Terms of use

We have a commitment to Open Science by freely providing an online database, data and services relating to data contributed from biological and biomedical science experiments by authors and users. We impose no additional restrictions on access to, or use of, the data provided beyond those asserted by the data depositors.

Datasets associated with GigaScience journal articles are specifically released under a Creative Commons CC0 waiver unless stated otherwise. While CC0 waives any legal requirement for attribution, crediting the source of research findings and data are cultural norms and expected etiquette for science. In recognition of the extensive effort that underlies these projects, we ask that users appropriately acknowledge the use of any dataset(s). To aid researchers to find, access, and reuse data, we issue citable digital object identifiers for each dataset. Our recommended format for a data citation of each dataset is listed on each page. This is in accordance with the Data Citation Principles. The Open Science policies and practices are only sustainable if scientific credit is generated for all parties involved, and by making dataset citation details available on each dataset we are assisting in developing a global research environment that rewards data sharing.

Users submitting data agree to not upload viruses or malware, and all users agree not to upload, post, transmit, distribute or otherwise publish on or to the system any materials that contain a software virus or other harmful component.

We are not liable to you or third parties claiming through you, for any loss or damage, including the consequences of any discontinuity of service.

While we will retain our commitment to Open Science, we reserve the right to update these Terms of Use. When alterations are inevitable, we will attempt to give reasonable notice of any changes by placing a notice on our website, but you may wish to check each time you use the website. The date of the most recent revision will appear on this, Terms of Use page.

Any questions or comments concerning these Terms of Use can be addressed to the administrator via emailing [email protected].

We provide these data in good faith, but make no warranty, expressed or implied, nor assume any legal liability or responsibility for any purpose for which they are used.

All feedback provided to us on our online services will be treated as non-confidential unless the individual or organisation providing it states otherwise.

Any attempt to use our online services to a level that prevents, or looks likely to prevent, us providing services to others, will result in that use/user being blocked. We will attempt to contact the user to discuss their needs and how (and if) these can be met from other sources.

Some of the data provided from external sources may be subject to third-party constraints. Users are solely responsible for establishing the nature of and complying with any such intellectual property restrictions. Any software made available for download through our web pages (either directly or from third party repositories like GitHub) will have its own individual license agreement that supersedes the default CC0 waiver.

As an Open Data repository, depositors must make sure everyone can legally reuse the data they deposit and confirm that it is their own work. Co-authorship must be credited, and third party materials created by someone else must have the necessary permissions and attribution to allow sharing in this manner. Publication irrevocably grants anyone the right to use this work under the Creative Commons Zero Waiver which releases all rights, like public domain. We agree to include expression of wishes as to their specific licenses but we will not restrict access to data files based on those licenses. We require that all files hosted on our server are given an OSI or similarly open license, if the authors do not expressly provide one, the file(s) will be assumed to be under the most permissive CC0 copyright waiver.

As one of the world’s largest biological data producers, the BGI’s goal is to maximize the use of its data by providing it to the research community in a timely manner. At the same time, BGI recognizes the need for researchers to be appropriately credited for their scientific contribution and investment in data generation. It is therefore expected that all researchers both honor agreements in line with the Fort Lauderdale and the Toronto International Data Release Workshop data sharing principles and appropriately acknowledge the contributions of others.

Accordingly, raw data such as individual sequence read traces are submitted to the relevant database as soon as they have exited BGI quality control pipelines. Whole genome sequence assemblies are released as soon as possible following appropriate quality analysis. Our repository contains draft versions of genome sequence assemblies, and we ask that you understand that these represent preliminary data, subject to omissions and errors. In addition, whole genome assemblies are likely to change upon the availability of new data, and our website will document new assembly versions as they are released.

In recognition of the extensive effort that underlies these projects, we ask that you appropriately acknowledge the use of any preliminary data. To aid researchers to find, access, and reuse data, we have issued citable digital object identifiers for each dataset. Our recommended format for a data citation of each dataset is listed on each page. This recommendation is in accordance with the adopted guidelines by the genome sequencing community in a statement of principles for the distribution and use of large-scale sequencing data: Community Resource Projects and the resulting NHGRI policy statement. If you have any questions regarding the use of this data, please contact us at [email protected]. In line with these recognized research norms, we request that you contact the relevant dataset contact before publishing analyses of the sequences on a genome scale. We welcome collaborative interaction to provide the community with improved whole genome analyses and annotations.

Although all data is released under the most open licenses possible the user agrees to not use data and/or metadata , alone or in combination with other data, to identify any individual or entity that has been anonymized. If you inadvertently discover the identity of any patient, individual or entity, then (a) You agree that you will make no use of this knowledge, (b) that you will notify us ([email protected]) of the incident, and (c) that you will inform no one else of the discovered identity.

Some of the data provided from external sources may be subject to third-party constraints. Users are solely responsible for establishing the nature of and complying with any such intellectual property restrictions.

We provide this data in good faith, but make no warranty, expressed or implied, nor assume any legal liability or responsibility for any purpose for which they are used.