Earlier this month, the city of Columbus became a focal point for knowledge exchange, groundbreaking innovation and meaningful dialogue on the past, present and future of entomology, with Pensoft enjoying a front-row seat.
More specifically, Ohio’s capital hosted two conferences of global significance when it comes to the study of insects. First came the annual meeting of the Entomological Collections Network (ECN), which took place on the 6th and 7th of November. A comprehensive two-day agenda delved into the many facets of the organisation’s core focus – existing and emerging best practices in the management of and research into museum collections with insect specimens.
For its part, Pensoft Publishers reaffirmed its support for the community by co-sponsoring the event and exhibiting its publication outlets and tools, including the highly relevant Natural History Collections and Museomics (NHCM) journal. Attendees who stopped by the company’s booth thus had the opportunity to discover this relatively new arrival in the company’s portfolio as well as a variety of other Pensoft-affiliated avenues for bridging the gap between their work and its intended audience.
The publishing house also supported the annual meeting’s silent auction, donating the BioRisk issue “Climatic Risk and Distribution Atlas of European Bumblebees” in printed form. The winning bid was placed by Bill Clark from the Orma J. Smith Museum of Natural History, with this and all other proceeds going towards the future growth of ECN.
Numerous researchers who are actively shaping Pensoft’s journals were also present, with two among them delivering important research updates to the Network’s members:
- Torsten Dikow, Editor-in-Chief of ZooKeys, introduced a conveyor for entomological digitisation (developed by Picturae) and how this technology can help organise and optimise collections of pollinating insects
- Davide Dal Pos, Subject Editor of ZooKeys and Deutsche Entomologishe Zeitschrift (DEZ), dived into his team’s vision for revitalising the Enns Entomology Museum and its extensive specimen collection, placing it “back on the map”
This year’s gathering of the Entomological Society of America, Entomology 2026, immediately followed ECN’s proceedings, lasting until 11 November. Yet again, it proved itself among the largest global meetings of insect experts, enthusiasts and businesses, attracting over 2,000 attendees. As in previous editions, Pensoft Publishers sported a booth on the exhibition floor, where a wide variety of journals that push open-access entomological studies forward were on display, including NeoBiota, the Journal of Orthoptera Research (JOR), Alpine Entomology, African Invertebrates, Nota Lepidopterologica, Bulletin of Insectology and the Journal of Hymenoptera Research (JHR).
Notably, another recent addition to the list, Advances in Pollinator Research (APR), was in the spotlight at the stand, with its Editor-in-Chief Lars Straub and Subject Editor Priya Basu engaging with the conference’s participants on site to discuss how the journal could support pollination-centric research from various perspectives and at different scales.
The wider selection of journals with relevance to insect-based studies was also featured in the display, represented by the long-established Research Ideas and Outcomes (RIO), One Ecosystem, Nature Conservation, Frontiers of Biogeography, Metabarcoding & Metagenomics (MBMG) and the Biodiversity Data Journal (BDJ).
In terms of Pensoft’s project portfolio, numerous entomological EU-funded initiatives were also introduced to the booth’s visitors – those were namely the pollination-centric PollinERA, WildPosh, VALOR and AGRI4POL as well as FORSAID, an endeavour to combat the spread of forest pests. Last but not least, Pensoft also seized this opportunity to showcase its latest innovations in communicating and disseminating science – the ARPHA publishing platform, the collaborative workspace ORPHO and the research project portal Scientiana.
Turning to Entomology 2026’s programme and the presentations delivered by some of the experts behind the company’s journals, some of the notable featured topics included:
- The management of biodiversity informatics via innovative resources and tools for entomological research and collections, explored by Deborah Paul, the Editor-in-Chief of NHCM:
- TaxonWorks, an integrated web-based workbench for biodiversity scientists, and its promise in pollinator studies, delivered by Matthew Yoder, Subject Editor for BDJ and author in JHR and ZooKeys:
- Revising the taxonomy of more than 300 species of clown beetles (Histeridae), an ambitious research endeavour laid out by Michael S. Caterino, Subject Editor for and author in ZooKeys:
All in all, Pensoft’s presence at conferences of the calibre boasted by ECN2026 and Entomology 2026 remains as crucial as ever at a time when champions of open-science research are needed to usher in this concept’s prevalence on a global level.
Repeated attendances over the years, including that in 2026, have made clear the appreciation entomologists of all sub-disciplines express towards the company’s persistent and evolving pursuits of a truly FAIR standard for academic publishing.