Held from 22-26 June 2026, the symposium brought together researchers working across the full spectrum of the field, from Earth Observation and vegetation databases to plant community interactions, seed regeneration, and long-term vegetation dynamics. From opening keynotes to the closing ceremony, the energy, curiosity, and collegiality of our community made this one for the books.
A Packed Scientific Programme
The opening ceremony of the 68th IAVS Annual Symposium.
Pensoft’s stand at the 68th Annual Symposium.
Pensoft’s stand at the 68th IAVS Annual Symposium.
Alongside the core symposium topics, this year’s programme featured seven special sessions on some of the field’s most pressing questions, including bringing different vegetation classification approaches together, plant biogeography and macroecology, scaling laws in vegetation ecology, belowground functional ecology and more.
Moreover, the session themed “Bringing the different vegetation classification approaches together”, sponsored by the IAVS Vegetation Classification Working Group, will be used as a basis for assembling a Special Collection in the open-access journal Vegetation Classification and Survey (VCS).
Two of VCS’ Editors-in-Chief also took the stage this year: Prof. Jürgen Dengler shared a presentation called “Plant invasions in grasslands of Switzerland: invaders, spatial patterns and effects on biodiversity”.
While Dr. Idoia Biurrun presented “The power of scale: uncovering biodiversity patterns and environmental drivers in riparian forests”.
Spotlight On Our Vegetation Science Journals
Speaking of that journal, we’ve been proud collaborators with IAVS since 2020, when we launched Vegetation Classification and Survey (VCS) together as the association’s newest journal. At this year’s symposium, we had the chance to showcase both VCS and our other flagship vegetation title, Vegetation Ecology and Diversity (VED), to the community.
Vegetation Classification and Survey promotional materials from the 68th IAVS Annual Symposium.
Vegetation Classification and Survey (VCS) is an international, peer-reviewed, online journal on plant community ecology, published on behalf of IAVS. It is devoted to vegetation survey and classification at any organisational and spatial scale, welcoming original papers that develop new vegetation typologies as well as applied studies, from vegetation mapping and ecosystem modelling to nature conservation and land-use management.
Five years after launch, VCS is boasting a2025 Scopus CiteScore of 4.7(up from 3.6 the year before), and the journal is now ranked Q1 across all the categories in which it is indexed.
Vegetation Ecology and Diversity promotional materials from the 68th IAVS Annual Symposium.
Vegetation Ecology and Diversity (VED) is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal owned by the Italian Society of Vegetation Science (SISV). It publishes original research covering all aspects of vegetation, from plant communities to landscapes, with a particular focus on plant community ecology and vegetation surveys used to advance ecological models, classify vegetation, map ecosystems, and monitor and conserve European habitats.
A Productive Conversation About VCS’s Future
Pensoft’s team presenting during the Editorial Meeting at the 68th IAVS Annual Symposium.
Editorial meeting at the 68th IAVS Symposium.
Editorial Meeting at IAVS 2026.
For Pensoft, one of the standout moments of the symposium was the VCS editorial meeting, where we had the chance to sit down with members of the journal’s editorial board for a candid and productive discussion about Vegetation Classification and Survey‘s current position and its prospects for future growth. It was a valuable opportunity to hear directly from the people shaping the journal’s direction and to plan the next steps together.
Pensoft’s Head of Marketing, Sales and Events with Susan WiserP resident of IAVS during the 68th Annual Symposium.
During the symposium, Pensoft’s stand was visited by Susan Wiser, President of IAVS, giving our on-site team the chance to discuss our ongoing publishing collaboration.
Celebrating The Next Generation Of Vegetation Scientists
Celia González-López receiving the Young Scientist Award at the 68th IAVS Annual Symposium.
Оne of the many highlights that week was seeing the Young Scientist Award go to Celia González-López, recognising her outstanding early-career contributions to the field. Curiously, González-López is among the co-authors of a recent paper in Natural History Collections and Museomics, describing a workflow for creating 3D-printed insect replicas to make museum collections more accessible for education and outreach.
Looking Ahead
Group photo at the end of the conference. Credit to IAVS.
It was a great pleasure to become part of the IAVS community, and we look forward to an even stronger collaboration and many productive achievements together in the years to come.
Save the date: the 69th IAVS Annual Symposium will be held in Kumasi, Ashanti Region, Ghana, from 12-16 July 2027.
You can follow Pensoft on Bluesky, Facebook, X and LinkedIn to keep up all the latest updates and the events we are attending.
Between 14-19 June, the 4th World Biodiversity Forum (WBF) brought together ~1,100 participants from 70 countries in Davos, Switzerland. This highly regarded event was held under the theme “Leading Transformation Together,” and united science, arts, society, and business across generations and fields to build the leadership and networks essential for effective biodiversity protection and resilience.
The event spanned 10 thematic tracks, covering topics such as biodiversity-ecosystem functioning, legislation and biodiversity, connecting science, society and practice, and many more.
The opening ceremony at the 4th World Biodiversity Forum in Davos, 2026.
