The beta release of an innovative collaborative stand-alone authoring tool transforms manuscript preparation with semantic enrichment and real-time collaboration capabilities.
Scholarly publisher and technology provider Pensoft Publishers announces the beta launch of ORPHO, a revolutionary online platform designed to streamline collaborative scientific writing and produce AI-ready, future-proof scholarly literature.
ORPHO presents a significant advancement in scholarly publishing technology, combining intuitive writing features with sophisticated semantic enrichment capabilities. The new platform builds upon Pensoft’s fifteen years of experience as a developer of semantic publishing infrastructure.
Key Features
Within a shared online workspace, researchers can start with built-in customisable templates, create their own or import an existing file. They can then team up with collaborators in real time using track changes, role-based user rights, inline comments, and document-level chat. More significantly, ORPHO automatically structures scientific content according to international publishing standards, making research outputs findable, discoverable, interoperable and reusable (FAIR) once published.
Unlike its predecessor, the ARPHA Writing Tool, ORPHO is available as a standalone real-time collaborative workspace decoupled from journals hosted on Pensoft’s ARPHA Publishing Platform. Once a manuscript is ready, authors receive AI-FAIR machine-readable content that can be formatted to meet multiple journal requirements at the click of a button.
The platform’s adaptability to domain-specific workflows is currently being piloted in biodiversity science. ORPHO integrates seamlessly with leading biodiversity data aggregators, including the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) and PlutoF, via import and export facilities for structured data, making ORPHO particularly valuable for researchers handling taxonomic, ecological and biodiversity data.
ORPHO: A new intelligent workspace for scientific writing.
Why ORPHO?
The name draws inspiration from multiple sources which reflect the tool’s philosophy and heritage. Named after Orphium: a unique plant genus endemic to South Africa whose sole species (Orphium frutescens) is known as the sea rose, ORPHO reflects the platform’s distinctive nature, heritage, and core philosophy.
It also evokes Orpheus, the legendary musician of ancient Thrace whose home region, the Rhodopi Mountains, lies in present-day Bulgaria, where ORPHO’s developer, Pensoft, is headquartered. The name thus honours the tool’s origins whilst embodying the exceptional creative performance it enables.
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Prof. Dr. Lyubomir Penev, founder and CEO of Pensoft, comments:
“We are well aware that researchers today face an overwhelming list of formatting requirements and technical demands in an AI-driven landscape. It is true that rapid technological advancement presents both immense opportunities and mounting complexities for researchers.
We built ORPHO to remove that friction by offering an intuitive, collaborative workspace that lets scientists focus on their research. As a scientific publisher, our mission is to make scholarly publishing a seamless, rewarding experience fit for the modern age.”
The beta release invites researchers, institutions and publishing platforms to trial ORPHO and provide feedback. Access is available at orpho.net.
Pensoft attended the 15th European Conference on Ecological Restoration (SERE2026) in Brest, France, where it presented a selection of EU-funded projects and scientific journals.
From 24 to 28 August 2026, Pensoft joined around 600 researchers and professionals at the 15th European Conference on Ecological Restoration (SERE2026) in Brest, France, bringing together the ecological restoration community to share knowledge, strengthen collaborations and explore new approaches to restoring ecosystems across Europe.
Hosted by the University of Brest in collaboration with the French Ecological Restoration Network (REVER) and the European Chapter of the Society for Ecological Restoration (SER-Europe), SERE2026 provided a vibrant meeting point for researchers, practitioners and policymakers working across ecological restoration. The conference covered a broad range of topics, including wetlands, coastal and marine ecosystems, ecological networks and the implementation of European restoration policies.
Pensoft was there with a selection of EU-funded projects and open-access journals, offering conference participants the chance to discover new research, explore project results and learn more about opportunities to publish and share their work.
Pensoft at SERE 2026.
A showcase of Pensoft projects
The Pensoft team presented materials from a diverse group of EU-funded projects, reflecting the wide range of environmental research and collaboration supported through the Pensoft network.
The projects cover a broad spectrum of topics, from biodiversity and ecosystem restoration to forest resilience, environmental governance, ecosystem monitoring and nature conservation. Their presence at SERE2026 offered researchers an opportunity to discover ongoing initiatives and see how scientific knowledge is being translated into practical approaches for addressing environmental challenges.
