About the Journal

Focus and Scope

This electronic journal focuses on the emerging field of biodiversity informatics--the creation, integration, analysis, and visualization of information regarding biological diversity. The journal encourages submissions in any area of the biodiversity informatics enterprise. We distinguish between several types of submissions: full manuscripts, training modules, biodiversity diagnoses, software and protocol descriptions, and book/media reviews. Book/media reviews are shorter papers (typically not exceeding ten manuscript pages) that assess and evaluate a new biodiversity informatics application or publication; training modules present and describe didactic materials; and biodiversity diagnoses present analyses of completeness of biodiversity information for taxa or regions. Software and protocol descriptions and book/media reviews are generally shorter. Full manuscripts may still include details on any particular biodiversity informatics tool, but the scope of the paper should be larger than that single application.

POTENTIAL AUTHORS SHOULD NOTE: When users register with the journal three check boxes are available towards the end of the form that allow a user to select potential roles: choices are "Reader," "Author," and "Reviewer"--anyone considering contributing to the journal should select all three. Once a user is registered, however, apparently only managers can alter their roles(!). This seems to be a (minor) flaw / oversight in the software, and may--for the moment--require that readers who wish to become authors have to re-register using a different username and email, and checking the 'author' box.

Privacy Statement

The names and email addresses entered in this journal site will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of this journal and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party. 

Peer Review Process

All materials published in Biodiversity Informatics are subject to detailed peer review.  Biodiversity Informatics typically seeks two anonymous peer reviews per manuscript submission. In cases of conflict between those two reviews, a third opinion or that of one of the editors may be sought. In some (rare) cases, the editors may decide to return manuscripts to authors prior to review with preliminary comments designed to improve the manuscript's chances of eventual acceptance. Each manuscript is inspected for non-original text and other unethical practices via a variety of means.

Plagiarism

Originality:  By submitting papers to Biodiversity Informatics, the authors attest that the work submitted to the journal is original. Any use of work or words of others must be appropriately cited or quoted.

Plagiarism:  By submitting articles to Biodiversity Informatics, the authors attest the following:

  • No part of manuscript is plagiarized from other sources
  • Proper reference is provided for all content extracted from other sources
  • Strong action will be taken against cases of plagiarism

All papers submitted have to pass through an initial screening, and will be checked through the Advanced Plagiarism Detection Software (CrossCheck by iThenticate). 

Ethics

This journal follows best practices for publishing and follows the Principles of transparency and best practice in scholarly publishing, including those outlined in the Publication ethics and related editorial policies, Peer Review and Advertising sections in the Principles.

Publication Frequency

BI will be published continuously, with papers appearing as they are ready throughout the year.

Copyright Notice

Copyright for articles published in this journal is retained by the authors, with first publication rights granted to the journal. All articles are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial license.

Open Access Policy

This journal provides open access to all of it content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. Such access is associated with increased readership and increased citation of an author's work. For more information on this approach, see the Public Knowledge Project, which has designed this system to improve the scholarly and public quality of research, and which freely distributes the journal system as well as other software to support the open access publishing of scholarly resources.

Biodiversity Informatics provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. Authors will never be charged to submit or publish a manuscript through Biodiversity Informatics and all articles will be published under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial license.

Archiving

Biodiversity Informatics is archived in Portico (www.portico.org) and at the University of Kansas

Author Guidelines

INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS

Biodiversity Informatics publishes articles in all areas related to information regarding biodiversity: creation of electronic data sets, and their management, integration, analysis, interpretation, and understanding. We welcome manuscripts presenting significant and original results that extend our understanding of biodiversity informatics.

Papers follow several formats:

  1. ARTICLES: Regular articles report either important additions to biodiversity informatics, or careful empirical studies that bear on significant questions in the field. They should include an abstract that summarizes the results and their implications. Demonstrating well-established phenomena in another taxon or context may fall short of being acceptable. Similarly, papers that simply apply existing models are less likely to be accepted than those that materially extend our understanding or provide practical applications.
  2. TRAINING MODULES: Training modules present and describe didactic materials that are available to the community, such as online courses, training materials, etc.
  3. BIODIVERSITY DIAGNOSES: Biodiversity diagnoses present analyses of completeness of biodiversity information for taxa or across regions.
  4. BOOK/MEDIA REVIEWS: Reviews evaluate recently published books or monographs and set the reviewed work in the context of the field. Book Reviews are normally solicited, but aspiring reviewers may propose writing a review to the Editors. 

GUIDELINES FOR MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION 

General formatting

Manuscripts should follow The Chicago Manual of Style, the CBE Style Manual, and the style and format of recent articles published in Evolution, except that web links or URLs should be placed in footnotes.

  • Submit the manuscript in Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) format.

  • Format authors' names and section headings in small caps.

  • Use continuous line numbering throughout the manuscript, rather than restarting line numbers on each page.

