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Faced with an increasing number of articles describing DNA data and a need for more appropriate venues to present these data, some publishers and journals have responded by changing the structure and format of genome papers. Specifically, certain journals have started accepting very short manuscripts (500–1500 words) that present a new chromosome sequence, its GenBank accession number and little else. These pint-sized articles go by various names, such as genome reports, genome announcements, genome notes or genome letters, but will be referred to here broadly as genome reports. Their short length and minimal number (or complete absence) of figures, tables and article subheadings are a significant departure from long-form genome papers, which typically span 8–10 journal pages, contain many supporting items and have formal introduction, methods, results and discussion sections.

Following are the list of journals publishing pint-sized articles go by various names, such as genome reports, genome announcements, genome notes or genome letters, but will be referred to here broadly as genome reports.

1. Genome Announcements, American Society for Microbiology, Genome announcement, Impact factor 1.3,  A 500-word report stating that the genome of a particular organism (prokaryote, eukaryote or virus) has been sequenced and providing a citable record of the corresponding GenBank submission. Must include abstract but no text headings can be used except for ‘Acknowledgments’ and ‘References’. Cannot include figures, tables or supplemental material to present data or analysis.

Link: https://mra.asm.org/

2. Genome Biology and Evolution, Oxford University Press, Genome report, Impact factor 4.2, Focused 1500-word papers (up to six tables or figures) that publish the main evolutionary message of new genome sequences as they become submitted to GenBank. May also contain specifically focused comparative analyses of previously published genomes that contain a substantial and novel insight of broadest evolutionary significance.

Link: https://academic.oup.com/gbe

3. Journal of Biotechnology, Elsevier, Genome announcement, Impact factor 2.9, A 500-word report announcing the availability of the completely annotated genome sequence of a biotechnologically relevant organism in the corresponding database (for eukaryotes, advanced draft genomes will also be considered). Articles can contain an Abstract, a brief report on the organism and its biotechnological relevance, a table summarizing the genome features, References and an Acknowledgement. Figures are generally not allowed.

Link: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-biotechnology

4. Journal of Genomics, Ivyspring, Genome note, Impact factor N/A, A 1000-word report (10 reference limit; conclusions not permitted) describing novel data sets from high-throughput analysis of genotypes, phenotypes, gene expression, metabolomes, proteomes or genome assemblies.Standard metrics for data quality and the experimental design must be clearly reported.

Link: http://www.jgenomics.com/

5. Memórias do Instituto, Oswaldo Cruz Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Genome announcement and highlight, Impact factor 1.6, Dedicated to publishing new genome information from eukaryote parasites, virus, bacteria and their respective vectors, as well as re-sequencing or comparative genome analyses. Should occupy no more than three printed pages including figures and/or tables.

Link: http://memorias.ioc.fiocruz.br/

6. Molecular Ecology Resources, Wiley, Genomic resources note,  Impact factor 3.7, Short notes on newly assembled and annotated transcriptomes, genome fractions or whole genomes, and/or a library of SNP/SSR markers.Authors submit a short manuscript describing how the resource was developed and where the data can be accessed. Do not appear in journal as individual papers but are instead published as part of a summary article.

Link: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/17550998

7. Standards in Genomic Science, BioMed Central (Springer), Short genome report, Impact factor 3.2, Short (∼500-word) article on newly sequenced genome. Article format must follow guidelines and template (available from journal Web site) put forward by the SGS. Any manuscripts not using template or that are missing key figures, tables and/or references (as per the guidelines) will be returned to authors. Rationale of the content model is to provide information that is consistently and uniformly presented for rapid and easy consumption by both human and machine readers. 

Link: https://standardsingenomics.biomedcentral.com/

8. 3biotech, Springer, Short genome report, Impact factor 1.3, Short (∼500-word) article on newly sequenced genome. Article format must follow guidelines (available from journal Web site).  Genome of a particular organism (prokaryote, eukaryote or virus) has been sequenced and providing a citable record of the corresponding GenBank submission.

Link: https://link.springer.com/journal/13205