The project materials attracted interest throughout the conference, with participants stopping by to learn more about individual initiatives and explore their latest activities and results.
From ecological restoration to open-access publishing
Alongside the projects, Pensoft presented a selection of its journals and publishing platforms.
The broad selection reflected the interdisciplinary nature of ecological restoration itself. Researchers working on biodiversity, ecosystems, conservation, environmental modelling, species diversity and regeneration could all find publication venues relevant to their work.
There was considerable interest in the journals throughout the conference, with discussions ranging from publishing research articles and project outputs to discovering new ways of sharing scientific data, ideas and results with the wider research community.
Celebrating excellent science
Scientific exchange was at the heart of SERE2026, and participants also had the opportunity to recognise some of the strongest contributions presented during the conference.
Several awards were presented based on votes from conference participants, highlighting outstanding talks and presentations.
Pensoft was pleased to contribute to these celebrations with the Best Talk Award. The award recognises an exceptional conference presentation and comes with a special prize: a free publication in a Pensoft journal.
This time around, the award went to Chloé Dagnelie of Gembloux AgrobioTech for her presentation: “Spontaneous succession under soil and landscape constraints: dispersal filtering and urban species pools shape brownfield true bugs communities”
By supporting awards such as this, Pensoft aims to encourage clear, engaging and impactful scientific communication while helping researchers share their work through open-access publishing.
Connecting research, restoration and communication
SERE2026 offered an inspiring setting for conversations about the future of ecological restoration and the role of research in supporting healthier and more resilient ecosystems.
For Pensoft, the conference was also an opportunity to bring together several strands of its work: supporting EU-funded research projects, publishing scientific knowledge through open-access journals and creating opportunities for researchers to connect, communicate and collaborate.
The strong interest in both the projects and journals showcased in Brest was a reminder of the value of bringing science and scientific communication together in one place.
As Europe moves towards ambitious restoration goals, strengthening the connections between research, practice, policy and communication will be essential. Events such as SERE2026 provide an important space for these connections to grow.
Pensoft was delighted to be part of the ecological restoration community in Brest and looks forward to continuing these conversations at future events.
Between 26-31 July, Pensoft Publishers joined more than 2,600 ecologists, researchers, and conservation professionals in Salt Lake City for the 111th Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America (ESA2026).
Pensoft Publishers joined more than 2,600 ecologists, researchers, and conservation professionals in Salt Lake City for the 111th Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America (ESA2026) between 26-31 July.
This year’s conference theme, “Ecology in an Era of Uncertainty,” could not have felt more timely. Uncertainty is nothing new to ecological research – it’s built into measurements, mechanisms, and predictions.
But new sources of uncertainty are now reshaping the field: the rise of artificial intelligence, post-pandemic shifts in career development, and growing instability in research funding. Throughout the week, the ESA community came together not only to share cutting-edge ecological research, but also to think collectively about how to navigate these emerging challenges – trading multidisciplinary, creative solutions to keep the field resilient in the face of what’s next.
The Opening Session
The Grand Ballroom was packed for the opening session, where Conference Chairs Daniel Stover and Andrea Swei welcomed attendees. Despite a challenging year for funding and travel, the 111th annual meeting of ESA 2026 hosted 2,600 registered attendees 330 sessions and 884 posters,
The opening address was delivered by Diane Pitaki, Chief Scientist and Vice President for Science at the National Wildlife Federation, who spoke about ecology standing at a crossroads amid the biodiversity crisis and shifting political headwinds, urging the community to actively “defend conservation science.”
Among the meeting’s standout moments was the plenary from Tanya Berger-Wolf, Professor of Computer Science and Ecology at Ohio State University and a leading figure in AI for ecology and biodiversity.
Notably, Berger-Wolf will be a keynote speaker at TDWG 2026 in Oslo (20-25 September) – where Pensoft Publisherswill once again be exhibiting, so stay tuned for future updates.
Situated right at the entrance of the exhibition hall, Pensoft’s booth revelled in attention from attendees throughout the week.
