Demonstration of the New IPNI (International Plant Names Index) Registration System

Abstract

Registration systems have long been in place for names of plant cultivars, fungi, prokaryotes and animals, and more recently for algae (Müller et al. 2022). Yet, despite previous attempts, nothing has become established for vascular plants. The newly released International Plant Names Index (IPNI) registration system aims to address this. We will be demonstrating that this new system can be used to register vascular plant names that are new to science, in addition to names that have been validly published but are not yet in IPNI (The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew et al. 2022). We will show the different options that are available and explain how we validate the data and ensure its integrity. The demonstration will also focus on the standards we use, and how these are maintained. The new registration system will allow resources to be used more efficiently and give scientists more control over how and when the names they publish are entered into IPNI and made available for users worldwide. Without registration, indexers must manually check scientific publications from around the world (both hard copy and online) to find newly published names. Registration will release time for indexers to spend on improving data quality, resolving nomenclatural issues, adding missing names, and ensuring IPNI complies with existing and future data standards. The current project is working to ensure that the registration system has a wide uptake to maximise these benefits.