Request title pretty much sums it up, when entering a Taxa change, a source should be mandatory, not optional to document where the change information has come from.

Definitely agree with this request! There should always be a cite-able basis for a taxon change.

Ideal but tough to implement in some cases, like fixing a typos and other housecleaning changes.

Using plant examples familiar to me, one should at least be able to cite POWO or IPNI or something to back up a spelling correction. Otherwise, how is one certain that a spelling is wrong?

Some housecleaning examples where a source isn’t really citable: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxon_changes/32387 (merging duplicates) https://www.inaturalist.org/taxon_changes/30102 (swapping duplicates) https://www.inaturalist.org/taxon_changes/23462 (changes that have more to do with curatorial…

Thanks, those are helpful cases. So could it be as simple as having a mandatory “Reason for Change” next to the Source box, with 2 options: Duplicate, Other. Then if Other is selected, either a Source, or an entry in the Description box, must be added before the change would save?

Having a mandatory reason for change, if not a specific source for the housecleaning type situations, sounds like a good idea to me. One of many little things that would help improve taxonomic curation on iNat .

[image] cmcheatle: when entering a Taxa change, a source should be mandatory, not optional to document where the change information has come from. Sorry that I’m very late to the discussion. In 95+% of cases I would wholeheartedly agree. I’ve always listed the published source for a new tax…

(Without having looked into your example, most misidentifications shouldn’t be handled through taxon changes. Splitting a taxon on iNat based on unpublished research seems dicey to me.) I think the spirit of this feature request is to have a mandatory explanation of some sort. Many people commit ta…

These are not misidentifications. They are geographic corrections to existing valid taxa that result from new data coming from BOLD, historical misrepresentations of geography, or new/additional methods to ID moths based on phenotypic characteristics. I suppose they could all be listed in the News…

Mandatory source or reason in taxon changes

Feature Requests

Topic		Replies	Views
Improvements to taxonomic curation on iNat - wiki Curators	27	4437	November 18, 2025
New Taxon Flag Page - encourage source citations? Curators taxonomy	38	899	March 10, 2026
Include author citations for taxa Feature Requests declined	27	3071	October 4, 2023
Allow us to add sources to Taxon Names Feature Requests web , implemented	16	1740	February 7, 2023
Should taxonomic changes on very important, high profile taxa be discussed more broadly than flags? General	126	2921	March 7, 2025

Mandatory source or reason in taxon changes

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