How TaxoCheck works
Upload a PDF
The PDF needs a text layer (exported from Word, InDesign, LaTeX ...). Scientific names are set in italics, so they are found reliably and with their page number. References are left out.
See how much was found
You see the number of taxon names (species and higher taxa) and the price of the report.
Pay and read the report
Each name is compared with the GBIF Backbone (based on the Catalogue of Life). The report takes seconds. You receive an invoice for the check.
Download
Excel, CSV or JSON, or print the report.
What is checked
- ACCEPTED
- The name is the accepted name in the catalogue.
- SYNONYM
- The name is outdated. The accepted name is shown, and if the species moved to another genus we say so. In a synonymy list this is normal and is shown as information only.
- FUZZY
- The name does not exist but a very similar one does: a misspelling, or an epithet ending that does not agree in gender with the genus (e.g. bellus / bella).
- NOT FOUND
- Nothing like it in the catalogue: a misspelling, a very recent name or something that is not a taxon name. A human has to look.
- AMBIGUOUS
- Several catalogue entries carry the same name (homonyms or many old synonyms). Add the author and year to identify it.
- DOUBTFUL
- The catalogue itself marks the name as doubtful.
- NEW TAXON
- sp. nov., gen. nov. ... are checked for names that already exist (possible homonym) and for a ZooBank / IPNI / MycoBank registration identifier near the name.
Besides the name itself, the authority is compared with the catalogue: parentheses (an author in parentheses means the species was described in another genus), the year, and whether the same name is written with different authorities in the article.
Limits - please read
- No catalogue is complete or final. The GBIF Backbone is a compilation; sometimes catalogues disagree. Treat the table as a checklist for a human expert.
- Names that are not in italics in the PDF may be missed. If a PDF has no italics at all, only names known to the catalogue are reported.
- Scanned PDFs without a text layer cannot be read.
- We do not check the nomenclatural acts themselves (availability, priority, type designations).