Data from the GBIF network is used in scientific studies published in peer-reviewed journals at a rate of more than four papers every day. Review highlights from the most recent publications drawn from the Secretariat’s ongoing literature tracking programme or check out the comprehensive literature database, which comprises more than 9,000 entries from scientific literature that cite the use of GBIF-mediated data.
Based on their scientific impact, relevance and uniqueness as well as diversity in taxonomy and geography, we select and feature a handful of papers every month. These are later compiled into a printed publication—the Science Review, our annual compilation of scientific articles—partial but instructive—enhanced and supported by free and open data that the GBIF network of members and publishers make available.
The applicability of free and open biodiversity data spans beyond academia, as GBIF-mediated data is also used to inform decision-making and policy—ranging from documents produced by local and national agencies—to extinction risk assessments for thousands of species on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species— and comprehensive reports by large-scale intergovernmental and convention-based bodies—such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).
