Taxacom: an idea on data reuse preprint for systematics

[Nigel Robinson]

Hi All

This is an interesting thought but just to remind folks that Zoological Record continues to index around 4000 biodiversity and animal science journals (2500 of which contain taxonomy), plus other non serial publications (books, meetings, newsletters etc.)  where each taxonomic or nomenclatural act is indexed individually with indexing which was set up to align with the Code.

Preprints are also indexed in a separate collection but without the details taxonomic/nomenclatural act indexing.

The taxonomic names indexed in Zoological Record are made freely available via the Index to Organism Names (ION) (https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.organismnames.com%2F&data%7C02%7Ctaxacom%40lists.ku.edu%7Cb6bda8e4a7d544b63b3408dda75a0bdf%7C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a%7C0%7C0%7C638850727415426695%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=oSXTkv5s78yXh%2BprUHmq6nhQqmYWl79lYnTwKMdN8bk%3D&reserved=0)

If there are any suggestions for the improvement of ION, please message me directly so we can consider them for future enhancements.

Thanks

Nigel

..................................................................

Nigel Robinson
Director, Product Operations
Time zone: GMT (United Kingdom)

-----Original Message-----
From: Taxacom <taxacom-bounces at lists.ku.edu> On Behalf Of Kuoi Zhang via Taxacom
Sent: 23 May 2025 14:51
To: taxacom at lists.ku.edu
Subject: Taxacom: an idea on data reuse preprint for systematics

Hello

I'm writing to share an idea and gauge interest from the community.

As someone working in taxonomy and systematics, I've often felt that our field lacks an appropriate venue for rapidly sharing certain types of valuable contributions, such as synonym updates, reanalyses of existing phylogenetic or evolutionary data, or independent replications of published results. These efforts are essential for ensuring the integrity, reproducibility, and long-term reliability of taxonomic knowledge, yet they are often underappreciated in traditional publishing channels.
To address this gap, I'm considering the creation of a small, community-driven preprint platform focused specifically on taxonomy, systematics, and data reuse. The platform would not accept new data unless it's used to illustrate problems in previously published work. The goal is to provide a dedicated space where researchers can openly and transparently share new synonymies, reanalyzed phylogenetic trees or other data, or highlight data ambiguities.

In this vision, repeatability, data verification, and nomenclatural clarification are treated with the same importance as the description of new taxa, because all of these activities are essential to making taxonomy a more scientific and self-correcting discipline.

I have the technical expertise to set up and maintain a Linux server, but community involvement would be critical, especially in terms of discussion, organization, and possibly sponsorship if the platform becomes active.

If this idea resonates with you, or even if you have concerns or alternative suggestions. I would deeply appreciate your feedback. Please feel free to respond either here on the list or privately via email (guoyi.zhang at austmus dot gov dot au). If there's enough interest, I'd be happy to coordinate a small discussion group to explore the idea further.

This might be a crazy idea. Without the support of the community, this cannot move forward.

Best regards
Guoyi

Guoyi Zhang (she/her), MRes, PhD candidate
Personal Web<https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmalacology.net%2F&data%7C02%7Ctaxacom%40lists.ku.edu%7Cb6bda8e4a7d544b63b3408dda75a0bdf%7C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a%7C0%7C0%7C638850727415459006%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=8U7gWYrMc1zmO%2BztjkAd61BXxqzWaAHCLzhQnU0HI1g%3D&reserved=0> | ORCID<https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Forcid.org%2F0000-0002-3426-9273&data%7C02%7Ctaxacom%40lists.ku.edu%7Cb6bda8e4a7d544b63b3408dda75a0bdf%7C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a%7C0%7C0%7C638850727415480701%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdataLOJsPS4%2FRnWXlASiQWCL5HkVbjj7LkIUX%2BuMdrc0sE%3D&reserved=0>
School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences
University of New South Wales
Australian Museum Research Institute
Australian Museum
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