Pensoft had the largest exhibition stand at the forum, and throughout the week it saw a steady flow of attendees interested in the company’s work across EU-funded projects and scholarly publishing, with dissemination materials for both on display.
Pensoft’s stand at the World Biodiversity Forum 2026
Pensoft’s stand at WBF 2026.
Pensoft’s stand at WBF 2026.
At the heart of Pensoft’s presence at the forum were four EU Horizon-funded projects working to turn biodiversity science into action on policy: BioAgora, OBSGESSION, B-Cubed, and OneStop.
As an active consortium partner in each, Pensoft draws on decades of experience in science communication, stakeholder engagement, and data management to help move that work forward. The stand also featured two further policy-oriented projects, CO-OP4CBD and RESPIN,
Attendees also had the chance to learn more about the ARPHA Platform, Pensoft’s self-developed end-to-end publishing solution that streamlines the entire editorial workflow – from manuscript submission and peer review through to editing, publication, and archiving – ultimately making research easy for both people and machines to access, cite, and reuse.
Brochures for Pensoft’s journals featuring the beautiful illustrations by Denitsa Peneva.
Attendees were able to speak directly with members of the Pensoft team, who were on hand to walk them through the journals’ scope, submission processes, and the broader vision behind the diamond open-access model – publishing that is free for both authors and readers.
Journals and brochures published by Pensoft featuring illustrations by Denitsa Peneva.
Aleksandra Korcheva presenting at World Biodiversity Forum 2026
Aleksandra Korcheva presenting at World Biodiversity Forum 2026
Desislava Raykova presenting at WBF 2026.
The presentation explored how a shared narrative can drive collaboration and increase impact among policy-oriented projects working at the science-policy interface, showing how such efforts can be brought to life through policy briefs, illustrations, and interactive science-policy events. The talk drew on communication successes from B-Cubed, OBSGESSION, OneStop, BioAgora, RESPIN and CO-OP4CBD.
This year’s forum offered an opportunity to forge strong networks across policy, science, arts, and business – catalysing future action and, in doing so, to leading transformation together. The next World Biodiversity Forum will be in 2028, so stay tuned to learn more from us!
Once again, Pensoft joined the ESP conference as an open-access scholarly publisher, publishing services provider, and a partner at Horizon Europe consortia.
Conference Organising Committee’s Davina Vačkářová thanks the ESP2026EU’s sponsors, exhibitors and partners. Photo courtesy of the ESP.
From 18 to 22 May 2026, the historic city of Prague, Czechia, hosted the 6th European Conference of the Ecosystem Services Partnership (ESP). Set against a backdrop of global turning points, such as biodiversity declines and climate uncertainty, the event served as an important forum for discussing how ecosystem services can cultivate a sustainable and equitable future.
This year’s ESP European conference ran under the theme “Advancing ecosystem services knowledge for achieving a nature- and people-positive Europe.” Photo courtesy of the ESP.
The conference ran under the theme, “Advancing ecosystem services knowledge for achieving a nature- and people-positive Europe.” Attendees focused on how to translate major policy frameworks, including the EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030 and the new Nature Restoration Law, into inclusive and effective action that respects both nature and healthy ecosystems. A major talking point at the event was also the new path ahead of the ESP as it officially becomes an independent international community later in 2026. An election of a new Steering and Executive Committee has already been scheduled for October 2026.
For Pensoft, the ESP 2026 European conference was not only a wonderful occasion to meet once again many long-time partners and friends, including the ESP team itself; editors and loyal authors of our journals; and members of the international project consortia, where we are involved, but also an exciting opportunity to talk with new members of the ESP community and learn about the needs, interests and passions of a new generation of researchers in a rapidly changing scientific field.
Pensoft’s stand at the ESP 2026 Europe conference in Prague, Czechia.
As an open-science publisher well embedded in environmental research through its dozens of journals covering ecology, biodiversity conservation and other related fields, Pensoft Publishers also actively participated in the week’s dialogues, contributing unique perspectives on scientific communication.
The Karolinum: the seat of Prague’s Charles University hosted the pre-conference training sessions, the Opening ceremony and the Welcome reception on Monday. Photo courtesy of the ESP.
The sixth European installment of the conference kicked off on Monday, 18 May, at the Karolinum, the historic seat of Charles University. The energy of a dynamic, highly engaging week was set perfectly by a lavish evening ceremony filled with speeches from renowned local figures, traditional music, and cultural performances. Yet, long before the opening notes played, the Karolinum was already buzzing, having hosted a full slate of pre-conference training sessions throughout the day.
A get-together for the editors and loyal authors of the open-access peer-reviewed One Ecosystem – the Ecology and Sustainability Data Journal took place on Monday at the Karolinum (Prague, Czechia).
Just ahead of the opening ceremony, our team at Pensoft hosted a semi-formal get-together for the editors and loyal authors of the open-access peer-reviewed One Ecosystem – the Ecology and Sustainability Data Journal. This year, the scholarly outlet, launched in collaboration between Pensoft, the ESP and the ESMERALDA Horizon 2020 project, now succeeded by the Horizon Europe-funded project SELINA, celebrated its tenth anniversary.
