Institute Policies and Guidelines

NHGRI Rapid Data Release Policy

February 2003

Ever since the 1996 Bermuda Principles provided guidelines on the rapid release of data from large-scale sequencing projects, access to the pre-publication sequence data that has been made freely available in public nucleotide sequence databases has accelerated biomedical research.

However, in 2002, it became clear that new strategies and other advances in large-scale DNA sequencing necessitated a re-examination and updating of the data release policies originally developed to implement the Bermuda Principles for pre-publication sequence data.

To address this question, the Wellcome Trust sponsored a meeting on Jan. 14-15, 2003 on the subject of sharing data from large-scale biological research projects. The meeting attendees recommended the 1996 Bermuda Principles be reaffirmed. Furthermore, as the original Bermuda statement expressly pertained to deposition of sequence assemblies of 2kb or greater by large-scale sequencing efforts to the public international DNA sequence databases (GenBank, EMBL, and DDBJ), the meeting attendees further recommended that the practice of rapid, open data release be extended to apply to all sequence data, including both the raw traces and whole genome shotgun assemblies.

The Wellcome Trust Report:
Sharing Data From Large-Scale Biological Research Projects - 2003: A System of Tripartite Responsibility

The National Advisory Council for Human Genome Research (NACHGR), the main advisory group to the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) on genetics and genomic research, discussed the subject of pre-publication release of large-scale sequencing data. NACHGR approved a policy that would reaffirm and extend the rapid data release policies developed to implement the 1996 Bermuda Principles.

The NHGRI Statement
Reaffirmation and Extension of NHGRI Rapid Data Release Policies: Large-Scale Sequencing and Other Community Resource Projects

In a related matter, the Board on Life Sciences at the National Research Council established in 2002 the Committee of Responsibilities of Authorship in the Biological Sciences to make recommendations about "the deposition and sharing of materials and data associated with published research findings." The committee, chaired by Dr. Thomas Cech, recently released its report describing a "uniform principle for sharing integral data and materials expeditiously (UPSIDE}" upon publication.

The Report
Sharing Publication-Related Data and Materials: Responsibilities of Authorship in the Life Sciences [nap.edu]

Top of page

Last Reviewed: March 9, 2012