Has taxonomic vandalism gone too far? A case study, the rise of the pay-to-publish model and the pitfalls of Morchella systematics

Michael Loizides; Pablo Alvarado; Pierre Arthur Moreau; Boris Assyov; Viktorie Halasů; Marc Stadler; Andrea Rinaldi; Guilhermina Marques; Georgios I. Zervakis; Jan Borovička; Nicolas Van Vooren; Tine Grebenc; Franck Richard; Hatira Taşkin; Matthias Gube; Carmel Sammut; Carlo Agnello; Timothy J. Baroni; Pedro Crous; Vassiliki Fryssouli; Zacharoula Gonou; Urbano Guidori; Gro Gulden; Karen Hansen; Roy Kristiansen; Thomas Læssøe; Javier Mateos; Andrew Miller; Gabriel Moreno; Branislav Perić; Elias Polemis; Joan Carles Salom; José Leonardo Siquier; Martin Snabl; Øyvind Weholt; Jean Michel Bellanger

doi:10.1007/s11557-021-01755-z

Has taxonomic vandalism gone too far? A case study, the rise of the pay-to-publish model and the pitfalls of Morchella systematics

Michael Loizides^*, Pablo Alvarado, Pierre Arthur Moreau, Boris Assyov, Viktorie Halasů, Marc Stadler, Andrea Rinaldi, Guilhermina Marques, Georgios I. Zervakis, Jan Borovička, Nicolas Van Vooren, Tine Grebenc, Franck Richard, Hatira Taşkin, Matthias Gube, Carmel Sammut, Carlo Agnello, Timothy J. Baroni, Pedro Crous, Vassiliki FryssouliZacharoula Gonou, Urbano Guidori, Gro Gulden, Karen Hansen, Roy Kristiansen, Thomas Læssøe, Javier Mateos, Andrew Miller, Gabriel Moreno, Branislav Perić, Elias Polemis, Joan Carles Salom, José Leonardo Siquier, Martin Snabl, Øyvind Weholt, Jean Michel Bellanger

^*Bijbehorende auteur voor dit werk

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11 Citaten (Scopus)

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The genus Morchella has gone through turbulent taxonomic treatments. Although significant progress in Morchella systematics has been achieved in the past decade, several problems remain unresolved and taxonomy in the genus is still in flux. In late 2019, a paper published in the open-access journal Scientific Reports raised serious concerns about the taxonomic stability of the genus, but also about the future of academic publishing. The paper, entitled “High diversity of Morchella and a novel lineage of the esculenta clade from the north Qinling Mountains revealed by GCPSR-based study” by Phanpadith and colleagues, suffered from gross methodological errors, included false results and artifactual phylogenies, had misapplied citations throughout, and proposed a new species name invalidly. Although the paper was eventually retracted by Scientific Reports in 2021, the fact that such an overtly flawed and scientifically unsound paper was published in a high-ranked Q1 journal raises alarming questions about quality controls and safekeeping procedures in scholarly publishing. Using this paper as a case study, we provide a critical review on the pitfalls of Morchella systematics followed by a series of recommendations for the delimitation of species, description of taxa, and ultimately for a sustainable taxonomy in Morchella. Problems and loopholes in the academic publishing system are also identified and discussed, and additional quality controls in the pre- and post-publication stages are proposed.

Originele taal-2	Engels
Pagina's (van-tot)	7-38
Aantal pagina's	32
Tijdschrift	Mycological Progress
Volume	21
Nummer van het tijdschrift	1
DOI's	https://doi.org/10.1007/s11557-021-01755-z
Status	Gepubliceerd - 04 mrt. 2022

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Loizides, M., Alvarado, P., Moreau, P. A., Assyov, B., Halasů, V., Stadler, M., Rinaldi, A., Marques, G., Zervakis, G. I., Borovička, J., Van Vooren, N., Grebenc, T., Richard, F., Taşkin, H., Gube, M., Sammut, C., Agnello, C., Baroni, T. J., Crous, P., ... Bellanger, J. M. (2022). Has taxonomic vandalism gone too far? A case study, the rise of the pay-to-publish model and the pitfalls of Morchella systematics. Mycological Progress, 21(1), 7-38. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11557-021-01755-z

