Tag: open access

Nota Lepidopterologica welcomes new Editor-in-Chief Marcin Wiorek

Wiorek has strong skills in lepidopteran morphology and molecular knowledge, and will join co-Editor-in-Chief Théo Léger to continue the development of the journal.

Marcin Wiorek joins Nota Lepidopterologica’s editorial team as a co-Editor-in-Chief together with Théo Léger. He was elected to replace David Lees in this capacity on 22 August 2025  at the meeting of the Society for European Lepidopterology (SEL), the society behind the open-access, peer-reviewed Nota Lepidopterologica journal.

A man in a beige shirt stands near a stone wall, accompanied by a large yellow moth resting on their shoulder.
Marcin Wiorek.

“I am truly honoured, but also happy to join the team of Nota Lepidopterologica as a successor of David C. Lees and all previous great Editors. My interest in Lepidoptera focuses on tiger moths (Arctiinae), and different aspects of their systematics, phylogeny, biology and zoogeography. During the past few years, I have been studying the Syntomini of Madagascar, a group that ignited my professional and deep interest in moths, resulting in my recently obtained PhD,” Wiorek said.

The move follows David Lees’ resignation as a co-Editor-in-Chief after eight years of service. Here is a note from him on his time in Nota Lepidopterologica:

A man stands in a dense jungle, wearing a hat and carrying a net for collecting insects, surrounded by lush greenery.
David Lees. Photo by Brian Fisher

“It has been a real privilege to serve as an Editor-in-Chief of the open-access journal Nota Lepidopterologica since 2017 (Issue 40 (2)). Over these eight years I have aimed to keep up the high standards established by my predecessors, the fine lepidopterists Erik van Nieukerken, Jadranka Rota (currently president of SEL, now known as Society for European Lepidopterology) and later Maria Heikkilä, whom I replaced, and to be able to help improve the accessibility, inclusivity (e.g., we welcome submissions outside the EU), and high scientific standards of the journal, working with the team at Pensoft. Plamen Pankov and Boriana Ovcharova have been particularly helpful, aided by their colleagues, as well as Matthias Nuss and Wolfgang Eckweiler in solving printing issues.

“As a co-Editor-in-Chief, I helped edit 11 issues between 2017 and 2025, containing 148 papers and 2,114 pages, occupying some 12 cm of shelf space! During this time, an Impact Factor was introduced (currently 0.7). I trust its quality, accessibility and readership will continue to improve, for example each paper integrates an Altmetric score and Pensoft often offer to promote papers with a wider interest.

“My co-Editor-in-Chief Théo Léger will continue his fine work, together with Marcin Wiorek who was elected to replace me at the 24th European Congress of Lepidopterology held in the Czech Republic last month. I know Marcin very well; we have been to the field together in Madagascar on two occasions and I have also had the pleasure to collaborate with him, and can thus vouch for his strong scientific and linguistic abilities as well his broad skillset in Lepidoptera (particularly erebid moth) morphology and strong molecular knowledge and other technical abilities. These will be invaluable in deciding on the increasingly integrated nature of submissions received at Nota Lepidopterologica. He is already well known in the SEL community.

“I will continue as a Senior Curator at the Natural History Museum, London, where I am in charge of microlepidopterans, and look forward to having more time to focus on my own scientific output.“

Nota Lepidopterologica’s latest issue.

“I am thrilled to contribute – together with co-Editor-in-Chief Théo Léger – to the further development of the journal and the maintenance of its high professional and editorial level,” added Wiorek. “I believe that my dedication to high publishing standards, implementing modern research methods embedded in the classical taxonomy and systematics of Lepidoptera, will help me work effectively on adding further centimetres of substantive shelf space to the legacy of our journal. I think that my interest in European languages (especially English, crucial to fully enjoy the British humour of my predecessor during joint field trips to Madagascar) can also help me a bit…”

Pensoft and Nota Lepidopterologica thank David for his hard work and dedication and wish him all the best in his future endeavours. We also look forward to working with Marcin on the journal’s development and wish him every success as he takes on this new role.

Pensoft and the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology forge new scholarly partnership

At a visit at the publisher’s headquarters the two parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding.

In August, Pensoft had the honour of welcoming colleagues from the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST) to the headquarters of the open-access scholarly publisher and technology provider in Sofia, Bulgaria. The visit was marked by engaging discussions on scholarly publishing, future innovations, current challenges in academia and potential collaborations.

The highlight of the meeting was the formal signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Prof. Dr. Lyubomir Penev, Pensoft’s CEO and founder, and Prof. Dr. Thai Hoang, Vice Chairman of the Scientific Council of Materials Science at VAST and the Editor‑in‑Chief of the Vietnam Journal of Science and Technology.

