Data from: Taxonomic quality of species descriptions varies over time and with the number of authors, but unevenly among parasitic taxa

While concerns are being raised about a potential shortage of taxonomists and systematists, recent analyses suggest instead that the number of researchers involved in taxonomic descriptions is higher than ever and that the average number of new species described annually per taxonomist has declined in recent decades. Here, using nine metrics of taxonomic quality, such as the number of morphological traits measured, the number of separate line drawings included, and whether or not gene sequences are provided, we explore variation in taxonomic quality as a function of the number of authors and other potential determinants across 2366 descriptions of parasitic helminths published in 1337 articles between 1980 and 2014. Taxonomic quality has generally increased over time, but unequally among different groups of helminths. For example, the number of scanning electron micrographs per description has risen significantly over time in cestodes and nematodes, but decreased for digeneans. For most metrics used, the greater the number of authors per species description, the higher its quality, suggesting not more taxonomists but more collaborations between taxonomists and experts from other fields to produce more comprehensive species characterisations. Re-descriptions of species were of higher quality than their original descriptions, and the improved quality correlated with the number of years elapsed between them; However, the extent of this improvement varied among helminth species with different host taxa. Overall, our findings provide a note of caution for anyone using trends in the number of species described per author to extrapolate the total number of extant species. They also reveal cultural differences among taxonomists working on different groups of parasites that can serve to identify areas for potential improvement.尽管学界曾担忧分类学家（taxonomists）与系统学家（systematists）可能面临人才短缺，但近期的分析研究却表明，参与物种分类学描述的研究者数量较以往任何时期都更为庞大，且近数十年来，每位分类学家每年平均描述的新物种数量呈下降趋势。本研究依托9项分类学质量评估指标，包括被测形态学性状数量、附带独立线条图数量，以及是否提供基因序列等，针对1980年至2014年间发表于1337篇学术论文中的2366份寄生蠕虫（parasitic helminths）物种分类学描述开展分析，探究分类学质量随作者数量及其他潜在决定因素的变化规律。总体而言，分类学质量随时间推移有所提升，但不同类群寄生蠕虫的质量提升幅度并不均衡。例如，绦虫（cestodes）与线虫（nematodes）的每份分类描述所附带的扫描电子显微镜照片数量随时间显著增长，而复殖吸虫（digeneans）的该指标却呈下降趋势。就多数评估指标而言，单份物种描述的作者数量越多，其分类学质量越高，这暗示提升分类学质量的关键并非增加分类学家人数，而是推动分类学家与其他领域专家开展更多合作，以构建更为全面的物种特征描述。物种重描述的分类学质量高于原始描述，且质量提升幅度与两次描述间隔的年数呈正相关；不过，该提升程度因寄生蠕虫所对应宿主类群的不同而存在差异。总体而言，本研究结果对那些试图通过每位作者描述的物种数量趋势来推断现存物种总数的研究者发出了警示。本研究同时揭示了研究不同类群寄生虫的分类学家之间存在的学术文化差异，这一发现可用于定位潜在的改进领域。