Pensoft’s team at ESA 2026 in Salt Palace Convention Center.
Pensoft’s busy stand at the 111th Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America.
Pensoft’s busy stand at the 111th Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America.
The beautiful Denitsa Peneva’s illustrations at ESA 2026.
A particular highlight was our trio of diamond open-access journals – free to publish in and free to read – that drew considerable interest from attendees:
Individual-Based Ecology promotes a distinctive individual-based perspective on ecology, aiming to bridge individual behaviour and broader ecological patterns.
Advances in Pollinator Research is designed as an innovative platform for the full spectrum of pollinator science, from pollination ecology and pollinator-plant interactions to molecular ecology, conservation, and more.
Agricultural and Environmental Modelling (AEM), meanwhile, offers an innovative approach to publishing, dedicated to advancing both the science and practice of modelling across agriculture, food systems, natural resources, and environmental sciences.
Brochure of the diamond open-access Individual Based Ecology Journal.
Close up photo of the Advances in Pollinator Research brochure at ESA 2026.
Nicole Nogoy, managing editor of Agricultural and Environmental Modelling at ESA 2026.
Attendees curious about AEM had the chance to speak directly with its Managing Editor, Nicole Nogoy, who was on site throughout the conference to discuss publishing opportunities and promote the journal’s search for Subject Editors.
We also introduced attendees to our newest addition, the diamond open-accessJournal of Regeneration. For those interested in sharing early-stage research or project outcomes, Research Ideas and Outcomes (RIO) offered another avenue worth exploring, publishing everything from project proposals and data to policy briefs and null results.
Those looking for a new publisher or white-label solutions had the opportunity to exploreARPHA, Pensoft’s own publishing platform, which supports the full journey from manuscript writing and peer review to publication, dissemination, and archiving – all in one seamless workflow.
Combined brochure of EU-Funded project in which Pensoft participates.
Beyond the journals and publishing solutions, the team took the opportunity to spotlight some of Pensoft’s ongoing EU-funded projects, including our pollination initiatives and our continued work with eLTER.
This time around, our team created “Pensoft Species Quiz,” challenging booth visitors to identify the correct Latin name for a series of species beautifully illustrated by Denitsa Peneva. Being more than just a fun activity, it became a natural conversation starter – leading into deeper discussions about Pensoft’s journals, services, and potential collaborations with attendees.
Some of the winners from our quiz at ESA 2026.
Some of the winners from our quiz at ESA 2026.
Happy winners from our interactive quiz game at ESA 2026.
Attendees interacting with our fun quiz.
The Agricultural and Environmental Modelling Poster Award
AEM’s Managing Editor – Nicole Nogoy ran a poster competition at the meeting, and it turned out to be one of the highlights of our week. Three researchers stood out:
Julian Resasco (University of Colorado, Boulder) took home the prize for overall best presentation with a hand-drawn comic-book poster on climate change effects on Basque country thistles;
Gwendolyn Lloyd (Indiana University) impressed us with her research on arthropods and mites in agricultural soils;
Emily Redding (Fort Hays State University, KS) joined in with a poster on fire suppression’s effects on Juniper-dependent bird species, having been inspired to bring modelling into her own research.
We also took part in a raffle organised by ESA, to which each exhibitor contributed a prize.
Kanchana Balasubramanian one of the winners of Pensoft Publishers’ raffle prizes at ESA2026.
Elizabeth Afkhami Searcy received our book “Mapping Ecosystem Services” as part of the Ecological Society of America’s conference raffle.
ESA2026 was a strong reminder of just how much energy – and uncertainty – is currently shaping the ecology community. Between thought-provoking plenaries on AI and conservation science, engaging conversations sparked by our species quiz, and the enthusiasm we saw around the AEM poster competition, it was a week full of meaningful connections for Pensoft.
We’re already looking forward to the next time, and we hope you’re looking forward to it, too!
Between 6-10 July, more than 850 participants from 25 countries gathered in Leiden, the Netherlands, for the 8th European Congress of Conservation Biology (ECCB) 2026.
The congress was organised by the Society for Conservation Biology (SCB) and hosted at Leiden University (FWN/CML), in partnership with Hortus botanicus, Wageningen University & Research (WUR), and NIOO-KNAW, with support from the Leiden Biodiversity Network.