“This Memorandum of Understanding marks an important step towards fostering international collaboration in scholarly publishing. By combining the expertise and know-how of Pensoft and VAST, we aim to make research more accessible and innovative for communities worldwide,”

commented Prof. Dr. Lyubomir Penev.

“I am very happy to visit Bulgaria and collaborate with Pensoft Publishers. Here, we know Pensoft and the ARPHA publishing platform for their diverse publishing solutions designed for scientific papers, monographs, academic books and more, as well as their professional and efficient work. All this makes them quite prestigious for us.

Starting from this Memorandum of Understanding, next, we will explore ways to use the ARPHA publishing platform for the publication of Vietnam’s scientific journals, books and other research outputs.”

added Prof. Dr. Thai Hoang.

Over the course of the visit, the group engaged in an enriching dialogue. Guests from VAST offered an in-depth look at their publication outlets and shared insights into the Vietnamese scholarly publishing landscape, as well as the nation’s rich cultural heritage and natural wonders. 

In turn, Pensoft offered a comprehensive overview of the company’s journey of over three decades, starting from the launch of the first Pensoft journals and proceeding to the continuous development of several innovative publication platforms and solutions, including the full-featured end-to-end publishing platform ARPHA. Today, there are over 80 open-access peer-reviewed journals, including both Pensoft-launched titles, and many owned and run by research institutions, universities and learned societies from around the globe.

The visit continued beyond the office with the publisher’s management inviting their guests to a several-day trip around the country that covered the cultural and historic hubs of Plovdiv and Koprivshtitsa.

By the end of the visit, both parties agreed that their meeting in Bulgaria underscores their shared vision: to advance open, innovative, and accessible scholarly communication. With the MoU in place, both sides look forward to transforming this mutual understanding into concrete collaborative initiatives.

*

With perfect timing, shortly after the visit, one of the VAST delegates: biologist Prof. Dr. Quang Manh Vu (also affiliated with the Hoa Binh University, Hanoi, Vietnam), in collaboration with his Bulgarian and Vietnamese colleagues: Dr. Ivailo Dedov (Bulgarian Academy of Sciences) and Dr. Tuan Trieu Anh (Hung Vuong University, Viet Tri City, Vietnam) published a study in Pensoft’s inaugural and flagship journal in zoological systematics: ZooKeys. The research paper lists species of slugs and semi-slugs of the superfamily Helicarionoidea the team collected in North Vietnam in 2023. Amongst the collected specimens, the scientists discovered a new-to-science species of semi-slug they named after Pensoft’s Prof. Dr. Lyubomir Penev, who is himself a biologist and taxonomist by background. 

“When I found out I had a new species, I had no hesitation on the name: Ostracolethe penevi. I had been looking forward to naming a curious species after my friend Prof. Lyubomir Penev, a man who made the world look up to Bulgarian science, and someone who has helped me a lot through the years,”

comments Dr. Ivailo Dedov in a news announcement.

“This newly described species deserves a name that reflects the generosity of nature, the advancement of science, and the enduring friendship between Vietnam and Bulgaria,”

added Prof. Dr. Quang Manh Vu.

***

Additional information:

About Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST):

Founded on 20 May 1975, VAST is Vietnam’s largest multidisciplinary research organization, with branches in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Haiphong, Nha Trang, Dalat, and Hue. Its mission spans basic and applied research, the development of high technology, human resource training, and providing scientific advice to the government on pressing national issues. 

VAST is known for achieving high output in international peer-reviewed journals; in 2023, more than 2,200 works were published, with nearly 80% in international outlets. The Academy is responsible for several cutting-edge initiatives, including satellite R&D through the Vietnam National Space Center, strategic technology fields aligned with the Fourth Industrial Revolution (e.g. AI, new materials, semiconductors), and large-scale environmental and biodiversity monitoring across the country. Looking forward, VAST has set ambitious goals, including mastering key advanced technologies, increasing technology transfer, enhancing publication impact, strengthening partnerships at home and abroad, and cultivating world-class scientific talent.

In June, Pensoft joined the 2025 largest meeting for conservation experts

We attended the International Congress for Conservation Biology to present the REST-COAST and SELINA Horizon-funded projects, as well as our scholarly journals and books portfolio.

Over 1,200 people from more than 90 countries, including conservation and social science researchers, students, practitioners, government and NGO professionals, policy specialists and leaders from indigenous groups attended the 32nd International Congress for Conservation Biology (ICCB 2025), hosted by the SCB Oceania Region from 15th to 19th June 2025 in Brisbane/Meanjin, Australia.

The Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre (BCEC) welcomed over 1,200 participants for the 32nd International Congress for Conservation Biology (ICCB 2025) hosted by the SCB Oceania Region.
Photo credit: BCEC.

