The Ocean Species Discoveries (OSD) is a new publication format of concise and high-quality species descriptions that aims to accelerate the pace at which new marine invertebrate species are described and published. A list of all SOSA publications can be found here.
This ‘mega publication’ brings together concise, but high-quality species descriptions of several marine invertebrate taxa from all over the globe into one issue. The OSD focuses only on taxonomy, so species can be described and named without the need for further accompanying studies – often a major contributor to the 20-40 year lag we see in the description process. In addition to lowering the hurdle for publishing, OSD’s format aims to increase the number of citations and raise the impact factor for contributing authors. This provides an important incentive for getting species off the shelf and into publication.
The Ocean Species Discoveries is a collaborative effort that brings together not only species from all over the world, but scientists as well! We believe that the ambitious goal of describing 1.8 million ocean species is only achievable if we can leverage the collective strengths of global progress, expertise, and technological advancements from taxonomists and researchers across the globe.
The first edition of the OSD brought together 25 researchers from 10 countries to contribute thirteen marine invertebrate taxa: including one new genus, eleven new species, and one redescription and reinstatement. The species in the OSD originate from all over the globe, at depths from 5.2 to 7081 meters. Check out the first edition and the 13 incredible species described within it: https://bdj.pensoft.net/article/128431
Interested in contributing to one of the next OSD issues?
Scientists are invited to submit their taxonomic descriptions of marine invertebrates to OSD and become part of the SOSA Alliance. If you are interested in a collaboration, please read our Philosophy & Guidelines and complete our OSD Intake Form.
For any questions regarding OSD, please contact the head of our Discovery Unit, Jan Steger.
Contact the Discovery Unit:
Dr. Jan Steger
Lab Manager
OSD Frequently Asked Questions
How does OSD speed up the description process?
Currently, there’s a notable delay in naming and describing new animals – between 20-40 years, often because journals expect additional ecological or phylogenetic insights to be included along with a new species description. This means many marine species go undescribed due to lack of data. OSD addresses this by offering concise, complete taxonomic descriptions of marine invertebrate species across multiple phyla, without requiring a specific theme, or additional supplementary information. This new format allows individual scientists to make their species discoveries and descriptions public as a much faster rate; a critical need in a time of rapid species extinction.
Why does describing a species take so long?
The process of taxonomic description is famously slow: the delay from discovery to description is on average 20-40 years, meaning this is a publication process with delays on the scale of decades. There are many contributing factors to this delay. One of these is the motivation for scientists to have a more complete story to tell about new species – in context of ecological or phylogenetic insights – before publishing. This is reinforced by expectations from journals to include discussion or insights beyond the descriptive work itself. It is this key issue that OSD aims to address in this new publication format.
Are shorter, more concise species descriptions sufficient?
Yes. OSD promotes robust but compact descriptions that are – as much as possible – free of any unnecessary content. For example, many isopod descriptions profusely characterize the maxilla although this information is hardly ever used for comparative and diagnostic purposes. In such a case, an illustration should be provided but a descriptive text of non-relevant (according to the current knowledge) parts omitted. By including comprehensive high-quality images and (when available) DNA barcodes for every species, future revisions should be possible without re-describing those species published in OSD.
How will OSD increase the number of citations for authors?
Individual papers containing a single taxonomic description get cited only a few times unless they contain some interesting (e.g., ecological, evolutionary) context. A paper including 100 species descriptions will probably get cited 100 times more often than a single species description.
Who can contribute a species to OSD?
We are looking forward to contributions from taxonomists who have a species new to science ready to be described or even already ready to get published. We can offer to streamline the description process for/with you and will support you throughout the publication process in one of the upcoming issues of OSD.
How can I contribute a species description to a future edition of the OSD?
If you are interested in a collaboration, please read our Philosophy & Guidelines and complete our OSD Intake Form.
