Sequence Read Archive (SRA)

The SRA accepts sequence reads and the associated quality scores. Please refer to the File Format Guide for accepted file formats.

• Fastq files can be compressed prior to upload. Please use gzip or bzip2 compression only (do not use zip).
• All file names must be unique and not contain any sensitive information. File names as submitted appear publicly in the Google and AWS cloud buckets.
• Use FTP, Aspera command line, or cloud upload to transfer large volumes of data (limit 5 TB). All files for a submission must be uploaded into a single preload folder. Do not use the same folder for multiple submissions. If you do, then you will lose data when the first submission processes.
• Please complete your submission within 30 days of creating a preload folder. Your preload folder and its contents will be automatically deleted after 30 days of inactivity.

Before submitting, read the SRA Submission Wizard Help and watch a 10 min video tutorial.

Contact sra@ncbi.nlm.nih.gov with any question or concern about your data or submission.

SRA accepts data from all kinds of sequencing projects including clinically important studies that involve human subjects or their metagenomes, which may contain human sequences. These data often utilize NIH controlled access via dbGaP (the database of Genotypes and Phenotypes). Data submitters need to determine if their data is suitable for public distribution or if it needs controlled access. For further information, consult with institutional review boards and NIH Genomic Data Sharing Policy.

It is the responsibility of submitting parties to ensure that they have appropriate consent for human sequence data to be distributed publicly without access controls. We encourage submitters to screen for and remove contaminating human reads from data files prior to submission. We also offer human contamination screening as a service available on request.

For more information please email: sra@ncbi.nlm.nih.gov