Opening ceremony of ECCB 2026
Head of PR and Journal Development representing Pensoft at ECCB 2026.
Exhibitor and poster hall at ECCB 2026.
Effective Biodiversity Conservation
Under the theme “Effective Biodiversity Conservation,” the congress brought together researchers, policymakers, and practitioners to explore how biodiversity can be safeguarded over the long term. Its core message was that effective conservation cannot rest on the efforts of conservationists alone. It requires coordinated, multidisciplinary, science-based action across society.
Opening ceremony of ECCB 2026.
Prof. Dr. Geert de Snoo and his “1% of GDP for safeguarding nature!” presentation
Dr. Laura Bosco, President of SCB Europe, opened the congress and set the scene for the week ahead. Prof. Dr. Geert de Snoo, one of the congress’s co-organisers, followed with the presentation: “1% of GDP for safeguarding nature!” – a call to set aside 1% of global GDP to help close the biodiversity funding gap, given that half of the world’s GDP depends on natural ecosystem services, and to protect 30% of the Earth’s land and oceans by 2030.
From there, the programme ran packed with symposia, roundtables, and workshops covering policymaking and effectiveness, conservation planning, new methods for measuring and quantifying biodiversity, eDNA for conservation, citizen science, and remote sensing, alongside a poster session held each day.
Pensoft at he 8th European Congress of Conservation Biology (ECCB) 2026.
Our stand stood out with professionally designed booth walls and enjoyed a strong flow of visitors throughout the congress. Delegates met Pensoft’s Head of Journal Development and PR, Iva Boyadzhieva, who answered questions about publishing opportunities and scholarly resources, including Advanced Books, Pensoft’s platform for publishing open-access monographs, edited volumes, and other book-length scholarly works.
People spinning Pensoft’s Fortune Wheel to win prizes.
People signing up to Pensoft’s newsletter and spinning the wheel.
For the first time, our booth also ran an interactive game, where visitors could spin a wheel to win some prizes. The game rules were simple: visitors filled out a subscription form for one or more journals, spun a wheel featuring the names of journals relevant to the congress, and won a sticker matching the journal they landed on.
Visitor at Pensoft’s booth at the 8th European Congress of Conservation Biology, interacting with the wheel.
Curiously, the illustrations on the vivid stickers are not coincidental: each features a scientific illustration by Denitsa Peneva of a species discussed in a publication from across Pensoft’s scholarly portfolio – a nod to the authors who chose one of our journals to share their research.
Individual-Based Ecology and Agricultural and Environmental Modelling on focus at ECCB 2026.
A particular highlight was our trio of diamond open-access journals, free to publish in and free to read, that drew considerable interest from attendees:
Individual-Based Ecologypromotes a distinctive individual-based perspective on ecology, aiming to bridge individual behaviour and broader ecological patterns.
Advances in Pollinator Research covers the full spectrum of pollinator science, from pollination ecology to conservation, designed as an innovative platform for the full spectrum of pollinator science, from pollination ecology and pollinator-plant interactions to molecular ecology, conservation and more.
Agricultural and Environmental Modelling, meanwhile, offers an innovative approach to publishing, dedicated to advancing both the science and practice of modelling across Agriculture, Food Systems, Natural Resources, and Environmental Sciences.
Familiar faces at the stand
Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Nature Conservation, Dr. Annegret Grimm-Seyfarth, at Pensoft’s booth at ECCB 2026.
Prof. Davy McCracken, Subject Editor at Nature Conservation.
Dr. Niels Raes, project coordinator of Biodiversity Meets Data at ECCB 2026.
Martina Viti and Annika Zuleger, authors that have published across Pensoft’s journal at ECCB 2026.
Our booth was visited by Nature Conservation’s Deputy Editor-in-Chief Annegret Grimm-Seyfarth. Earlier that week, she also co-organised a symposium, “How can Wildlife Detection Dogs contribute to effective biodiversity conservation in Europe?” As well as one of Nature Conservation’s Subject Editor, Prof. Davy McCracken and Dr. Niels Raes, the project coordinator of Biodiversity Meets Data.
