IMG Expert Review Submission Agreement

Submission of genome datasets to IMG ER or metagenome datasets to IMG/M ER complies with the following conditions.

Metadata Requirements

Genome and metagenome datasets submitted for annotation and/or integration in IMG ER and IMG/M ER need to have a descriptive name- acronyms are not accepted. The following fields are mandatory:project name; latitude; longitude; isolation (collection location); country; collection time; habitat; sequencing method; assembly; gene calling method; sequencing center.

Submissions that are missing mandatory metadata fields will be cancelled without processing.

Data Release & Replacement

Genome and metagenome datasets submitted for annotation and/or integration in IMG ER and IMG/M ER will be kept private (not available publicly) for 24 months for single cells and metagenomes from the date they become available for analysis, after which they will become automatically public.

For multiple submissions of the same genome or metagenome sample, the multiple versions will be kept into the system for no more than 6 months, after which only the latest version will be kept in IMG, with previous (older) versions automatically removed.

A genome or metagenome dataset submitted to IMG can be replaced by newer versions of the same genome/metagenome dataset, but cannot be removed in order to avoid making them public.

Note that private datasets in IMG are accessed by IMG team members mainly for data quality and validation purposes, and occasionally for data mining. Data validation and data mining results will not be used or published without agreement from the dataset owners as long as the datasets remain private.

Data Distribution

Genome and metagenome datasets submitted for annotation and/or integration in IMG ER and IMG/M ER are distributed solely through individual genome and metagenome data portals and are limited to assembled and annotated datasets; no other type of data distribution (data downloads) is provided.

IMG is not depositing raw/assembled/annotated datasets into Genbank.