A special focus seen across the talks and overall rhetoric of the event was on indigenous peoples, culture and knowledge, and how they can be recognised and further engaged in the study and protection of the environment in a sustainable and culturally appropriate manner. Other topics popular during the week included biocultural diversity and wildlife trade and traffic.

Throughout the week, the delegates enjoyed three sets of plenary talks, and got to choose from upwards of ten parallel sessions taking place three times each day. Multiple workshops and business meetings would also take place every day around lunch time. Then, each day of the congress would conclude with a poster session at the Exhibition hall. Additionally, multiple social events scheduled throughout the week – such as a nature documentary movie night, a science comedy night, and a closing reception, held amongst the exhibits of the Queensland Museum Kurilpa – would take care of the attendees’ entertainment after long days of talks and presentations. 

Our team at Pensoft was proud to join this amazing event as one of the 14 exhibitors at ICCB 2025. At our stand, Pensoft’s Head of Journal development and PR: Iva Boyadzhieva would invite delegates to elaborate on their scientific interests and latest research endeavours, as well as wants and needs concerning the publication, communication and outreach of their work.

Pensoft’s Head of Journal development and PR: Iva Boyadzhieva at the ICCB2025
(Brisbane, Australia).

Then, visitors would leave the Pensoft stand with helpful advice concerning scholarly publishing and multiple recommended titles from the Pensoft open-access journal portfolio fitting the scope of their research. If you have met us at any event in the past couple of years, you would also know that it is next to impossible for a visitor of ours to leave without at least one of our signature stickers featuring captioned scientific illustrations of species studied in papers from across our journals.

At every event in the past two years, Pensoft has been handing out stickers featuring detailed scientific illustrations of species studied in papers published in Pensoft’s scholarly portfolio. This is our ‘thank you’ to the authors who have trusted our journals with their work. 

Many would also become intrigued to know more about the latest activities and results of the two European Union-funded projects that enjoyed prominent visibility at the Pensoft stand, namely: SELINA (an acronym for Science for Evidence-based and Sustainable Decisions about Natural Capital) and REST-COAST (Large scale RESToration of COASTal ecosystems through rivers to sea connectivity). At both projects, our team takes pride in leading work packages dedicated to the communication and dissemination of the projects’ outputs.

Having started in 2022 and set to run until 2027, SELINA comprises 50 partner organisations coordinated by the Leibniz University Hannover. This transdisciplinary project provides smart, cost-effective, and nature-based solutions to historic societal challenges, such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and food security. A main objective is to identify biodiversity, ecosystem condition, and ecosystem service factors that can be successfully integrated into decision-making processes in both the public and private sectors.

Most recently, the consortium launched SELINA’s Communities of Practice initiative to promote collaborative learning and knowledge integration across Europe. This digital platform provides a forum for scientists, policymakers, practitioners, and business representatives to exchange knowledge and further engage with its real-life application. On the Communities of Practice webpage, visitors may explore how SELINA is driving change across Europe.

***

Meanwhile, the mission of the EU Horizon’s Green Deal-funded REST-COAST is to address today’s challenges to coastal ecosystems caused by a long history of environmental degradation of rivers and coasts. Bringing together 38 European institutions, led by the Catalonia University of Technology UPC-BarcelonaTech (Spain), the project is set to demonstrate to key stakeholders and decision-makers that large-scale restoration of river deltas, estuaries and coastal lagoons is necessary to sustain the delivery of vital ecosystem services.

A prominent output by the REST-COAST project is a policy brief addressing the EU Nature Restoration Regulation, and serving to provide scientifically-informed policy recommendations and targets.

At the Pensoft stand, ICCB2025 participants had the opportunity to browse through nine fact sheets produced within the project. Each provides a neat snapshot of the story of one of the pilot sites selected by REST-COAST as representatives of particularly vulnerable hotspots for the main EU regional seas (Baltic, Black, North Atlantic and the Mediterranean). On display was also a recent policy brief addressing the EU Nature Restoration Regulation. It serves to provide a concise summary of the issues and challenges at hand, in addition to scientifically-backed policy recommendations and targets.

Both the pilot site factsheets and the policy briefs produced by the consortium are made public in the Media Center on the project website. Further project outputs, including research articles, data papers and project reports, are permanently available from the REST-COAST’s open-science project collection in the Research Ideas and Outcomes (RIO) journal.

***

On the final day, the ICCB 2025 did not disappoint either. The day started with a touching plenary talk by Amy Van Nice of the Wildlife Alliance, where she shared a lot of her own experience as a wildlife rescuer, but also as a human with her own personal battles along the way. Throughout her talk she remained fully transparent about the current situation in wildlife trafficking, which remains, sadly, a crisis yet to be tackled.

