ZooKeys, unlocking Earth’s incredible biodiversity and building a sustainable bridge into the public domain: From “print-based” to “web-based” taxonomy, systematics, and natural history. ZooKeys Editorial Opening Paper

Abstract

Publishing taxonomic and systematics studies in the digital era faces major challenges and requires new approaches, many of which are currently stimulating spirited discussions amongst taxonomists and sys- L. Penev et al. / ZooKeys 1: 1-7 (2008)2 tematists. New amendments to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature are expected to regulate electronic publishing of new taxa and create a standard form for their registration (ZooBank). Responding to a perceived need, this editorial announces establishment of ZooKeys -a new online and print journal in zoological taxonomy and systematics, which aims to quickly respond and adapt to the newest developments in taxonomic publishing. Open Access is accepted as mandatory for ZooKeys. Th e rationale for and concept of ZooKeys is discussed in detail.

The flower fly genus Eosphaerophoria Frey (Diptera, Syrphidae)

“…Th e direct hyperlink for each taxon is given and extra colour pictures of the species can be found in the online collections. New taxonomic names proposed in this paper have been registered with ZooBank (http://www.zoobank.org/) as part of the ZooKeys publication process, and all taxon names have a Life Science Identifi ers number (LSID) following each name (Penev et al 2008).…”

“…Th e aim of this revision is to describe the eight new species of Eosphaerophoria we have recognized, to provide redescriptions of two known species and to present an identifi cation key to all. At the same time, another objective is to present an example of cybertaxonomy (Penev et al 2008) for Syrphidae with numerous web resources.…”

Strategies and guidelines for scholarly publishing of biodiversity data

“…Barcode-of-Life COI (mitochondrial encoded cytochrome oxidase 1) genome data can be published in a form of a Data Paper, as has been announced by the Consortium for the Barcode of Life (CBOL) and illustrated by some published sample papers (Foottit et al 2014, Rougerie et al 2015, Raupach et al 2016, Pohjoismäki et al 2016. CBOL urges participants in major DNA barcoding initiatives to consider submitting "BARCODE Data Release Papers" for publication in academic journals.…”

“…Each dataset can be identified and cited by using a DOI. (Penev et al 2008). Authors publishing nomenclatural novelties in Pensoft journals do not have to deal with registration of these at ZooBank because it is provided in-house, through an automated pipeline ).…”

Data publication and dissemination of interactive keys under the open access model

“…Rather, we discuss and off er a model for open data publishing that allows a wider dissemination and reuse of data and interactive keys, and proper publication credit. Th e model adheres to the principles of open access to biodiversity information proclaimed in the opening editorial paper of ZooKeys (Penev et al 2008), and recently illustrated by publishing occurrence datasets underlying taxonomic revisions Penev et al 2009). …”