Non-repeatable science: assessing the frequency of voucher specimen deposition reveals that most arthropod research cannot be verified

Abstract

Scientific findings need to be verifiable and grounded in repeatability. With specimen-level research this is in part achieved with the deposition of voucher specimens. These are labeled, curated, data-based specimens that have been deposited in a collection or museum, available for verification of the work and to ensure researchers are calling the same taxa by the same names. Voucher specimens themselves are the subject of research, from the discovery of new species by taxonomists to ecologists documenting historical records of invasive species. Our objective was to quantify the frequency of voucher specimen deposition in biodiversity and community ecology research through a survey of the peer-reviewed literature about arthropods, from 1989 until 2014. Overall rates of voucher deposition were alarmingly low, at under 25%. This rate increased significantly over time, with 35% of papers reporting on vouchers in 2014. Relative to the global mean, entomological research had a significantly higher rate of voucher deposition (46%), whereas researchers studying crustaceans deposited vouchers less than 6% of the time, significantly less than the mean. Researchers working in museums had a significantly higher frequency of voucher deposition. Our results suggest a significant culture shift about the process of vouchering specimens is required. There must be more education and mentoring about voucher specimens within laboratories and across different fields of study. Principal investigators and granting agencies need a proactive approach to ensuring specimen-level data are properly, long-term curated. Editorial boards and journals can also adopt policies to ensure papers are published only if explicit statements about the deposition of voucher specimens is provided. Although the gap is significant, achieving a higher rate of voucher specimen deposition is a worthy goal to ensure all research efforts are preserved for future generations.

Northernmost record of the pantropical portunid crab <em>Cronius ruber</em> in the eastern Atlantic (Canary Islands): natural range extension or human-mediated introduction?

“…Voucher specimens were labelled, curated, databased and deposited, available for verification (Turney et al 2015), in the ICCM study collection at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.…”

Trazabilidad de los registros de mamíferos en el marco del otorgamiento de licencias ambientales para proyectos de hidrocarburos en Colombia

“…En este sentido, las autoridades ambientales y la comunidad académica, deben dirigir esfuerzos hacia la reglamentación y educación, sobre la necesidad de aportar evidencia biológica verificable en las caracterizaciones bióticas, de manera que se garantice la trazabilidad de la información y su disponibilidad a futuro para la comunidad científica y el público general (Schilthuizen, et al, 2015, Turney, et al, 2015.…”

“…trazabilidad de la información) y garantizan el uso o análisis futuro de la información recolectada (i.e. revisión, reevaluación o reinterpretación; Martin, 1990, Wheeler, 2003, Funk, et al, 2005, Turney, et al, 2015, Schilthuizen, et al, 2015. El voucher biológico es definido como: un espécimen, una muestra, o producto del mismo, y sus datos asociados, que documenta la existencia de un organismo en un lugar y tiempo determinado, de una manera consistente con estandares disciplinarios, para asegurar la repetibilidad de la investigación, que de otra forma no podría ser adecuamente revisada o reevaluada" (Kageyama, et al, 2006: 262).…”

Diversity and taxonomy of Vietnamese Pollicaria (Gastropoda, Pupinidae)

“…Requests to formally include images and additional information in this manuscript went unanswered. We accepted that this information was not equivalent to that of vouchered specimens, but could be important in determining the diversity and distribution (Turney et al 2015) of Pollicaria species.…”