Page:Principles for creating a single authoritative list of the world’s species.pdf/6

PLOS BIOLOGY communities, in which individuals earn greater influence by contributing in an appropriate and cooperative manner, as happens with Wikispecies and WoRMS. For any aggregation of taxonomies, there must be rules about who decides which taxonomies are accepted if there are alternative treatments (often, there are not), how such decisions are reached, and how debates are resolved. This will require documenting the opinions of recognised experts, any differences of opinion, and the processes used to reconcile alternative views. To be fully transparent, the list itself must be fully open access, archived, and with a conventional citation that indicates who was responsible for its editing and where it was published, as exemplified by the CoL.

4. The governance of validated lists of species is separate from the governance of the names of taxa

In discussing list governance, it is important to distinguish the development of a list of accepted species from taxonomic nomenclature. Careful governance of names is a necessary underpinning of the governance of a unified list of taxa. The nomenclatural rules that govern the naming of organisms (the International Codes of Nomenclature) have been developed, managed, and finessed for over a century and so far have proven to be resilient, flexible, and fit for purpose to ensure the orderly naming of taxa. The Codes (e.g., International Code of Nomenclature of Prokaryotes, International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants) and associated resources (e.g., ZooBank, Index Fungorum, MycoBank, International Plant Names Index) continue to be actively maintained by globally recognised governance structures. These well-developed governance arrangements for nomenclature can serve as models for what can be achieved for the governance of a unified list. However, these are separate activities and must be kept separate for the integrity of both. Although the governance of nomenclature should not interfere with the governance of a unified and authoritative reference list of species (and vice versa), lists in both domains should be technically compatible and, whenever possible, tightly integrated.

5. Governance of lists of accepted species must not constrain academic freedom

Like all other sciences, taxonomy requires freedom of research and expression to remain vital and make progress. Concerns have been expressed that governance of a single unified list of accepted species may reduce the academic freedom of taxonomists (e.g., ). In our context, the governance process must aim to provide quality assurance, rigor, standardisation, and transparency and ensure that multiple views are considered when these are available. Within this framework, the freedom of taxonomists must remain unconstrained because the governance mechanisms do not apply to taxonomic research, but rather, to the way in which the results of taxonomic research are aggregated. In fact, it is anticipated that transparent governance of a unified global list will enhance the scientific reputation of taxonomy by showcasing the strengths and merits of both the decision-making process and the underlying taxonomic research on which the list is based.

6. The set of criteria considered sufficient to recognise species boundaries may appropriately vary between different taxonomic groups but should be consistent when possible

There is no universally accepted definition of a species. Whilst this may be considered a serious problem for taxonomy given the wide range of definitions that can legitimately be applied,