We also met one of our authors, Andra Neagu, in person. We recently ran a PR campaign on her and her team’s research analysing more than 1,100 media reports from 2007 to 2024 to uncover patterns in wildlife poaching across Romania, which you can read here.
Andra Neagu, an author at Nature Conservation at Pensoft’s booth at ECCB 2026.
Andra Neagu next to her scientific poster at ECCB 2026.
Looking ahead
Closing ceremony of ECCB 2026.
Closing ceremony of ECCB 2026.
It was a pleasure to be part of ECCB 2026 and to connect with so many researchers, policymakers, and practitioners working toward effective biodiversity conservation.
Save the date: SCB’s 33rd International Congress for Conservation Biology (ICCB 2027) will be held in Puebla, Mexico, at the end of June or beginning of July 2027.
Scholarly publisher and technology provider Pensoft teamed up with senior research fellows in the field to launch Journal of Regeneration (JoR), a new open-access peer-reviewed journal established to promote a transversal biological perspective connecting developmental biology, evolution, ecology, agriculture, and medicine. JoR aims to explore regeneration – the ability to restore lost or damaged tissues, organs, or entire body structures, across diverse disciplines and kingdoms of life.
The journal intends to cover research ranging from fundamental molecular genetics to clinical translation. Specifically, it seeks to examine recurring principles shared between animals and plants, including cellular plasticity, injury-triggered signalling cascades, and epigenetic remodelling.
“Regeneration research stands at a historic moment. What began as curiosity-driven observation has matured into a multidisciplinary field with profound implications for biology and medicine.”
The Editorial Board
Its scope encompasses a wide variety of animal and plant models rather than limiting focus to a few standard species. JoR covers research leveraging modern analytical tools, such as single-cell transcriptomics, CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing, transgenesis, and mass spectrometry. Key areas of long-term support outlined by the journal include systems-level understanding, evolutionary regeneration biology, bioengineering, and the intersection of ageing and regeneration.
“I am super excited to be part of building the Journal of Regeneration. I envisage it to become a wonderful platform for regeneration researchers, a way to not only share ideas and resources but perhaps in the future to be integrated in taking an active role in our scientific community.”
Anna Czarkwiani
“I am fully convinced of the goodness of launching the Journal of Regeneration: the future of regeneration science requires dialogue among scientists working on different aspects of the discipline and the JoR is a good tool to foster communication.”
Loriano Ballarin
“I see the Journal of Regeneration as a place where renewal and discovery align, where living systems learn to rebuild and redefine. It gathers voices across biology’s widening frame, to understand how life restores itself again and again.”
Baruch Rinkevich
Powered by Pensoft’s ARPHA platform, the journal will notably offer a fully integrated experience that smoothly coordinates everything from submission and peer review to publication, indexing, sharing, and archiving. Notably, publication in the journal is free during its launching phase.
The founding premise of the journal highlights that understanding regeneration requires exploration across the entire spectrum of life. Thus, JoR aims to serve as a convergence point for traditionally separated fields. Fostering this collaborative dialogue will help accelerate the important shift from studying regenerative mechanisms to actively harnessing them for therapeutic innovation.
Read more about the rationale and aims of the Journal of Regeneration (JoR) in the newly published Editorial Letter.
For more information on the journal’s focus, scope, and guidelines for authors, visit the Journal of Regeneration website and follow us on Bluesky and LinkedIn.
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About Pensoft:
Founded in 1992 “by scientists, for scientists”, the academic open-access publishing company is well known worldwide for its novel cutting-edge publishing tools, workflows and methods for text and data publishing of journals, books and conference materials. Back in 2010, Pensoft became the first scientific publisher to introduce semantic enrichments in scholarly publications. Through its Research and Technical Development department, the company is involved in various research and technology projects.
About ARPHA Platform:
ARPHA is a full-featured, end-to-end publishing platform for journals, books, conference materials and preprints. ARPHA offers flexible operating and business models, and a wide-range of automated and human-provided services. The ARPHA team places a special focus on its scholarly communication solutions designed to leverage the visibility and outreach of academic output, while promoting inclusivity and engagement.
