and the username/password you use.  They do not affect how you access or use PubMed otherwise, or how you access full-text through Ohio State.

The transition to using 3rd party credentials happened a couple years ago.  To learn more about these changes, check out the links below:

Link Your PubMed/NCBI Account to Another System

If you already have an NCBI account and you want to link it up to another 3rd party system, use the NCBI Password Retirement Wizard tool, or follow the instructions below.

To see or update what 3rd party credentials you have associated with your account:

  • After signing in to NCBI, click on your username in the top right-hand corner and select Account Settings.
  • Within the box "Linked Accounts", click on "Change".
  • Use the search box to find a 3rd party system to use.  The HSL recommends using OSU (search for Ohio) as the simplest option, however you can also use ORCiD, eRA Commons, Google, or others.
    • If you will be leaving OSU, you should make sure to update your account to include a non-OSU login option
  • Enter the appropriate credentials to login to this new system.
  • You should now see your new 3rd party system listed under Linked Accounts.