2015/07/15 by Theodor C. H. Cole · 1 citation
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Medicine · Chemistry · #Plant Diversity and Evolution #Plant and animal studies #Plant Ecology and Taxonomy Studies #Expert opinion #Phylogenetics #Group (periodic table) #Order (exchange) #Genealogy #Epistemology #History #Biology #Philosophy #Medicine #Chemistry #Business
paper · pdf · doi:10.7287/peerj.preprints.1238v1
openalex publication_date 2015/07/15 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/14
The Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG) is a loose assemblage of systematic botanists aiming to establish a stable, modern classification system of flowering plants strongly based on molecular phylogenetics. The group published three seminal papers starting in 1998. An update to be entitled "APG IV" is in preparation and due shortly. A survey was conducted among systematic botanists in the forefront of this project, the results of which were recently published. The author of this Opinion Piece comments on the concept, evaluation, and results of this survey, and on the advice provided by the initiators, in particular regarding the order Boraginales. Expert opinion should be favored over a general majority vote on suggestive questions of an uncoordinated survey conducted by a single "authority". Science is based on knowledge and on scholarly expertise, and should not be made a matter of popular votes and majority preferences.