  • Do not hyphenate words at the right margin or justify the right margin.

  • Avoid footnotes in the main text whenever possible. Information that would otherwise appear in footnotes should generally be incorporated into the text, parenthetically if necessary.

References

  • Ensure that all references are formatted consistently throughout the manuscript.

  • Journal names in the Literature Cited section must be abbreviated according to BIOSIS.

  • Ensure that all references cited in the text appear in the Literature Cited section and vice versa.

Tables and mathematical expressions

  • All tables, including those in appendices, must be double-spaced and submitted in an editable format (e.g., Microsoft Word tables), rather than as images or screenshots.

  • Keep tables and their corresponding footnotes together.

  • Mathematical expressions must be clearly typed, with two blank lines before and after each equation.

Figures and illustrations

  • Submit all figures as separate files with a minimum resolution of 300 dpi.

  • Illustrations will be reduced to a maximum width of 88 mm (single column) or 180 mm (double column) and a maximum length of 230 mm when published. Line thicknesses, labels, and symbol sizes should be adjusted accordingly to ensure readability after reduction.

  • Figure legends must be double-spaced.

Supplementary material

  • Submit supplementary material as an editable Microsoft Word document (.doc or .docx) rather than a PDF.

ORCID authentication

All authors must link and authenticate their ORCID iDs through the journal's website. Please ensure that every co-author has completed this step.

 

SPECIAL GUIDELINES FOR BIODIVERSITY INFORMATICS TRAINING MODULES

Biodiversity Informatics welcomes peer-reviewed training modules designed to support education and capacity building in biodiversity informatics. These modules aim to provide accessible, high-quality educational resources for students, researchers, educators, and practitioners worldwide.

Training modules may address a broad range of topics in biodiversity informatics, including biodiversity data collection, management, integration, analysis, visualization, and application. They are intended to facilitate knowledge exchange, promote methodological skills, and support the use of biodiversity information in research, conservation, and decision-making.

The initiative seeks to make expert knowledge and practical learning resources available to a diverse international audience.

  1. The main project page is located at http://biodiversity-informatics-training.org.
  2. Publicity/announcements are handled through a Facebook page, at http://www.facebook.com/groups/BiodiversityInformatics/.
  3. The modules are published in the journal Biodiversity Informatics, located at https://journals.ku.edu/jbi.
  4. An example of a training module (the first one to be ‘published’) can be seen at https://journals.ku.edu/index.php/jbi/article/view/4300.

Required Components of Training Modules

Training modules should be designed to provide accessible, practical, and reusable educational resources. Each module should include four main components:

  1. Abstract. A concise summary outlining the main topics covered, learning objectives, and intended audience.

  2. Video lectures. Links to recorded lectures or instructional videos, preferably hosted on YouTube or another publicly accessible platform. Authors may produce and upload their own videos or contact the editorial team for guidance. Videos should be accessible without subscription or payment and, whenever possible, made available under an appropriate Creative Commons license. Authors should ensure that they have the necessary permissions for all materials included in their recordings.

  3. Reading materials. Relevant readings, references, or supplementary educational resources that support the topics covered in the module. Whenever possible, these materials should be accessible through persistent links, such as DOIs or URLs from institutional or recognized open-access repositories.

  4. Practical materials and examples. Exercises, sample datasets, tutorials, worked examples, or other resources that allow participants to apply the concepts and methods presented in the module. When applicable, data and code should be provided in accessible, reusable formats, accompanied by sufficient documentation to facilitate independent learning.

Submission and Editorial Support

Preparing a training module should be a manageable process for researchers and educators who wish to share their expertise with a broader audience. The emphasis should be on scientific accuracy, educational value, clarity, accessibility, and the reproducibility of practical examples, where applicable.

All training modules are subject to peer review to ensure the quality and relevance of their scientific and educational content.

The Biodiversity Informatics editorial team can provide guidance on preparing and submitting training modules.

For questions or additional information, please contact Town Peterson at 

town@ku.edu.

 

SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

Manuscripts must be in English, Spanish, or Portuguese. Manuscripts are submitted online via the Biodiversity Informatics website.

PEER REVIEW AND EDITORIAL DECISIONS

After a paper has been reviewed by the Editors and outside reviewers, the Editor will decide whether to accept or reject it. Acceptance is based on the quality of the work and writing and significance of the article to our understanding of evolution. Each paper must stand on its own merits and be a substantial contribution to the field. Authors of accepted papers will be asked to send an electronic version (Microsoft Word or Rich Text Format) of the accepted manuscript to the BI website for editing and publication.

STATEMENT ON AUTHORSHIP: Authorship of a paper carries with it responsibility as well as credit. All those whose names appear as authors should have played a significant role in designing or carrying out the research, writing the manuscript, or providing extensive guidance to the execution of the project. They should be able to present and defend the work in a public forum. Honorary authorship is to be avoided. All authors must be in agreement on both the submission and full content of any article carrying their name. Any violation of these conditions represents academic misconduct and will be dealt with accordingly.