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title = "Has taxonomic vandalism gone too far? A case study, the rise of the pay-to-publish model and the pitfalls of Morchella systematics",

abstract = "The genus Morchella has gone through turbulent taxonomic treatments. Although significant progress in Morchella systematics has been achieved in the past decade, several problems remain unresolved and taxonomy in the genus is still in flux. In late 2019, a paper published in the open-access journal Scientific Reports raised serious concerns about the taxonomic stability of the genus, but also about the future of academic publishing. The paper, entitled “High diversity of Morchella and a novel lineage of the esculenta clade from the north Qinling Mountains revealed by GCPSR-based study” by Phanpadith and colleagues, suffered from gross methodological errors, included false results and artifactual phylogenies, had misapplied citations throughout, and proposed a new species name invalidly. Although the paper was eventually retracted by Scientific Reports in 2021, the fact that such an overtly flawed and scientifically unsound paper was published in a high-ranked Q1 journal raises alarming questions about quality controls and safekeeping procedures in scholarly publishing. Using this paper as a case study, we provide a critical review on the pitfalls of Morchella systematics followed by a series of recommendations for the delimitation of species, description of taxa, and ultimately for a sustainable taxonomy in Morchella. Problems and loopholes in the academic publishing system are also identified and discussed, and additional quality controls in the pre- and post-publication stages are proposed.",

keywords = "Cryptic species, Genealogical Concordance Phylogenetic Species Recognition, Integrative taxonomy, Methodology, Morels, Nomenclature, Phylogenetics, Species delimitation, Systematics",

author = "Michael Loizides and Pablo Alvarado and Moreau, {Pierre Arthur} and Boris Assyov and Viktorie Halasů and Marc Stadler and Andrea Rinaldi and Guilhermina Marques and Zervakis, {Georgios I.} and Jan Borovi{\v c}ka and {Van Vooren}, Nicolas and Tine Grebenc and Franck Richard and Hatira Ta{\c s}kin and Matthias Gube and Carmel Sammut and Carlo Agnello and Baroni, {Timothy J.} and Pedro Crous and Vassiliki Fryssouli and Zacharoula Gonou and Urbano Guidori and Gro Gulden and Karen Hansen and Roy Kristiansen and Thomas L{\ae}ss{\o}e and Javier Mateos and Andrew Miller and Gabriel Moreno and Branislav Peri{\'c} and Elias Polemis and Salom, {Joan Carles} and Siquier, {Jos{\'e} Leonardo} and Martin Snabl and {\O}yvind Weholt and Bellanger, {Jean Michel}",

note = "Funding Information: The contribution of TG was supported by research project J4-1766 “Methodology approaches in genome-based diversity and ecological plasticity study of truffles from their natural distribution areas” and the Research Program in Forest Biology, Ecology and Technology (P4-0107), all of the Slovenian Research Agency. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022, German Mycological Society and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.",

year = "2022",

month = mar,

day = "4",

doi = "10.1007/s11557-021-01755-z",

language = "English",

volume = "21",

pages = "7--38",

journal = "Mycological Progress",

issn = "1617-416X",

publisher = "Springer Verlag GmbH",

number = "1",

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Loizides, M, Alvarado, P, Moreau, PA, Assyov, B, Halasů, V, Stadler, M, Rinaldi, A, Marques, G, Zervakis, GI, Borovička, J, Van Vooren, N, Grebenc, T, Richard, F, Taşkin, H, Gube, M, Sammut, C, Agnello, C, Baroni, TJ, Crous, P, Fryssouli, V, Gonou, Z, Guidori, U, Gulden, G, Hansen, K, Kristiansen, R, Læssøe, T, Mateos, J, Miller, A, Moreno, G, Perić, B, Polemis, E, Salom, JC, Siquier, JL, Snabl, M, Weholt, Ø & Bellanger, JM 2022, 'Has taxonomic vandalism gone too far? A case study, the rise of the pay-to-publish model and the pitfalls of Morchella systematics', Mycological Progress, vol. 21, nr. 1, blz. 7-38. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11557-021-01755-z

Has taxonomic vandalism gone too far? A case study, the rise of the pay-to-publish model and the pitfalls of Morchella systematics. / Loizides, Michael; Alvarado, Pablo; Moreau, Pierre Arthur et al.
In: Mycological Progress, Vol. 21, Nr. 1, 04.03.2022, blz. 7-38.

Onderzoeksoutput: Bijdrage aan wetenschappelijk tijdschrift/periodieke uitgave › Boek/film/artikelrecensie › Wetenschappelijk

TY - JOUR

T1 - Has taxonomic vandalism gone too far? A case study, the rise of the pay-to-publish model and the pitfalls of Morchella systematics

AU - Loizides, Michael

AU - Alvarado, Pablo

AU - Moreau, Pierre Arthur

AU - Assyov, Boris

AU - Halasů, Viktorie

AU - Stadler, Marc

AU - Rinaldi, Andrea

AU - Marques, Guilhermina

AU - Zervakis, Georgios I.