The day continued with a full programme of parallel sessions before everyone gathered for the closing session and the closing ceremony, where delegates could look back at the last year in conservation, and learn about what is to come. The closing ceremony also announced and celebrated the SCB 2025 Global Service Awards and the ICCB awards.

Following the ICCB tradition, the organisers also waited until the end of the event to announce the location of the next international congress. It will take place in 2027 some 12,000 km (7,500 miles) away from Brisbane: in Mexico, where it will be jointly hosted by the North American (SCBNA) and the Latin America and Caribbean (SCB-LACA) regions of the Society for Conservation Biology.

Bulgaria joins the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) 

Led by Pensoft and its CEO Prof. Lyubomir Penev, the partnership marks a major step for Bulgarian science and regional biodiversity leadership.

Bulgaria officially joins the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). This major event for Bulgarian science was initiated by a memorandum signed by the Minister of Environment and Water: Manol Genov. 

Logo for the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) featuring stylized green leaves and the acronym "GBIF" in bold text.

GBIF is an international network and data infrastructure funded by governments around the world that provides international open access to a modern and comprehensive database of all species of living organisms on the planet. 

Joining GBIF is an important step for initiatives such as the Bulgarian Barcode of Life (BgBOL), as it will facilitate the integration of genetic data on species diversity into the global scientific community and support the creation of a more accurate and accessible bioinformatic database. This will increase the scientific visibility and relevance of Bulgarian efforts in molecular taxonomy and conservation.

Newly established Bulgarian Barcode of Life to support biodiversity conservation in the country
World map showing GBIF network participants: green for voting participants, blue for associate participants, gray for non-participants.
Prof. Lyubomir Penev

“First of all, I’d like to congratulate all fellow scientists working in the domain of biology and ecology in Bulgaria with this wonderful achievement,” says Prof. Dr. Lyubomir Penev, founder and CEO of the scientific publisher and technology provider Pensoft, as well as a key participant in the talks and preparations for Bulgaria’s joining GBIF. He is also Chair of BgBOL.

“Becoming a full member of GBIF has been a long-anticipated milestone we have discussed and worked on for several years. Coming not long after we initiated the Bulgarian Barcode of Life, the Bulgarian membership in GBIF gives us yet another uncontested evidence that the nation is on the right path to preserving our uniquely rich fauna and flora,” he adds.

Pensoft is looking forward to sharing our know-how with Bulgarian institutions and scientists in order to streamline the visibility and overall efficiency of biodiversity data collected from Bulgaria.

Prof. Lyubomir Penev

“As close partners of GBIF for over 15 years now, Pensoft is looking forward to sharing our know-how with Bulgarian institutions and scientists, so that they can fully utilise the GBIF infrastructure and tools, in order to streamline the visibility and overall efficiency of biodiversity data collected from Bulgaria.”

GBIF is managed by a Secretariat based in Copenhagen and brings together countries and organisations that collaborate through national and institutional coordinators (also called participant nodes). The mechanism provides common standards, good practices and open access tools for institutions around the world to share information on the location and recording of species and specimens. According to GBIF, a total of 107 countries and organisations currently participate in the network, a significant number of which are European.

The GBIF network, as screenshot from https://www.gbif.org/the-gbif-network on 10/06/2025.

By joining GBIF, biodiversity data generated in Bulgaria can be streamlined through the network’s infrastructure so that the country does not need to build and maintain its own separate infrastructure, which also saves significant financial resources.

As a full voting member, Bulgaria will ensure that biodiversity data in the country will be shared and accessible through the platform, and will contribute to global knowledge on biodiversity, respectively to the solutions that will promote its conservation and sustainable use.

Map of Bulgaria showing biodiversity data with orange heatmap indicating occurrences.
Bulgaria’s page on GBIF, as screenshot from https://www.gbif.org/country/BG/summary on 10/06/2025.

Improvements in data management by Bulgaria will also contribute to better reporting and fulfilment of obligations to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) as well as to the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). As a member of GBIF, Bulgaria will be able to apply for funding for flagship activities in Bulgarian institutions and neighbouring Balkan countries. This will enable the country to expand its leadership role in the Balkans in biodiversity research and data accumulation.

GBIF and Pensoft signed a Memorandum of Cooperation

The partnership between GBIF and Pensoft dates back to 2009 when the global network and the publisher signed their first Memorandum of Understanding intended to solidify their cooperation as leaders in the technological advancement relevant to biodiversity knowledge. Over the next few years, Pensoft integrated its whole biodiversity journal portfolio with the GBIF infrastructure to enable multiple automated workflows, including export of all species occurrence data published in scientific articles straight to the GBIF platform. Most recently, over 20 biodiversity journals powered by Pensoft’s scholarly publishing platform ARPHA launched their own hosted portals on GBIF to make it easier to access and use biodiversity data associated with published research, aligning with principles of Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR) data.

