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  <front>
    <journal-meta>
      <journal-id journal-id-type="publisher-id">102</journal-id>
      <journal-id journal-id-type="index">urn:lsid:arphahub.com:pub:73abe0ce-d97c-5d7c-bee5-b8e6e6fe6a17</journal-id>
      <journal-title-group>
        <journal-title xml:lang="en">ARPHA Preprints</journal-title>
        <abbrev-journal-title xml:lang="en">preprints</abbrev-journal-title>
      </journal-title-group>
      <publisher>
        <publisher-name>Pensoft Publishers</publisher-name>
      </publisher>
    </journal-meta>
    <article-meta>
      <article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.3897/arphapreprints.e141578</article-id>
      <article-id pub-id-type="publisher-id">141578</article-id>
      <article-categories>
        <subj-group subj-group-type="heading">
          <subject>Commentary</subject>
        </subj-group>
        <subj-group subj-group-type="scientific_subject">
          <subject>Bioinformatics</subject>
          <subject>Data analysis &amp; Modelling</subject>
          <subject>Databases</subject>
          <subject>Systematics</subject>
        </subj-group>
        <subj-group subj-group-type="geographical_area">
          <subject>World</subject>
        </subj-group>
      </article-categories>
      <title-group>
        <article-title>Commentary on "Preliminary Species Hypotheses" in Entomological Taxonomy: A Global Data and FAIR Infrastructure Perspective</article-title>
      </title-group>
      <contrib-group content-type="authors">
        <contrib contrib-type="author" corresp="yes">
          <name name-style="western">
            <surname>Islam</surname>
            <given-names>Sharif</given-names>
          </name>
          <email xlink:type="simple">sharif.islam@naturalis.nl</email>
          <uri content-type="orcid">https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8050-0299</uri>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="A1">1</xref>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="A2">2</xref>
        </contrib>
      </contrib-group>
      <aff id="A1">
        <label>1</label>
        <addr-line content-type="verbatim">Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, Netherlands</addr-line>
        <institution>Naturalis Biodiversity Center</institution>
        <addr-line content-type="city">Leiden</addr-line>
        <country>Netherlands</country>
      </aff>
      <aff id="A2">
        <label>2</label>
        <addr-line content-type="verbatim">DiSSCo, Leiden, Netherlands</addr-line>
        <institution>DiSSCo</institution>
        <addr-line content-type="city">Leiden</addr-line>
        <country>Netherlands</country>
      </aff>
      <author-notes>
        <fn fn-type="corresp">
          <p>Corresponding author: Sharif Islam (<email xlink:type="simple">sharif.islam@naturalis.nl</email>).</p>
        </fn>
        <fn fn-type="edited-by">
          <p>Academic editor: </p>
        </fn>
      </author-notes>
      <pub-date pub-type="collection">
        <year>2024</year>
      </pub-date>
      <pub-date pub-type="epub">
        <day>12</day>
        <month>11</month>
        <year>2024</year>
      </pub-date>
      <volume>5</volume>
      <uri content-type="arpha" xlink:href="http://openbiodiv.net/60EF6E45-99C0-5C7D-9C11-4BCA8B952CDA">60EF6E45-99C0-5C7D-9C11-4BCA8B952CDA</uri>
      <history>
        <date date-type="received">
          <day>11</day>
          <month>11</month>
          <year>2024</year>
        </date>
        <date date-type="accepted">
          <day>11</day>
          <month>11</month>
          <year>2024</year>
        </date>
      </history>
      <permissions>
        <copyright-statement>Sharif Islam</copyright-statement>
        <license license-type="creative-commons-attribution" xlink:href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" xlink:type="simple">
          <license-p>This is an open access preprint distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.</license-p>
        </license>
      </permissions>
      <abstract>
        <label>Abstract</label>
        <p>What if early taxonomic findings were treated like preprints, open to iterative improvement, or managed with practices from the open-source community, such as Git branching, merging, and patch management? Prompted by Buckley&amp;#39;s article <italic>Charting a Future for Entomological Taxonomy in New Zealand</italic> (2024), this commentary explores these possibilities in the context of biodiversity informatics. In response to the need for rapid, scalable biodiversity monitoring, Buckley introduces preliminary species hypotheses (PSH) as a bridge between quick identification tools and the rigorous Linnaean system, leveraging DNA barcoding and AI-assisted image recognition to produce provisional classifications that can later be validated. Expanding on Buckley’s framework, this commentary emphasises the critical role of data linking, versioning, and integration to support evolving taxonomic data. Borrowing from software and open-source practices, I explore the idea of managing PSH with an infrastructure that treats each taxonomic update as a versioned &amp;quot;commit,&amp;quot; which can be tracked, refined, and integrated over time. Drawing insights from FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) principles and Digital Extended Specimens, I identify infrastructure requirements for PSH, including robust data standards, persistent identifiers, and interoperability to support global biodiversity repositories. Additionally, Taxonomic Digital Objects offer a model for dynamically integrating PSH into adaptable taxonomies that can evolve with new data and tools. By positioning PSH within an open, infrastructure-focused framework, this commentary advocates for scalable, hypothesis-driven biodiversity data that meets modern conservation needs, bridging traditional and emerging practices in taxonomy.</p>
      </abstract>
    </article-meta>
  </front>
</article>