Chaired by Editor-in-Chief Prof. Benjamin Burkhard and Pensoft’s Head of Journal Development and PR Iva Boyadzhieva, the meeting recapped the best moments from One Ecosystem’s first decade and inspired discussions and ideas for the journal’s future. They also referred to the recently published editorial titled “Ten years of innovation and the way ahead in scientific publishing in One Ecosystem”. The piece reflects on the journal’s journey since its 2016 launch and addresses modern challenges in academic publishing, such as reviewer fatigue and the rapid rise of generative artificial intelligence.
Over the last ten years, One Ecosystem has established itself as a unique journal in the field, thanks to its commitment to openly sharing the research data underpinning each publication. It also offers a versatile range of article types. These include traditional formats (e.g. Research Article, Review Article, Data Paper), innovative options (e.g. Software Description, R Package, Single-media Publication), as well as ones specifically devised for the community, such as Ecosystem Inventory, Ecosystem Service Mapping and Ecosystem Accounting Table.
So far, the journal has published over 200 papers authored by scientists from all continents, accumulating more than 1,500,000 views, 600 citations, and 6,000 online mentions. Today, the journal’s editorial board comprises 50 experts representing diverse geographies and professional fields. One Ecosystem is indexed in over 60 relevant scholarly databases, including Scopus and Web of Science, and holds a Q1 ranking on Scopus. Authors also benefit from a swift turnaround time, with an average of just 2.5 months from submission to acceptance, and articles typically published within three months of submission.
Keynote speeches at the first conference day were delivered by Jakub Kronenberg (University of Lodz), Alessandra La Notte (Senior consultant on natural capital accounting) and Ben Delbaere (LIFE Programme).
On Tuesday, the main schedule opened with inspiring keynote speeches, with Jakub Kronenberg (University of Lodz) examining the transition towards relational values of nature, Alessandra La Notte (Senior consultant on natural capital accounting) sharing two decades of insights into natural capital accounting, and Ben Delbaere (LIFE Programme at ELMEN EEIG) demonstrating how the European LIFE Programme supports a nature- and people-positive society.
Later in the day on Tuesday, Pensoft’s Iva Boyadzhieva, Head of Journal Development and PR, gave a talk on the topic of scholarly communication as part of a session organised and hosted by the Early Career Researchers (ECR) division of the ESP: Young Ecosystem Services Partnership (YESS) and focused on building practical skills and fostering careers for young researchers.
Pensoft’s Iva Boyadzhieva gave a talk titled “Scholarly Communication: Lessons from the publisher’s kitchen” as part of the YESS session “The Early Career Lab: Skills, Identity, and Growth for the Next Generation of Ecosystem Services Researchers”.
Boyadzhieva shared insights into how authors and publishers can work collaboratively to transform scholarly publications into scientific knowledge that is accessible to everyone, everywhere, regardless of professional background or expertise, by drawing on real-life examples and automated publication processes.
One Ecosystem’s Editor-in-Chief Prof. Benjamin Burkhard.
One Ecosystem’s Editor-in-Chief Prof. Benjamin Burkhard at the ESP session “The Changing Landscape of Academic Publishing on Ecosystem Services Research: Editors’ Perspectives.”
The One Ecosystem journal took center stage once again on Friday afternoon during a panel session titled, “The Changing Landscape of Academic Publishing on Ecosystem Services Research: Editors’ Perspectives.” The event brought together the Editors-in-Chief of the three ESP-associated journals for an engaging open discussion about the shifting dynamics of scientific literature. Sharing insights gained from One Ecosystem’s 10-year journey, Burkhard highlighted how authors of research who work closely with their publishers can support knowledge sharing and empower researchers. In the case of One Ecosystem, this collaboration translates to increased visibility, discoverability, reusability and citability of the published work, as well as rapid and hassle-free authoring and peer review experience, all thanks to the automated workflows and human-centric approaches provided through the publishing solutions of the ARPHA publishing platform.
It is worth issuing a reminder that manuscripts submitted in 2026 and accepted for publication in One Ecosystem journal are eligible for a 10% discount on the article publication charge (APC).
Despite excellent on-site organization, many sessions struggled to accommodate the massive turnout.Photo courtesy of the ESP.
Throughout the week, the daily program featured eight parallel session tracks covering a wide range of topics, many closely aligned with ESP Working Groups and National Networks. A dedicated poster session took place on Wednesday afternoon.
One of the field excursions offered ESP 2026 Europe delegates the challenge of an intense, half-day climbing experience in a nature park just outside Prague. Photo courtesy of ESP.
On Thursday, delegates had the opportunity to join one of several field excursions. These ranged from a visit to the unique rewilding reserve located in the former military area in Milovice, to a walk through the Prague Pasture: one of the city’s most remarkable natural sites, and an intense climbing experience just outside Prague.
Zdeněk Ent was awarded Best Poster for his poster, “Experiencing Ecosystem Services: Art, Sensory Engagement and Transformative Learning in Peri-Urban Landscapes”. In a yearly tradition, part of the award includes a free publication in the One Ecosystem journal.
