Plazi

Plazi is an international, non-profit organization dedicated to improving access to taxonomic literature and supporting biodiversity research through digital preservation and dissemination. Established in 2008, the organization focuses on making scientific descriptions of species and related taxonomic data freely available to researchers, institutions, and the public. Its primary goal is to facilitate scientific progress by ensuring that taxonomic information is accessible, interoperable, and preserved for future generations.

The core of Plazi’s work involves creating digital documents from scientific publications, especially those in the public domain or under open licenses. One of its key initiatives is the development of the TaxonX markup standard, which converts legacy and newly published taxonomic literature into structured, machine-readable formats. This allows for enhanced data integration, searchability, and linking across biodiversity databases and digital repositories.

Plazi collaborates closely with other organizations, such as the Biodiversity Heritage Library and the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, to enhance the dissemination and interoperability of taxonomic data. The organization also contributes to the development of open-access repositories and tools, supporting the FAIR data principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable).

By promoting open access and digital preservation, Plazi aims to support taxonomic research, foster biodiversity conservation, and facilitate the discovery and documentation of Earth's biological diversity. Its efforts have been recognized as vital for advancing scientific communication and data-sharing in taxonomy and biodiversity science.

Overall, Plazi plays a significant role in the digital transformation of taxonomic literature, ensuring that vital scientific knowledge remains available, discoverable, and useful for ongoing and future biodiversity research.