AU - Borovička, Jan

AU - Van Vooren, Nicolas

AU - Grebenc, Tine

AU - Richard, Franck

AU - Taşkin, Hatira

AU - Gube, Matthias

AU - Sammut, Carmel

AU - Agnello, Carlo

AU - Baroni, Timothy J.

AU - Crous, Pedro

AU - Fryssouli, Vassiliki

AU - Gonou, Zacharoula

AU - Guidori, Urbano

AU - Gulden, Gro

AU - Hansen, Karen

AU - Kristiansen, Roy

AU - Læssøe, Thomas

AU - Mateos, Javier

AU - Miller, Andrew

AU - Moreno, Gabriel

AU - Perić, Branislav

AU - Polemis, Elias

AU - Salom, Joan Carles

AU - Siquier, José Leonardo

AU - Snabl, Martin

AU - Weholt, Øyvind

AU - Bellanger, Jean Michel

N1 - Funding Information: The contribution of TG was supported by research project J4-1766 “Methodology approaches in genome-based diversity and ecological plasticity study of truffles from their natural distribution areas” and the Research Program in Forest Biology, Ecology and Technology (P4-0107), all of the Slovenian Research Agency. Publisher Copyright: © 2022, German Mycological Society and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.

PY - 2022/3/4

Y1 - 2022/3/4

N2 - The genus Morchella has gone through turbulent taxonomic treatments. Although significant progress in Morchella systematics has been achieved in the past decade, several problems remain unresolved and taxonomy in the genus is still in flux. In late 2019, a paper published in the open-access journal Scientific Reports raised serious concerns about the taxonomic stability of the genus, but also about the future of academic publishing. The paper, entitled “High diversity of Morchella and a novel lineage of the esculenta clade from the north Qinling Mountains revealed by GCPSR-based study” by Phanpadith and colleagues, suffered from gross methodological errors, included false results and artifactual phylogenies, had misapplied citations throughout, and proposed a new species name invalidly. Although the paper was eventually retracted by Scientific Reports in 2021, the fact that such an overtly flawed and scientifically unsound paper was published in a high-ranked Q1 journal raises alarming questions about quality controls and safekeeping procedures in scholarly publishing. Using this paper as a case study, we provide a critical review on the pitfalls of Morchella systematics followed by a series of recommendations for the delimitation of species, description of taxa, and ultimately for a sustainable taxonomy in Morchella. Problems and loopholes in the academic publishing system are also identified and discussed, and additional quality controls in the pre- and post-publication stages are proposed.

AB - The genus Morchella has gone through turbulent taxonomic treatments. Although significant progress in Morchella systematics has been achieved in the past decade, several problems remain unresolved and taxonomy in the genus is still in flux. In late 2019, a paper published in the open-access journal Scientific Reports raised serious concerns about the taxonomic stability of the genus, but also about the future of academic publishing. The paper, entitled “High diversity of Morchella and a novel lineage of the esculenta clade from the north Qinling Mountains revealed by GCPSR-based study” by Phanpadith and colleagues, suffered from gross methodological errors, included false results and artifactual phylogenies, had misapplied citations throughout, and proposed a new species name invalidly. Although the paper was eventually retracted by Scientific Reports in 2021, the fact that such an overtly flawed and scientifically unsound paper was published in a high-ranked Q1 journal raises alarming questions about quality controls and safekeeping procedures in scholarly publishing. Using this paper as a case study, we provide a critical review on the pitfalls of Morchella systematics followed by a series of recommendations for the delimitation of species, description of taxa, and ultimately for a sustainable taxonomy in Morchella. Problems and loopholes in the academic publishing system are also identified and discussed, and additional quality controls in the pre- and post-publication stages are proposed.

KW - Cryptic species

KW - Genealogical Concordance Phylogenetic Species Recognition

KW - Integrative taxonomy

KW - Methodology

KW - Morels

KW - Nomenclature

KW - Phylogenetics

KW - Species delimitation

KW - Systematics

U2 - 10.1007/s11557-021-01755-z

DO - 10.1007/s11557-021-01755-z

M3 - Book/Film/Article review

AN - SCOPUS:85126109523

SN - 1617-416X

VL - 21

SP - 7

EP - 38

JO - Mycological Progress

JF - Mycological Progress

IS - 1

ER -

Has taxonomic vandalism gone too far? A case study, the rise of the pay-to-publish model and the pitfalls of Morchella systematics

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