Following an ESP tradition, the three highest-voted posters were recognised during Friday’s closing ceremony, with the first-prize winner receiving a free publication in One Ecosystem, sponsored by Pensoft. This year, the Best Poster Award went to Zdeněk Ent from Prague Institute of Planning and Development for the poster “Experiencing Ecosystem Services: Art, Sensory Engagement and Transformative Learning in Peri-Urban Landscapes”.
During the week, Pensoft’s exhibition stand welcomed dozens of inquiries regarding the publisher’s tailored journal portfolio. Visitors also expressed keen curiosity about the publishing services and self-developed platform available to journal owners, book authors, and conference organizers. Meanwhile, delegates showed notable interest in several titles, both well-established journals like Nature Conservation, NeoBiota, Metabarcoding & Metagenomics and One Ecosystem, and newly launched ones, including Individual-based Ecology and Advances in Pollinator Research.
A lot of Pensoft stand’s visitors were also pleased to see that there was a new player amongst the journals of Pensoft aimed at an emerging field in ecology. The recently rebranded Agricultural and Ecological Modelling (AEM) provides a unique scholarly outlet thanks to its modern approach to publishing by increasing transparency, giving credit to research objects across the entire modelling research lifecycle. This is achieved through publishing specialised article types, such as: Formal Model, Model Testing and Calibration, Model Implementation and Documentation, Data Papers and Software Descriptions. These new publishing formats are designed to keep pace with advances in Modelling research and to make it FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) by enabling scholarly credit for diverse research outputs, often created by different groups of authors. For the time being, AEM remains a Diamond Open Access journal, meaning that it will not charge authors for open-access publication.
AEM also has a focus on open science and reproducibility; it is currently archived in four databases (CLOCKSS, Zenodo, Portico, and Zendy) and indexed in over 40 services, including AGRICOLA, CABI, ChronosHub, CNKI, FAO AGRIS, ResearchGate, and Swisscovery, among others. You can learn more about AEM in the latest editorial.
For those who missed the opportunity to sign up for the journals’ newsletters at the stand, they can do this by filling in their email address from the homepage of the journal they are interested in, or by updating their profiles in the Pensoft system.
Undoubtedly, amongst the greatest highlights at the Pensoft’s stand was the Horizon Europe-funded GREEN TALENT project, where our Project Department leads the project’s Work Package dedicated to Communication, Dissemination and Exploitation.
The conference delegates were intrigued to learn about the international initiative’s aim to build biodiversity and climate capacity at national, trans-European and global levels, with a focus on Widening Countries. The partners at Green Talent: both from academic and non-academic backgrounds, are to contribute expertise, training, and secondments and connect pilot projects to broader EU and global networks. One of the ways the GREEN TALENT consortia does this is by designating four Demonstration Pilots (a.k.a. Demo Hubs) in four Widening countries: Malta, Greece, Cyprus and Bulgaria, where secondees can benefit from real-world experience and foster partnerships across sectors, while working on scalable solutions to climate and biodiversity challenges, acting as collaboration hubs between academic and non-academic sectors.
Members of the Horizon Europe-funded GREEN TALENT project consortium. Photo courtesy of ESP.
Having only kicked off a year ago and set to run for four years in total, there are many new developments and results yet to be announced from GREEN TALENT, including a Capacity-Building Platform that will allow users to browse various opportunities and events meant to help them improve their skills; to get in touch and foster collaboration with other experts; and to learn about best practices from across different institutions and relevant companies. This is why we strongly recommend visiting the GREEN TALENT, signing up for the project’s newsletter and following the initiative on BlueSky and Linkedin.
GREEN TALENT’s project coordinator, Prof. Dr. Mario V. Balzan, presented at a session dedicated to sustainable and inclusive approaches to ecosystem services tailored to the needs of islands.
In addition to the various GREEN TALENT information brochures and promo materials present at the Pensoft stand, people at the conference could spot quite a few of the project’s members around the ESP venue. There were several talks by GREEN TALENT representatives, including the project’s coordinator: Prof. Dr. Mario V. Balzan (Ecostack Innovations). His talk, part of the session “Islands at the forefront of sustainable and inclusive ecosystem services approaches” examined governance and knowledge gaps in pollinator ecosystem services on small islands, where he used Malta as a case study.
The signature journal stickers by Pensoft were once again a common sight at the ESP conference in Prague. Photo courtesy of ESP.
Ultimately, the conference successfully highlighted the tools needed to drive sustainable development across Europe. Through active contributions to both the overarching policy discussions and the targeted skill-building sessions for the next generation of researchers, Pensoft continued its commitment to making environmental science open, transparent, and globally accessible.
Pensoft participated in this year’s 9th European Conference on Tropical Ecology (ECTE 2026) and signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Society for Tropical Ecology (gtö).
Under the theme ‘Species-Ecosystems-People,’ the conference offered a multidisciplinary perspective through 175 oral presentations and 42 posters across 17 thematic sessions, bridging the gap between fundamental ecological research and the sustainable restoration of vital ecosystems.