Journals published on ARPHA now archived in the Biodiversity Heritage Library

To date, the content available on BHL includes 16,000 legacy articles and also extends to future articles.

Content from more than 30 biodiversity journals published on the ARPHA Platform will now be archived in the Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL), the world’s largest open-access digital library for biodiversity literature and archives.

A vibrant orange butterfly perched on yellow flowers, with text announcing journal archiving in the Biodiversity Heritage Library.

A global consortium of natural history, botanical, research, and national libraries, BHL digitises and freely shares essential biodiversity materials. A critical resource for researchers, it provides vital access to material that might otherwise be difficult to obtain.

Under the agreement, over 16,000 articles published on Pensoft’s self-developed ARPHA Platform are now available on BHL. Both legacy content and new articles are made available on the platform, complete with full-text PDFs and all relevant metadata.

Thanks to this integration, content in our journals will become even more accessible and readily discoverable, helping researchers find the biodiversity information they need.

Prof. Lyubomir Penev

More content published on ARPHA will gradually be added to the BHL archive.

The publications will be included in the Library’s full-text search, allowing researchers to easily locate relevant biodiversity literature. Crucially, the scientific names within the articles will be indexed using the Global Names Architecture, enabling seamless discovery of information about specific taxa across the BHL collection.

This automated workflow is facilitated by the ARPHA platform and uses the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH) to enable exposure and harvesting of repository metadata. 

“Pensoft is pleased to collaborate with BHL in our joint mission to support global biodiversity research through free access to knowledge. Thanks to this integration, content in our journals will become even more accessible and readily discoverable, helping researchers find the biodiversity information they need,” said Prof. Lyubomir Penev, CEO and founder of Pensoft and ARPHA.

The news comes soon after BHL announced it is about to face a major shift in its operation. From 2026, the Smithsonian Institution – one of BHL’s 10 founding members – will cease to host the administrative and technical components of BHL. As the consortium explores a range of options, the BHL team is confident that “the transition opens the door to a reimagined and more sustainable future for BHL.”

Biodiversity Knowledge Hub makes an appearance at the European Geosciences Union General Assembly 2025

The Biodiversity Knowledge Hub fosters interoperability between diverse resources to make it easier to use and combine information.

Gabriel Peoluze (LifeWatch ERIC) presents the Biodiversity Knowledge Hub poster at EGU 2025
(Vienna, Austria).

On Monday, 28 April, the first day of the European Geosciences Union General Assembly 2025 (EGU 2025), participants had the chance to discover one of the most promising initiatives in biodiversity informatics: the Biodiversity Knowledge Hub (BKH). BKH was presented as part of a dedicated poster session, titled “Biodiversity Knowledge Hub: Addressing the impacts of environmental change by linking Research Infrastructures, Global Aggregators and Community Networks“.

Understanding and addressing the impacts of environmental change on biodiversity and ecosystems demands access to reliable FAIR data (as in Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable). However, the current landscape is often fragmented, making it difficult to combine and use these resources effectively.

Enter the Horizon-funded project Biodiversity Community Integrated Knowledge Library (BiCIKL): a pioneering initiative that demonstrates the transformative power of interdisciplinary collaboration. Coordinated by Pensoft, BiCIKL ran between 2021 and 2024.

New BiCIKL project to build a freeway between pieces of biodiversity knowledge
The Vision of BiCIKL

Within BiCIKL, 14 European institutions from ten countries teamed up with the aim to integrate biodiversity data across research infrastructures, scientific repositories, and expert communities.

Through this integration, BiCIKL bridged the gap between isolated knowledge systems and delivered actionable insights to guide conservation and resilience efforts. The project embodies the principles of open science by demonstrating how interdisciplinary collaboration can turn fragmented data into cohesive, usable knowledge for researchers, policymakers, and practitioners.

How to ensure biodiversity data are FAIR, linked, open and future-proof?
The Biodiversity Knowledge Hub

At the heart of BiCIKL’s success is the Biodiversity Knowledge Hub (BKH): an innovative platform that provides seamless access to biodiversity data, tools, and workflows. The BKH fosters interoperability between diverse resources, thus making it easier to combine information from different sources. Whether for advanced research analytics or policymaking in support of sustainable development, the BKH empowers users with tools tailored to their needs.

