Describing the release of sequence data.

Richard W. Hyman's letter entitled “Sequence data: posted vs. published” (2 Feb., p. 827) is not in accord with the data release policies adopted by the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of Energy. That policy statement begins, “[The National Human Genome Research Institute's] policy for release and deposition of DNA sequence data was devised to make sequence data available to the research community as soon as possible for free, unfettered use” ([1][1]). Nowhere in that document is there any implication that sequencing centers would retain veto power over the use of prepublication data in academic publications. Just the opposite. The purpose of prepublication release is to allow the academic community to make full use of genome sequence data in all aspects of research as soon as possible. That such work should result in academic publication is the goal of the data release policy. Sequencing centers uncomfortable with this data release policy were certainly free to seek funding through other sources, and at least one center did just that, with great success. I disagree with Hyman's statement that it is easy to recognize prepublication data in GenBank. GenBank policy dictates that only the depositing authors can modify a sequence entry, and many authors fail to update entries to reflect progress in the peer review process. It is difficult for database providers to make these updates because the title, authors, and journal may change in the course of manuscript review and resubmission. Many entries in GenBank are annotated as “unpublished submission,” when in fact papers describing the data by the authors who deposited the sequence have appeared in the peer-reviewed literature. Sequence finishing is an ongoing process, and we will undoubtedly be publishing revisions and additional annotations on the human genome for many years. To delay publication of derivative work until a center signs off on a final version is not feasible, because there will not be a fully finished human genome sequence for many years to come, if ever. Particularly for sequence in the draft phase, the data are a moving target. It is therefore important that publications based on draft sequence cite the source and date of the entry. Finally, submission of data to GenBank is a form of electronic publication ([2][2]). Data appear in GenBank only with the consent of a submitting author or through journal scanning. GenBank entries establish publication date for patent purposes, and GenBank accession numbers are routinely used as a mechanism for attribution in the scientific literature. To appropriate a database entry without attribution and imply that the data were generated de novo would be plagiarism, but to use data from a public database as the basis for further analysis is entirely appropriate and widely accepted within the academic community. 1. [↵][3][www.nhgri.nih.gov/Grant\_info/Funding/Statements/RFA/data\_release.html][4]. 2. [↵][5]1. M. J. Cinkosky, 2. J. W. Fickett, 3. P. Gilna, 4. C. Burks , Science 252, 1273 (1991). [OpenUrl][6][Abstract/FREE Full Text][7] [1]: #ref-1 [2]: #ref-2 [3]: #xref-ref-1-1 "View reference 1 in text" [4]: http://www.nhgri.nih.gov/Grant_info/Funding/Statements/RFA/data_release.html [5]: #xref-ref-2-1 "View reference 2 in text" [6]: {openurl}?query=rft.jtitle%253DScience%26rft.stitle%253DScience%26rft.aulast%253DCinkosky%26rft.auinit1%253DM.%26rft.volume%253D252%26rft.issue%253D5010%26rft.spage%253D1273%26rft.epage%253D1277%26rft.atitle%253DElectronic%2Bdata%2Bpublishing%2Band%2BGenBank%26rft_id%253Dinfo%253Adoi%252F10.1126%252Fscience.1925538%26rft_id%253Dinfo%253Apmid%252F1925538%26rft.genre%253Darticle%26rft_val_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Ajournal%26ctx_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ctx_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Actx [7]: /lookup/ijlink/YTozOntzOjQ6InBhdGgiO3M6MTQ6Ii9sb29rdXAvaWpsaW5rIjtzOjU6InF1ZXJ5IjthOjQ6e3M6ODoibGlua1R5cGUiO3M6NDoiQUJTVCI7czoxMToiam91cm5hbENvZGUiO3M6Mzoic2NpIjtzOjU6InJlc2lkIjtzOjEzOiIyNTIvNTAxMC8xMjczIjtzOjQ6ImF0b20iO3M6MjM6Ii9zY2kvMjkyLzU1MTkvMTA2Ni5hdG9tIjt9czo4OiJmcmFnbWVudCI7czowOiIiO30=