From the very first day and throughout the week, the Pensoft booth was buzzing with people and activities. Attendees had the chance to explore our diverse portfolio of journals, many of which align seamlessly with the ‘Species-Ecosystems-People’ theme, including:
Editors of existing or yet-to-be-launched Diamond and Gold Open Access journals were also invited to visit the Pensoft stand to learn more about the process and benefits of migrating to or launching a journal on the ARPHA Platform.
Developed by Pensoft to power its own well-renowned scientific journals, ARPHA is now a globally recognised end-to-end solution for innovative, technologically advanced scientific publishing that comes with multiple in-house human-provided services.
Beyond browsing journals and discussing publishing opportunities, visitors engaged with our interactive “Pin Your Favourite Species” board and took promotional materials and stickers featuring the stunning artwork of Pensoft’s in-house scientific illustrator Denitsa Peneva, which proved to be a major visual draw.
A milestone partnership
Dr. Katarina Sam, president of the Society for Tropical Ecology (gtö) at Pensoft’s booth.
On 24th of February, Dr. Katerina Sam (gtö) signed the partnership. This MoU aims to promote research activities and optimise the dissemination of scientific knowledge within the tropical ecology community to ensure that important research findings reach a global audience through robust publication support.
One major highlight of this year’s conference was the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Society for Tropical Ecology (gtö) and Pensoft during the general assembly.
Keynote speakers
Our team on-site was delighted to meet several Pensoft authors who took the stage as keynote speakers to share their expertise.
On February 24th, Prof. Alexandre Antonelli of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew delivered a compelling lecture on “Illuminating Biodiversity Darkspots,” reminding us that over 90% of fungi remain unknown and 45% of plants are at risk of extinction.
Prof. Antonelli during his keynote talk at ECTE 2026.
Prof. Antonelli during his keynote talk at ECTE 2026.
That same day, Dr. Maria Fungomeli of the National Museums of Kenya presented her keynote on “Biodiversity Patterns in the Kenyan Coastal Forests,” highlighting the vital links between coastal ecosystems, culture, and community.
A valued author and reviewer for VCS, Dr. Fungomeli has also contributed to several journals powered by ARPHA Platform, including Pensoft’s Biodiversity Data Journal and ZooKeys, as well as Senckenberg’s Contributions to Entomology.
Dr. Fungomeli during her keynote talk.
Dr. Fungomeli at Pensoft’s booth.
On February 25th, Prof. Rob Marchant of the University of York, an author in our open-access journal African Invertebrates, delivered his talk, “Embedding the Past for Balanced Future Tropical Mountain Social Ecological Systems.”
He explored how shifts in human-nature interactions over the last 6,000 years can help researchers understand the complex transitions from original forest extents to our modern landscapes. See Prof. Marchant’s paper in African Invertebrates here.
Her presentation, “Aromatic delight: Revealing diversity and function of fruit microbiome in seed dispersal,” proposed a fascinating shift in ecological understanding.
During her talk, she suggested the potential that microbes co-evolved with animals and plants to support scent-driven seed dispersal effectively transforming a traditional bipartite interaction (plant-animal seed dispersal) into a tripartite one.
Dr. Chronopoulou received a waiver for a free publication in any open-access journal within the Pensoft portfolio.
After a fantastic week in Passau at ECTE 2026, Pensoft is now looking forward to the 10th European Conference on Tropical Ecology, which will take place in Aarhus, Denmark. There, Pensoft plans to establish further partnerships and continue its support for open science in insect research. See you there!
Berlin (Germany) and Sofia (Bulgaria), 10th February, 2026 – ResearchGate, the professional network for researchers, and Pensoft Publishers, an independent open access publisher and provider of high-quality scholarly publishing services, today announced an expansion of their Journal Home partnership. Building on an earlier collaboration announced in 2023, the list now expands to 40 journals, covering the majority of Pensoft’s and partners’ journals using the publisher’s ARPHA Publishing Platform.
With most of Pensoft’s eligible partner journals choosing to participate, the expansion reflects strong demand for greater exposure and engagement opportunities, particularly among smaller and developing journals in niche research areas. Through Journal Home, partner publishers can reach more relevant audiences, improve discoverability, and connect more effectively with researchers worldwide.
Participating Pensoft journals will also benefit from:
Increased usage and readership, with full-text open access journal content seamlessly surfaced to highly relevant researcher communities across the ResearchGate platform.
Stronger engagement from new and returning authors, connecting partner journals, including specialist and emerging titles, with targeted researchers and potential authors throughout the research lifecycle.
Dedicated Journal Profiles and prominent placement of Pensoft journals to enhance visibility and branding, boosting recognition of partner journals with researcher communities around the world.
Improved author experience, with the automatic addition of published articles to author profiles, clearer insight into reader engagement, and greater opportunities for meaningful collaboration.
“Journal Home allows us to provide our partner journals with improved visibility and stronger connections with global researcher communities. Many of these journals serve highly specialised fields, and Journal Home helps make sure their articles reach the right researchers, who will benefit from them most.”
