Publication Policy

The purpose of this policy is to establish communication norms around JGI contributions, ensure that all contributors to a research project are appropriately recognized and credited for their work, while also adhering to the authorship policies of the journal in which the research is published.

The JGI has a strong interest in seeing that the data produced by the facility result in scientific publications. JGI users and collaborators have the right to produce manuscripts for publication and the responsibility for leading the efforts to do so, and JGI expects acknowledgment (see Auspice Statement below) for the generation of sequence or metabolomic data, DNA synthesized, and any other contributions, such as assembly, analysis, annotation, verification, creation of genome browsers, etc.

The users, collaborators, and JGI together aim to publish the first analysis of data produced at the facility, provided this is done in a timely fashion. The publications resulting from such efforts should specify the collaborative nature of the project. Journal policies typically expect authorship to include all those contributing significantly to the work. The intent of this policy and the lists we provide is to help users understand who contributed to the work, and to identify those who contributed significantly.

Authorship Guidelines

JGI will provide all users with a list of JGI staff who contributed to their project, using the CRediT taxonomy (credit.niso.org/, with descriptions here). This list will be provided upon request, and will include an indication of the level of contribution. The JGI suggests that users follow the authorship policies of the journal in which they plan to publish their research. Users should review the journal's authorship guidelines, consult existing resources such as COPE and the LBNL Authorship and Collaboration guidelines, and use the contributor list provided by JGI to determine the authorship list. The intent of the JGI-provided list is not for each individual to be included in every publication, but to be transparent and clear about our staff’s contributions. Feel free to reach out to your Project Manager or JGI Science Program lead(s) to discuss authorship at any point. Specifically, Users are encouraged to discuss authorship with JGI staff at their initiation meeting and again when analysis is delivered.

Responsibilities

Example Contributor List

Auspice Statements

Including appropriate tracking numbers is critical to facilitating the tracking of publications and allowing connections between all systems to maximize the impact of user research. The crucial elements are