How to submit data to GenBank

The most important source of new data for GenBank ^® is direct submissions from scientists. GenBank depends on its contributors to help keep the database as comprehensive, current, and accurate as possible. NCBI provides timely and accurate processing and biological review of new entries and updates to existing entries, and is ready to assist authors who have new data to submit.

Receiving an Accession Number for your Manuscript

Most journals require any DNA or amino acid sequences described in a manuscript to be deposited in a public sequence database as part of the publication process. Data exchange between the members of the International Nucleotide Sequence Database Collaboration (INSDC)—DDBJ, ENA, and GenBank—occurs daily, so you need to submit your sequences to only one of these repositories.

Sequences submitted before publication can be kept confidential upon request. GenBank typically assigns accession numbers within two working days of submission. These accession numbers uniquely identify your data and allow users to retrieve the sequences once the article is published. The accession number should be included in your manuscript, preferably in a footnote on the first page of the article, or as required by individual journal procedures.

Submissions to GenBank

There are several options for preparing and submitting data to GenBank.

• Web-based submission tools that are automatically submitted to GenBank:

  Submission Portal, a unified system for multiple submission types. Genome and Transcriptome Assemblies can be submitted through the Genomes and TSA portals, respectively.

• Submission preparation tools used to either create files used by the Submission Portal or to generate submissions sent by email to gb-sub@ncbi.nlm.nih.gov when relevant:

  table2asn, a command-line program that replaces the older tool tbl2asn, automates the creation of sequence records for submission to GenBank. It is used primarily for submission of annotated genomes and large batches of sequences, and is available by FTP for use on MAC, PC and Unix platforms.

Submissions of Raw Sequence Reads

Runs of unassembled reads, for example from 454 or Illumina or PacBio, can be submitted to the Sequence Read Archive (SRA) .

Updating or Revising a GenBank Sequence

Revisions or updates to GenBank entries can be made by the submitters at any time. Information about the correct format for different types of updates can be found on the Update guidelines page. Send updates and revisions to gb-admin@ncbi.nlm.nih.gov . Be sure to include the accession number of the sequence to be updated in the subject line.

Confidentiality

Some authors are concerned that the appearance of their data in GenBank prior to publication will compromise their work. GenBank will, upon request, withhold release of new submissions for a specified period of time. However, if the accession number or sequence data appears in print or online prior to the specified date, your sequence will be released. In order to prevent the delay in the appearance of published sequence data, we urge authors to inform us of the appearance of the published data. As soon as it is available, please send the full publication data--all authors, title, journal, volume, pages and date--to the following address: update@ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Privacy

If you are submitting human sequences to GenBank, do not include any data that could reveal the personal identity of the source. It is our assumption that you have received any necessary informed consent authorizations that your organizations require prior to submitting your sequences.

Effective June 16, 2026, GenBank will no longer accept personal sequence data, including personal human chromosome, genome, or mitochondrial DNA data, from private individuals (for example, an individual’s personal health data from a laboratory or health care provider, or sequences that were generated by a direct-to-consumer company for the purpose of ancestry or genealogy studies).