A few of the standout features of the BKH include:
  • Modular design to allow continuous expansion and adaptability to new challenges in biodiversity and climate resilience
  • Interoperable systems that connect a variety of databases, repositories, and services to deliver integrated knowledge.
  • Community building by welcoming a broad network of stakeholders to ensure the platform’s long-term sustainability and growth.
Watch the Biodiversity Knowledge Hub video on YouTube.
Setting a New Benchmark in Biodiversity Informatics

Through its collaborative approach, BiCIKL set a new standard for how biodiversity and climate resilience initiatives can be harmonised globally. By showcasing best practices in data integration, capacity building, and stakeholder engagement, BiCIKL became much more than a project: it turned into a blueprint for future biodiversity knowledge infrastructures.

The Biodiversity Knowledge Hub serves to demonstrate how harmonised standards and active collaboration are key to unlocking the full potential of biodiversity data. In doing so, its mission is to create scalable, long-term solutions that are crucial for addressing today’s pressing environmental challenges.

The poster presentation at EGU25 outlined the methodologies and technologies driving the BKH, emphasizing its role as a pioneering model for integrated biodiversity knowledge and action. As environmental pressures continue to mount, the work of BiCIKL and the Biodiversity Knowledge Hub offers a hopeful path forward—one where knowledge flows freely, collaborations flourish, and data-driven solutions guide our way to a more resilient future.

Visit the Biodiversity Community Integrated Knowledge Library (BiCIKL) project’s website at: https://bicikl-project.eu/.

Don’t forget to also explore the Biodiversity Knowledge Hub (BKH) for yourself at: https://biodiversityknowledgehub.eu/ and watch the BKH’s introduction video. 

Revisit highlights from the BiCIKL project on X/Twitter from the project’s hashtag: #BiCIKL_H2020 and handle: @BiCIKL_H2020.

BiCIKL project sums up outcomes and future prospects at a Final GA in Cambridge

New torrent frog species named after Alexandra Elbakyan, creator of Sci-Hub

A team of researchers has announced the discovery of three new species of torrent frogs belonging to the genus Hyloscirtus.

A team of researchers from the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador, in collaboration with the Natural History Museum of London, has announced the discovery of three new species of torrent frogs belonging to the genus Hyloscirtus. The study, recently published in the journal ZooKeys, combines genetic, genomic, morphological, and bioacoustic analyses, revealing hidden diversity in one of the planet’s richest ecosystems.

A phylogenetic tree illustrating the relationships among Hyloxtricits species, with images of various frog species on the right side.
Maximum likelihood phylogram of Hyloscirtus for DNA sequences of mitochondrial (12S rRNA, 16S rRNA, ND1 and adjacent tRNAs) and nuclear genes (RAG1 and c-myc). Bayesian posterior probabilities (pp × 100) are shown above branches and bootstrap values below. Asterisks represent values of 100%. Missing values indicate posterior probabilities and bootstrap < 50. Amazonian species of the H. bogotensis group are shown with colored boxes. Outgroup species are not shown and include two species of Boana and two of Dendropsophus. Voucher museum numbers are shown before the species name. For Ecuadorian populations, the province is provided after the species name. Abbreviations for other countries at the end of terminals: BOL (Bolivia), COL (Colombia), PAN (Panamá), PER (Perú), and VEN (Venezuela). UCS: unconfirmed candidate species.

Frogs in the mist

The research focuses on frog populations inhabiting the Amazonian cloud forests, a region known for its high biodiversity and conservation challenges. By combining DNA sequencing (both genomic and mitochondrial), detailed morphological studies, and the analysis of mating calls, the authors have identified three new species:

  • Hyloscirtus maycu
  • Hyloscirtus elbakyanae
  • Hyloscirtus dispersus
  • Close-up photo of a green frog perched on a leaf against a dark background, featuring distinctive patterned eyes.
    Hyloscirtus dispersus
  • Hyloscirtus elbakyanae
  • A close-up photo of a frog with distinctive yellow feet and large, textured eyes, displayed against a white background.
    Hyloscirtus elbakyanae
  • A close-up photo of a green frog with large eyes and textured skin, against a white background.
    Hyloscirtus dispersus
  • Hyloscirtus maycu
  • A close-up photo of a green frog, featuring large eyes and textured skin, against a white background.
    Hyloscirtus maycu
  • A close-up photo of a green frog with large eyes and vibrant feet, sitting against a white background.

A tribute to open knowledge

As a recognition of the value of free access to scientific information, one of the newly described species has been named after Alexandra Elbakyan, programmer and creator of Sci-Hub. This website provides free access to scientific articles, allowing researchers worldwide to consult studies that would otherwise be locked behind expensive subscriptions—especially in low- and middle-income countries. Sci-Hub has been instrumental in democratizing scientific knowledge on a global scale.

A collage of various frogs of the species Hyloscirtus elbakyanae displaying different colors, postures, and body types against a white background.
Variation in life of Hyloscirtus elbakyanae.