Lyubomir Penev, CEO and founder of Pensoft Publishers
“We’re pleased to expand our Journal Home partnership with Pensoft to support an increasing number of partner journals. By bringing these journals onto the platform, smaller and emerging titles can expand their reach, attract high-quality submissions, and connect with the most relevant researcher communities at key moments in their research journey.”
Robyn Mugridge, Head of Partnership Development at ResearchGate
For more information about Pensoft Publishers, please visit www.pensoft.net.
About ResearchGate
ResearchGate is the professional network for researchers. Over 25 million researchers use researchgate.net to share and discover research, build their networks, and advance their careers. Based in Berlin, ResearchGate was founded in 2008. Its mission is to connect the world of science and make research open to all.
About Pensoft Publishers
Pensoft is an independent, open-access scholarly publisher and technology provider, best known for its 40+ biodiversity journals, including ZooKeys, Biodiversity Data Journal, PhytoKeys, MycoKeys, One Ecosystem, and Metabarcoding and Metagenomics. Ever since becoming the first to introduce semantic enrichments and hyperlinks within a scientific article in the field of biodiversity in 2010, Pensoft has been working on various tools and workflows designed to facilitate data findability, accessibility, discoverability and interoperability.
The agreement encompasses five key research and medical bodies, and allows corresponding authors to publish their findings without individual Article Processing Charges.
Pensoft and the University of Zurichhave signed a comprehensive Open Access (OA) agreement, starting a partnership that enables researchers at participating institutions to publish their findings in Pensoft’s peer-reviewed journals without incurring individual Article Processing Charges (APCs).
Under this new framework, publishing costs for corresponding authors affiliated with the respective institutions are 100% covered by a centralised institutional deposit secured by the University of Zurich. By removing financial barriers, the agreement encourages scientists to disseminate their work to both the academic community and the wider public, making research immediately and freely available upon publication.
This initiative ensures that research is shared under open licences in strict accordance with the FAIR principles—making data Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable.
“We are excited to start this partnership with the University of Zurich and sign an agreement that reflects our strong commitment to inclusive and equitable open science. By supporting researcher-driven publishing, we continue to foster a sustainable environment for high-impact scientific communication.”
Prof. Lyubomir Penev, CEO of Pensoft
“We are pleased to extend our portfolio of gold open access journals, in which our researchers can publish their findings without paying individual APCs. We thereby strengthen our commitment to open research information.”
University Library Zurich
Are you affiliated with a research institution operating with OA agreements? Is your institution interested in helping resident researchers navigate the complex processes underpinning academic publishing and knowledge sharing? Reach out to <publishing@pensoft.net> to discuss a potential collaboration.
The agreement covers almost 100 institutions, including Karolinska Institutet, Lund University, Uppsala University, and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
Pensoft and the Bibsam Consortium, operated by the National Library of Sweden, are pleased to announce the signing of a comprehensive Open Access (OA) agreement, marking a significant step in the transition towards a more transparent and open scholarly publishing landscape in Sweden.
Thanks to this move, researchers at participating institutions will be able to publish their findings in 65 journals published by Pensoft or using its advanced publishing platform ARPHA, including flagship titles such as ZooKeys, PhytoKeys, Biodiversity Data Journal, NeoBiota and IMA Fungus, without incurring individual article processing charges (APCs).
All authors affiliated with participating institutions can benefit from this agreement, with publishing costs 100% covered by an institutional deposit secured by the National Library of Sweden.
Unlike subscription-based systems, an OA framework ensures that scientific findings are immediately and freely available to the global community, supporting the global shift toward accessible science and adhering to the FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable).
OA agreements like this one reduce the financial burden on scientists and encourage them to share their work with both academia and the wider public, ultimately lowering barriers to sharing knowledge in a time when scientific input is key to resolving global challenges.
“We are excited to start this partnership with Bisbam and sign an agreement that reflects our strong commitment to open science. By supporting researcher-driven publishing, we continue to foster a sustainable environment for high-impact scientific communication.”
Prof. Lyubomir Penev, CEO of Pensoft
“We are delighted to announce the addition of Pensoft Publishers to our portfolio of nationally funded agreements for 2026. This represents an important step towards achieving full open access to scientific publications in Sweden.”
Niklas Willén, License Manager at Bibsam Consortium and National Library of Sweden
Are you affiliated with a research institution operating with OA agreements? Is your institution interested in helping resident researchers navigate the complex processes underpinning academic publishing and knowledge sharing? Reach out to <publishing@pensoft.net> to discuss a potential collaboration.
The grand opening ceremony of the IUCN World Conservation Congress 2025.
Held from the 9th to 15th of September 2025, the event brought together over 10,000 participants from 189 countries under five central themes: Scaling Up Resilient Conservation Action; Reducing Climate Overshoot Risks; Delivering on Equity; Transitioning to Nature-Positive Economies and Societies; and Disruptive Innovation and Leadership for Conservation.
Represented by Prof Lyubomir Penev (Founder and CEO), Maria Kolesnikova (Marketing and Sales Manager), and Denitsa Peneva (Scientific Illustrator), Pensoft took part in the Congress with a dedicated booth, engaging attendees in conversation about how open science, innovative publishing, and collaborative research can drive conservation.
