Phylogenetic methods from evolutionary biology have been used in recent years for stemmatic analysis of manuscript and other traditions. However, some scholars have criticized the applicability of these methods. We review the methods used and the criticisms made. We argue that many of the criticisms arise from a misunderstanding of present methods. While other criticisms may be valid, they also apply to conventional stemmatic analysis. We argue that a combination of phylogenetic methodology and traditional scholarship is likely to be the most useful.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.