Importance of the study

“This discovery not only expands our understanding of cloud forest biodiversity but also highlights the urgent need to conserve these ecosystems in the face of growing environmental threats,” said Andrea Varela, lead researcher of the study.

Geographic distribution of Amazonian species of the Hyloscirtus bogotensis group. Stars represent the type locality of H. albopunctulatus, H. phyllognathus and H. torrenticola.

The paper also examines the impact of the Andes on the diversification of this group. Colonization events across the Andes have been very rare; in the studied group, only two such events were recorded, over 14 million years ago, both from the Amazon towards the Pacific basin. These findings underscore the crucial role of the Andean barrier in the evolution and distribution of these species, offering a unique perspective on the complex biogeographic history of the Andes—one of the most biodiverse ecosystems on Earth.

Research article:

Varela-Jaramillo A, Streicher JW, Venegas PJ, Ron SR (2025) Three new species of torrent treefrogs (Anura, Hylidae) of the Hyloscirtus bogotensis group from the eastern Andean slopes and the biogeographic history of the genus. ZooKeys 1231: 233-292. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1231.124926

The Biodiversity Data Journal launches its own data portal on GBIF

With this simple website designed to lower technical demands, data managers and other stakeholders can easily focus on data exploration and reuse.

The Biodiversity Data Journal (BDJ) became the second open-access peer-reviewed scholarly title to make use of the hosted portals service provided by the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF): an international network and data infrastructure aimed at providing anyone, anywhere, open access to data about all types of life on Earth. 

The Biodiversity Data Journal portal, hosted on the GBIF platform, is to support biodiversity data use and engagement at national, institutional, regional and thematic scales by facilitating access and reuse of data by users with various expertise in data use and management. 

Having piloted the GBIF hosted portal solution with arguably the most revolutionary biodiversity journal in its exclusively open-access scholarly portfolio, Pensoft is to soon replicate the effort with at least 20 other journals in the field. This would mean that the publisher will more than double the number of the currently existing GBIF-hosted portals.

As of the time of writing, the BDJ portal provides seamless access and exploration for nearly 300,000 occurrences of biological organisms from all over the world that have been extracted from the journal’s all-time publications. In addition, the portal provides direct access to more than 800 datasets published alongside papers in BDJ, as well as to almost 1,000 citations of the journal articles associated with those publications.  

The release of the BDJ portal should inspire other publishers to follow suit in advancing a more interconnected, open and accessible ecosystem for biodiversity research

Vince Smith

Using the search categories featured in the portal, users can narrow their query by geography, location, taxon, IUCN Global Red List Category, geological context and many others. The dashboard also lets users access multiple statistics about the data, and even explore potentially related records with the help of the clustering feature (e.g. a specimen sequenced by another institution or type material deposited at different institutions). Additionally, the BDJ portal provides basic information about the journal itself and links to the news section from its website. 

A video displaying an interactive map with occurrence data on the BDJ portal.

Launched in 2013 with the aim to bring together openly available data and narrative into a peer-reviewed scholarly paper, the Biodiversity Data Journal has remained at the forefront of scholarly publishing in the field of biodiversity research. Over the years, it has been amongst the first to adopt many novelties developed by Pensoft, including the entirely XML-based ARPHA Writing Tool (AWT) that has underpinned the journal’s submission and review process for several years now. Besides the convenience of an entirely online authoring environment, AWT provides multiple integrations with key databases, such as GBIF and BOLD, to allow direct export and import at the authoring stage, thereby further facilitating the publication and dissemination of biodiversity data. More recently, BDJ also piloted the “Nanopublications for Biodiversity” workflow and format as a novel solution to future-proof biodiversity knowledge by sharing “pixels” of machine-actionable scientific statements.   

A decade of empowering biodiversity science: celebrating 10 years of Biodiversity Data Journal

“I am thrilled to see the Biodiversity Data Journal’s (BDJ) hosted portal active, ten years since it became the first journal to submit taxon treatments and Darwin Core occurrence records automatically to GBIF! Since its launch in 2013, BDJ has been unrivalled amongst taxonomy and biodiversity journals in its unique workflows that provide authors with import and export functions for structured biodiversity data to/from GBIF, BOLD, iDigBio and more. I am also glad to announce that more than 30 Pensoft biodiversity journals will soon be present as separate hosted portals on GBIF thanks to our long-time collaboration with Plazi, ensuring proper publication, dissemination and re-use of FAIR biodiversity data,” said Prof. Dr. Lyubomir Penev, founder and CEO of Pensoft, and founding editor of BDJ.