Denitsa Peneva (left) and Maria Kolesnikova (right) representing Pensoft at the event.
Pensoft’s exhibit placed a strong emphasis on restoration and ecological research, showcasing the publisher’s active role in international initiatives supporting biodiversity recovery and sustainable ecosystem management. Numerous illustrated materials were available for attendees to browse through and take home.
A key feature of the booth was Pensoft’s participation in Horizon 2020 projects such as REST-COAST, which aims to restore and safeguard coastal ecosystems through innovative, large-scale nature-based solutions. Alongside the company’s project involvement, visitors explored Pensoft’s diverse range of open-access journals, including Nature Conservation, One Ecosystem, Estuarine Management and Technologies, NeoBiota, and the newly launched Individual-based Ecology.
A selection of Pensoft’s materials at the congress.
Maja Vasilijevic opening the session, Bridging Science and Policy: European Action for Biodiversity and Climate Goals..
Keynote speaker Musonda Mumba at Advancing Large Scale Restoration Programmes Through Sharing Insights of EU Funded Nature Restoration Projects.
A platform for lasting impact
One of the most anticipated events on the calendar, the IUCN Congress was a fantastic event that looked to the future of collaborative global conservation. For Pensoft, participation in Abu Dhabi reaffirmed its mission to foster open, accessible, and data-driven knowledge to support efforts to protect and restore our planet’s ecosystems.
Letsema Adontsi, Minister of Environment and Forestry, Lesotho.
Visitors at the Pensoft booth.
Taxonomist Korsh Ararat.
Kostas Triantis, author of several articles in Frontiers of Biogeography.
Nature Conservation author Kristijn Swinnen.
Sana Taktak, part of REST-COAST project.
IMA Fungus author Jonathan Cazabonne..
Nature Conservation author Neil D’Cruze.
Elisa Furlan and Elena Alegri from REST-COAST.
Sofia Paredes Maury and Claudia Garcia Barrios from the Guatemalan Association of the Private Nature Reserves.
Maggie Kilian, botanist and Director of Engaging Heritage Consulting.
Guido Berguido, who recently had a new species named ater him in PhytoKeys.
Srijana Joshi Rijal and Bandana Shakya from GBIF Nepal, with Pensoft’s Maria Kolesnikova.
Julia Sigwart, Senckenberg Research Institute. with Prof Lyubomir Penev.
BDJ author Rachel Haderle.
NeoBiota author Ana Nunes.
Pensoft Founder and CEO Prof Lyubomir Penev.
Matthieu Lapinski and Mathilde Michaud from REST-COAST.
The conversations, collaborations, and commitments shared at IUCN 2025 will continue to shape the publisher’s approach to science communication and innovation going forward.
Relive highlights of the conference on Bluesky and LinkedIn using the hashtag #IUCNcongress.
Events like these continue to be of great significance for Pensoft as it works to innovate the landscape of academic data management and scientific outreach.
Effective biodiversity conservation at the global level requires consolidated, streamlined and open scientific data to support it. This was the tenet at the heart of Living Data 2025, a conference unprecedented in its scale and ambition to foster a transcontinental dialogue on the past, present and future of research into the biosphere.
The event took place between 21 and 24 October in Bogotá, Colombia, and was made possible via an extensive collaboration between the biodiversity networks GBIF, TDWG, OBIS and GEO BON, with support from the Humboldt Institute.
With an audience spanning the globe and a four-day agenda reflecting the diversity of innovations and challenges to be addressed in this context, the scene was set for an inclusive and productive dialogue on biodiversity data.
For its part, Pensoft seized the opportunity to join this crucial forum. Represented by founder and CEO Prof. Lyubomir Penev, CTO Teodor Georgiev and Science Communication Expert Peter Bozakov, the open-access scholarly publisher and technology provider became an active participant in the programme as:
Pensoft’s Chief Technology Officer Teodor Georgiev, Science Communication Expert Peter Bozakov, and founder and Chief Executive Officer Prof. Lyubomir Penev
Еxhibitor on the conference floor
Pensoft’s representatives were front and centre at the event by virtue of a dedicated booth showcasing the company’s work in academic publishing and science communication, as well as FAIR biodiversity data innovation. A wide array of materials was available for researchers to browse through, reflecting a variety of scientific subjects and endeavours. The ensuing conversations reflected a shared commitment to a more ambitious biodiversity research landscape today and tomorrow, as the parties charted potential avenues for cooperation.
Pensoft’s stand at Living Data 2025.
Sponsor of the Best Student Presentation award
Unwavering in its support for young scientists and early-career researchers, Pensoft also left a mark with its sponsorship of the most critically acclaimed student oral talk delivered at Living Data 2025. During the conference’s closing ceremony, Prof. Lyubomir Penev delivered the award to Mélisande Teng for her presentation, titled “A machine learning approach to species distribution modelling using remote sensing and citizen science data“. This distinction entitles her to a free publication in one of the journals in Pensoft’s extensive and exclusively open-access portfolio.
