Call for contributors

Goal:

This blog aims to transmit the science and the passion to bridge what could be called the “taxonomic disconnect”: from outside the field, people see the products of taxonomy, and are generally interested (as the effects can seen in conservation, biodiversity) or use the products (databases). But they do not know how this data is produced, and do not link it to the producers: they do not know we exist...

So the goal is to communicate enthusiasm about taxonomy to the general public, the on-taxonomist scientific community, and the students, and to foster interest in general in what we do.

Who can contribute ?

Taxonomists (students, researchers, technical staff), starting in the EDIT framework, but contributions from other countries are welcome. All submissions are voluntary.

Who is it aimed at ?

  • School and highschool teachers and pupils/students

  • Students

  • Interested members from the general public

  • Non-taxonomist scientific community (users of taxonomy and others). EDIT especially wants to encourage the integration of taxonomists in wider scientific teams, including conservation scientists, ecologists etc.

What subjects ?

  • What is your research, why is it interesting ?

  • Explain a technology, a technique (sampling, conservation, barcoding, description…)

  • Collection-related entries (why use collections, various types of collections, specific examples…)

  • Blogging about peer-reviewed research : explain why a given paper is new, interesting…

  • Tales from the field

  • Tales from the past (historical exploration missions, how sampling has evolved…)

  • Review of what is known about a taxonomic group…

  • Links to interesting new web resources (and what you can do with them) : taxonomic keys, resources about a taxon...

  • Outreach about the outreach: example of local communication and teaching projects to provide ideas for teachers

  • ....



How does it work ?


Text style/approach:

The more easily it can be understood by lay persons, the better. However, more precise subjects can be studied, as long as you explain early on that some background knowledge will be necessary to follow the text, and ideally link to somewhere this background knowledge can be obtained.

Text format:

  • 7-8 paragraphs per entry can be enough, but more is possible.

  • Contributions in the language of the researcher. If it is not in English, an English translation should also be provided. This ensures that the whole community can access all contributions, but they are also easily usable by people from the country of origin of the author.

  • Submissions as frequent as wanted by the contributor : it can be a one shot as well as a recurrent feature.

  • The site is provided with a “taxonomic index”, equivalent to a list of keywords. The author can link as many of these keywords as s/he deems necessary. The subject, as well as the “level” of mastery needed from the reader, can be attached to the text as such keywords.

Text guidelines

  • As would be the case in any scientific publication, the authors are expected to follow the scientific standards of objectivity and respect for the original source of the data. In the same way, they are expected to either possess or clearly label the requisite copyrights for any graphics or data they reproduce.

  • Following best practice in nomenclature is best, although simplified scientific names are acceptable.

  • Text inappropriate for a scientific vulgarisation site (e.g. with offensive content, derogatory or libellous statements or outright political positions) will not be published.

Text validation

  • When you submit text, it will become part of the website, although it is yet unpublished (i.e., not visible to non-members). An editor goes through the text to check the compliance with the guidelines. Once that is done, the text becomes published and can be seen by anyone who visits the website.


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Scratchpads developed and conceived by (alphabetical): Ed Baker, Katherine Bouton Alice Heaton Dimitris Koureas, Laurence Livermore, Dave Roberts, Simon Rycroft, Ben Scott, Vince Smith