“The release of the BDJ portal and subsequent ones planned for other Pensoft journals should inspire other publishers to follow suit in advancing a more interconnected, open and accessible ecosystem for biodiversity research,” said Vince Smith, editor-in-chief of BDJ and head of digital, data and informatics at the Natural History Museum, London.

IMA Fungus publishes its first issue with Pensoft

The first ten manuscripts of IMA Fungus—the flagship journal of the International Mycological Association—have now been published on the journal’s new website following its transition to Pensoft’s ARPHA platform.

Regarding recent changes to the journal, Editor-in-Chief Marc Stadler said: “The journal has a new editorial board, including many experienced as well as young, excellent scientists from around the world. Together, they cover a broad spectrum of mycological subdisciplines. They have already helped with processing of the new manuscripts, part of which were transferred from the previous publisher. 

“We hope that the revenue that the IMA gains from the APC can substantially contribute to a sustainable income of the association. This will hopefully allow us to support mycologists in low-to middle income countries, initiatives to implement fungal conservation and other important tasks that need to be tackled by the mycological community in the future.”

See the full list of newly published articles below:  

Follow IMA Fungus on Bluesky and Facebook.

The International Mycological Association partners with Pensoft to move prestigious IMA Fungus to the ARPHA platform

Fossil Record celebrates 25 years with a special issue exploring the vertebrate conquest of land

This collection brings together articles exploring the fish-to-tetrapod transition. 

To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Museum für Naturkunde publication Fossil Record, the open-access journal has launched a new special issue centred on a seismic event in vertebrate evolution: the fish-to-tetrapod transition and the conquest of land. 

This special issue brings together a collection of articles exploring the rise of early land vertebrates and the evolutionary innovations that paved the way for terrestrial ecosystems. 

The issue includes a welcoming address by Prof Dr Johannes Vogel, Director General of Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, as well as an editorial celebrating Fossil Record’s 25th anniversary authored by Editor-in-Chief Dr Florian Witzmann and colleagues. 

Finally, the journal’s founder, Prof Hans-Peter Schultze, pens his reflections on the challenges and vision that shaped Fossil Record in its formative years.  

The fish-to-tetrapod transition  

The evolutionary transition of vertebrates from water to land is a major chapter in animal evolution. Around 370 million years ago, vertebrates conquered the land, giving rise to a remarkable diversity of body proportions, feeding behaviours, locomotory, and sensory adaptations. 

Tetrapods (vertebrates with four limbs) are of great interest to the scientific community because they can illuminate the rise of modern terrestrial ecosystems and the deep roots of much of today’s terrestrial vertebrate diversity. Indeed, research on early tetrapods is also the study of our own remote ancestry.

Drawing from Michel Laurin’s article on the habitat of early stegocephalians. Credit: Ruben Koops, Rafael Albo, Jacek Major and Amin Khaleghparast.

The special issue explores this transformation, featuring eight original articles authored by researchers from around the world. Topics range from the palaeoecology of the fish-tetrapod transition to the biomechanics of early tetrapod skulls. 

Building a legacy in palaeontology  

Since its inception in 1998 as Mitteilungen aus dem Museum für Naturkunde, Geowissenschaftliche Reihe, Fossil Record has evolved into a modern, internationally recognised journal. Under its rebranded title in 2006, the journal embraced a global audience with articles published in English. 

The transition to open access in 2014 further cemented its role as a leader in palaeontological publishing, allowing unrestricted access to its content while eliminating fees for authors. The journal celebrated 10 years of open access last year along with fellow  Museum für Naturkunde journals Zoosystematics and Evolution and Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift.

Celebrating 25 years  

“Fossil Record has come a long way in the past quarter of a century. The journal has become very visible in the scientific community and is now firmly established in the top quartile of palaeontological journals worldwide.”  

Prof Dr Johannes Vogel, Director General of the Museum für Naturkunde.

“25 years after its foundation, we are celebrating the success of the Fossil Record, which has become a modern, international open access journal and continues to attract authors from all over the world. Such an achievement is always a team effort, and I would like to express my sincere thanks to everyone involved – my colleagues on the Editorial Board and their tireless commitment to maintaining high standards of article quality; the Coordination Office of the MfN for its steadfast commitment to promoting Open Access at the museum, and the Directorate General for generously covering the author page charges. Last but not least, I would also like to express my special thanks for the smooth and trusting cooperation with Pensoft Publishers!”

Dr Florian Witzman, Editor-in-Chief

As the journal celebrates this milestone, the special issue reflects its commitment to advancing palaeontological research via global collaboration. From documenting early land vertebrates to unveiling the complexities of evolutionary history, Fossil Record continues to illuminate the past while inspiring future discoveries.  

Check out the articles featured in the special issue below:

Here’s to 25 years of Fossil Record and many more to come! 

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