Submission FAQ

Q1:Is there a User Guide?

A1: Legacy User Guide. The NEW user guide (March 2025).

Q2:When will my submission be loaded into IMG?

A2: Isolate genomes are loaded about every two weeks. Metagenomes are processed constantly. JGI submissions have priority over non-JGI submissions. When there is a large batch of JGI metagenome submissions, external submissions may be delayed for a couple months.

Please note that only approved submissions will be processed. If your submission has approval status 'pending review,' please also check the GOLD Review Status of your GOLD Analysis Project. GOLD Review Status 'In Review' means that the project has not been approved by the GOLD Group. If your submission has approval status 'missing metadata,' please check Metadata Requirements section at the Home page. We will not answer individual email re. when a submission will be loaded.

Q3: How do I grant access to my colleagues?

A3: There are two ways to grant access permission to your colleagues. You can do so from the IMG Submission UI following the Grant Access Guide.

Alternatively, you can go to IMG/M ER UI to select MyIMG menu item. There is a "book icon" near the the right upper corner, which will lead you to a user guide showing how to create your own IMG groups to share access permission.

Q4: How do I request my genomes to be released to the public?

A4: PIs, co-PIs and submitters can now release their own genomes in the Submitted Datasets page. First select the corresponding submissions, and then scroll down to find the Release/Unrelease Genomes section to release. There will be some delay before the released genomes are available for public downloading from the JGI Genome Portal. Please contact Amy Chen (imachen@lbl.gov) if a genome has been released by mistake.

Note: All JGI sequenced genomes are controlled by JGI ITS. Please contact JGI regarding all genome releasing issues. Changes in IMG will be overridden by ITS.

Q5: Why did my submission get cancelled?

A5: We cancel a submission if the corresponding GOLD Analysis Project was rejected, or if we find an unrecoverable error in your submission. Please check the comment field of your submission to find out the problem. If you have more questions, please file a ticket.

Q6: Can I change the locus tag prefix of my genome?

A6: As of 11/14/2014, the JGI management team has decided that locus tag prefix of a genome will be the corresponding GOLD Analysis Project ID. Users cannot choose their own locus tag prefix values.

Q7: I have a better assembly version of my genome/metagenome. How do I request to have the genome/metagenome in IMG to be replaced by the new version?

A7: Please request a new GOLD Analysis Project (AP) ID to re-submit the new sequence. In the submission form, there is a field for you to indicate which IMG genome OID to be replaced.

Q8: IMG has reassigned scaffold IDs to my metagenome. Where can I find the mapping between the original scaffold IDs and the IMG assigned IDs?

A8: From the metagenome detail page in IMG, there is a 'Download Data' button near the right upper corner. Click the button to go to the JGI Genome Portal to find IMG download files. There is a file with name ...names_map, which contains the scaffold ID mapping information.

Q9: How can I change genome names and/or other metadata?

A9: Please go to GOLD to update. Changes in GOLD will be automatically propagated to IMG in a day or so.

Q10: IMG Submission Site has a 500MB limitation. How can I submit a sequence file larger than 500MB?

A10: Usually people use their institutional web or ftp sites for this.

If institution somehow doesn't provide this functionality, then there's a way to use Google Drive and provide a URL that doesn't require manual interaction. In GDrive