Prof. Penev presenting the Best Student Presentation award
Co-organiser of a symposium
Last but not least, Pensoft drew on its experience across its multiple expertises to address some of the topical pillars of the event in its own symposium. The publisher and technology provider was joined in this effort by long-standing partners from LifeWatch ERIC (represented by its CEO Christos Arvanitidis) and the Naturalis Biodiversity Centre (represented by Niels Raes).
Together, they delivered two sessions sharing the title “Long Live Biodiversity Data: Knowledge Transfer and Continuity across Research Projects”. In that sense, the aim was to emphasise the importance of science results being repurposed and reused, finding new life beyond the endeavours that gave rise to them. The role of open data, targeted communication and clearly defined pathways to impact in decision-making was singled out as an essential aspect on the road to such long-lived outputs.
Both sessions attracted the attention of attendees, leading to proactive engagement with the topics in focus.
Together with a number of other fellow projects, they provided inspiring testaments to the potential of results to grow beyond the vision they first emerged out of. Overall, the symposium brought together 16 abstracts with over 90 contributing authors, more than 20 initiatives and more than 30 affiliated institutions and organisations. The recordings of Session #1 and Session #2 are already available on YouTube.
Later this year, extended abstracts presented throughout the Living Data 2025 conference will be published in the open-access journal Biodiversity Information Standards and Science (BISS): the official scholarly outlet of TDWG launched in 2017 in partnership with long-term collaborator Pensoft. Initiated by a dedicated call from TDWG, this year’s extended abstracts collection will provide further insight into the perspectives, opportunities and issues discussed in the respective showcases.
All in all, the conference was a noteworthy milestone for the international biodiversity community – an exchange of views, results and opportunities at a broad geographical and multidisciplinary scale that is truly oriented towards tangible outcomes for the planet’s future. As ever, formats like these continue to be of great significance for Pensoft as it works to innovate the landscape of academic data management and scientific outreach across and beyond borders.
Relive highlights of the conference on Bluesky and LinkedIn using the hashtag #LivingData2025.
Did you know that three years ago Pensoft hosted the TDWG annual conference? Check out the highlights on our blog!
In October 2025, four major institutions in the biodiversity research landscape: TDWG, GBIF, OBIS and GEO BON, will come together as the organisers of the Living Data 2025 conference.
The event is set to be among one of the most crucial international gatherings of the year for experts and stakeholders in the field of biodiversity data. Set to take place in the Colombian capital of Bogotá between 21st and 24th, Living Data 2025 will centre around four core themes:
Open data
Data integration
Biodiversity data application
Community engagement and capacity-building
As an academic publisher with experience and commitment to all these thematic areas, Pensoft will participate in the event in the capacity of an exhibitor and an award sponsor, as well as a symposium host.
The conference delegates will have the chance to learn more about the publisher, its exclusively open-access scholarly portfolio and participation at various international scientific projects when they visit the company’s branded stand.
During the event, the scientific publisher and technology provider will also present the Pensoft Award for the Best Student Oral Presentation, which grants the winner a free publication in an open-access, peer-reviewed journal from our portfolio.
Crucially, Pensoft’s involvement in the Living Data 2025 programme also includes a dedicated four-hour session titled “Long Live Biodiversity Data: Knowledge Transfer and Continuity across Research Projects”.
The symposium will be jointly co-organised by Pensoft, LifeWatch ERIC and the Naturalis Biodiversity Centre. As the title suggests, the session will focus on the longevity of scientific outputs as they are generated, shared and re-used across disciplines, organisations and initiatives. In this context, tools, information hubs and workflows enabling exchanges that truly consolidate the global biodiversity data space over time will be showcased.
In a broader sense, the session will also seek to demonstrate how targeted communication can help transform science results into actionable knowledge by raising awareness among agenda-setters. This will speak to the potential of a multi-level approach to information sharing to bridge the gap between science and policy in relation to increasingly ambitious global environmental objectives.
Multiple projects affiliated with Pensoft will be represented in these deliberations, in order to share a diverse array of relevant insights:
22 October (Wednesday): 10:45 AM – 12:45 PM (UTC/GMT-5)
23 October (Thursday): 10:45 AM to 12:45 PM (UTC/GMT-5)
You can find out more about Living Data, including the details on registering for an in-person or virtual attendance, on the conference’s website. Our session is listed on this page under ID number 6788879.
As an additional note, the organisers of the conference have launched a call for extended abstracts for all speakers at Living Data 2025 that will remain open until 1st October 2025. The participants who opt to publish their conference abstracts in the Biodiversity Information Science and Standards (BISS) journal will enjoy permanent and far-reaching accessibility and discoverability for their conference contributions.
The TDWG network, who launched BISS as their official scholarly outlet in 2017 in collaboration with long-time partner Pensoft, have posted a list of the advantages for submitting an extended abstract, even though they have already had their abstracts accepted by the Living Data 2025 organisers. Amongst the reaslons are many perks typically associated with a conventional research article, such as DOI registration, indexation at dozens of scientific databases, embedded media, tables and supplementary materials, and usage metrics.
