Registration FAQ¶

User: How can I register to PhycoBank?
PhycoBank: Simply write an e-mail to curation@phycobank.org. When you have received the respective data go to http://api.phycobank.org/phycobank/app/registration#!regStart and start.

User: Why "Registration" and "PasswordRecovery" at: http://api.phycobank.org/phycobank/app/registration#!regStart is not enabled in my browser?
PhycoBank: Because this functionality is being developed and will be available in spring 2023. Until then: see above.

User: I want to describe a new species. When it should be registered?
PhycoBank: Start a registration once your manuscript has been submitted.

User: The reference is not complete as long as it is not published. What shall I do?
PhycoBank: Enter the tentative reference, reference and reference details can be adjusted later. If you change title, authors, journal within the review- or proofreading, please correct the reference entry. Do not enter a new reference to prevent duplicates.

User: How author respective person names are handled by PhycoBank?
PhycoBank: Personal names are used for bibliographic references, for nomenclatural authors, and for collectors. Generally each person should be stored only once in PhycoBank. This is why PhycoBank has separate fields for "Family name", "Given name", Initial(s) which are meant as Initials of the "Given name(s)" only; they are used as abbreviations of "Given names" in bibliographic references. Each initial is followed by a dot. No space between initials.

User: How author teams are handled by PhycoBank?
PhycoBank: Author teams are built by adding each person (including the correct order). Generally each author team should be stored only once in PhycoBank.

User: I am sure that there is a mistake in an author name, how can I correct this?
PhycoBank: Sorry, you have no permission to correct this. Please contact the curator.

User: I am not sure if the author, stored in PhycoBank is the correct one for my data entry. What shall I do?
PhycoBank: If in doubt, enter the author as new or check the PhycoBank data portal for this familiy name to get more information.

User: The author team of my species differ from the author team of the publication. What shall I do?
PhycoBank: Go to "Nomenclatural reference" in the "Name editor". Klick "new" (right position, check mouse over). The reference author will be open. Please enter the new author team only and save. You will be redirected to the name editor automatically. If the "in-author team" has been entered already for this reference, please reuse it.

User: What is the difference between "Specimen type designation" and "Name type designation"?
PhycoBank: Species and below are typified by specimens (a herbarium sheet, a fixed sample, a microscopical slide), genera and higher rank names are typified by names (e.g. a genus name is typified by a species name, a family name is typified by a genus name).

User: Which fields are most important for type specimens?
PhycoBank: "Kind of unit" and "Type status" are mandatory. It is not possible to save a type without selecting the respective data. Furthermore "Collection" is mandatory because without this information, a new species will be invalid. "Collection" is the herbarium (it is strongly recommendet to use the Index Herbarium codes, see: http://sweetgum.nybg.org/science/ih/) or a university (Name, city, country are needed at least). "Access. num." means the number under which the specimen is stored within the "Collection". In a few cases, a nomenclatural type is a published image, then please select the "Image reference" (if it is lost, please try again) and the "Reference detail", i.e. the plate "t." and/or figure(s) "fig.".

User: Is it possible to get an identifier for a new taxon, I want to describe?
PhycoBank: To avoid mistakes, a unique identifier is only generated once a registration is saved within the PhycoBank database.

User: Why PhycoBank uses http-links as identifiers? Is this wise as databases might change their URLs after some years?
PhycoBank: PhycoBank uses stable identifers for nomenclatural acts. Advantages are the linkage to the database entry and a good usability, in contrast to UUIDs that are used in the background.

User: Shall I cite the identifier in my paper?
PhycoBank: Yes please; this ensures a cross-link between an electronic publication and PhycoBank (if the doi has been entered in PhycoBank)

User: I am done with the data entry, what is the next step?
PhycoBank: If you are ready with data entry, hand over the dataset to the curation, PhycoBank will finalise the record according to the published paper and make it visible on PhycoBank.

User: I know a specific scientific name is in the system but can not find it.
PhycoBank: There are two ways of finding names:

1. Names which are already used in a Registration can be found via the list function
2. Names which are nor yet registered can only be found when your are about to create a new registration for this name in the Registration workingset Editor :