CHARGES FOR PUBLICATION: Biodiversity Informatics is founded on the principle of free and open access to information, in this case information about biodiversity informatics. Hence, no page charges are requested.

COPYRIGHT: Copyright for articles published in this journal is retained by the authors, with first publication rights granted to the journal. All articles are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial license.

Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

The journal Biodiversity Informatics expects all persons involved in the publication process (author, journal editor, peer reviewer, publisher) to follow standards and norms of expected ethical behavior. These statements are based on COPE’s Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors (see http://publicationethics.org/resources/guidelines for various resources), and follow the template (roughly at least) of the National Journal of Community Medicine (http://www.njcmindia.org/home/about/22).

Publication Decisions: The editor decides which of the manuscripts submitted will be published. The editor will follow the journal’s stated policies, constrained by the relevant legal requirements regarding libel, copyright infringement, and plagiarism. The editor may confer with other editors or peer-reviewers in making these decisions.

Fair Play: The editor’s decisions regarding publication of manuscripts will be based on their intellectual content, without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the authors.

Confidentiality: The editor will not disclose any information about manuscripts submitted to any other parties, save for the corresponding author, reviewers and potential reviewers, and other editors.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest: Unpublished materials in submitted manuscripts will not be used in the editor's own research without the express written consent of the author.

DUTIES OF REVIEWERS

Contribution to Editorial Decisions:  Peer review assists the editor in editorial decisions; through the editor, review may also assist the author in improving manuscripts.

Expertise and Promptness: Potential referees who do not feel qualified to evaluate a manuscript, or who will not be able to provide reviews within reasonable periods of time should advise the editor and excuse him/herself from the review process.

Confidentiality: Manuscripts received for review will be treated as confidential, and cannot be shared with others without editorial authorization.

Standards of Objectivity: Reviews should be objective, and with appropriate supporting information and argument. Ad hominem comments should be avoided at all costs.

Acknowledgement of Sources: Reviewers should identify relevant published work not cited by the authors, and should provide sufficient reference that the authors can find such previous work. Reviewers should make known to the editor any substantive overlap between a manuscript under consideration and other work of which they have personal knowledge.

Disclosure and Conflict of Interest:  Information and ideas disclosed to peer reviewers is confidential and cannot be used for personal advantage. Reviewers should not review manuscripts in any case in which they have real or apparent conflicts of interest of any sort (competition, collaboration, personal relationships, institutional connections) with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the manuscript.

DUTIES OF AUTHORS

Reporting Standards: Authors should present careful accounting of work performed, together with objective discussion of significance of results. A paper should present data and methods in sufficient detail so that others can replicate the work. Fraudulent or known-inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.

Data Access and Retention: Authors may be asked to provide access to relevant raw data used in development of a paper for the review process. Authors should be prepared to provide access to such data (consistent with the ALPSP-STM Statement on Data and Databases) as practical, and should retain such data for a reasonable time after publication. Whenever possible, authors should deposit such data in openly accessible repositories.

Originality and Plagiarism: The authors attest that the work submitted to the journal is original. Any use of work or words of others must be appropriately cited or quoted.

Multiple, Redundant, or Concurrent Publication: Authors should not publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in multiple primary publications. Concurrent submissions of the same manuscript to multiple journals is unethical behavior and is unacceptable.

Authorship: Authorship should be limited to persons who have made a significant intellectual contributions specifically to the paper in question. These contributions may be to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the study. All who have made such contributions should be listed as co-authors. Others who participated in aspects of the research should be acknowledged appropriately. The corresponding author must ensure that all co-authors have seen and approved the final manuscript version and have agreed to its submission for publication.

Hazards and Human or Animal Subjects: Any work involving any hazardous materials or procedures, or that involves direct interaction with individual humans or other vertebrate animals must follow accepted norms for such work.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest: Authors must disclose any financial interests or other substantive conflicts of interest that might be construed as potentially influencing their results or interpretation of their manuscript. All sources of financial support for the research must be disclosed.

Errors in Published Works: Authors who discover significant errors or inaccuracies in the published work must notify the journal editor immediately, and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper.

USE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) TOOLS

Authors must disclose any use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools, including generative AI, during the preparation of their manuscripts.

The disclosure must specify which AI tools were used, when they were used, and for what purposes, such as literature searches, data analysis, coding, language editing, translation, or the generation of text, images, or other content.

Authors should include this information in a separate section titled "Declaration of AI Use", placed before the References section. If no AI tools were used, no declaration is required.

AI tools cannot be listed as authors. Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, integrity, and appropriate attribution of all content in their manuscripts, including any material generated or modified using AI tools.

The use of AI tools does not exempt authors from complying with the journal's standards for research integrity, transparency, and publication ethics.