Data Release Policy
Rules and Regulations
- Data Repositories and Release
All specimen and sequence data gathered by iBOL participants will be made publicly available in repositories such as BOLD and/or GenBank, EMBL, and DDBJ within 12 months following data acquisition. The trace files that underpin sequence records will be released to the NCBI Trace Archive within three months of their acquisition.
- Data Curation
The iBOL research program will involve the assembly of 5M specimen and sequence records. Because BOLD has been designed to aid the management of such data, members of the iBOL Consortium will use it as a platform for their work. This shared use will enable monitoring of species coverage and will allow data feeds that deliver barcode records for each nation.
- Taxonomic Assignments
The iBOL project is committed to the early release of sequence and specimen information and to the coupling of this information to a taxonomic designator. While the assignment of each barcoded specimen to a Linnaean binomen is the goal, species-level identifications are often problematic. Taxonomic expertise may be unavailable, or the assignment of a species name may require the resolution of synonymy or the description of a species. Because these impediments have seriously slowed data release in prior barcode studies, iBOL will develop a registration system for barcode clusters. This system will automatically assign a Barcode Identification Number (BIN) to barcode records as they are obtained; specimens with close barcode congruence will share a BIN, while those with deeper divergence will have a different one. iBOL will maintain an international registry for these BINs and an integrated on-line system to expedite their connection to existing species names where this is possible. This system will allow the barcode library to gain immediate functionality for many purposes. It will make it possible to map the geographic distribution of individuals sharing a BIN and to enumerate the number of BINs at each locale. Further, by displaying specimen images and distributions on the web, the assignment of Linnaean names to the specimens associated with each BIN will be accelerated whether this involves known species or new descriptions.
- Audit Trail
Critical evaluation of barcode records is only possible when specimens used for barcode analysis are retained as vouchers and when they gain labels indicating that they were the source of the tissue that produced a particular barcode sequence. As a consequence, members of the iBOL consortium will deposit specimens used for barcode analysis in curated collection facilities and attach labels signalling their status as barcode vouchers. In addition, because sequence validation is only possible when trace files are available, iBOL members will deposit these in an archive such as BOLD or GenBank.
- DNA Extracts
The DNA extracts gathered by the iBOL consortium will represent a valuable legacy for other research initiatives. They may often comprise the only available DNA sample for a species. Because of this fact, iBOL participants will preserve all DNA extracts. Decisions in relation to access and use of such extracts will be solely determined by national and institutional policies.
- Convention on Biological Diversity
Members of the iBOL consortium are committed to the regulatory framework established under the Convention on Biological Diversity. Transactions between iBOL members will respect all restrictions in relation to biomaterials transfer.
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