Glossary of Terms Used in ITIS

Taxonomic Status:

Current Standing (but see Data Quality Indicators, below) – The status of a name for a taxon in the taxonomic judgment of an author and/or an ITIS steward.  The current standing may be valid/accepted or invalid/not accepted.

Values:
valid (Animalia, Monera) or accepted (Plantae, Fungi) – The name for a taxon that is broadly used in the scientific community and recommended by ITIS.  When there is no consensus (e.g., multiple classifications exist), ITIS and its stewards have made a choice and may indicate the alternative(s) as a synonym(s) with an explanation.

invalid (Animalia, Monera) or not accepted (Plantae, Fungi) – Another name for the taxon that currently is placed in the synonymy of the currently accepted name.  Unacceptability reasons as determined by ITIS are as follows:

Kingdoms Animalia & Monera:

homonym and junior synonym
junior homonym
junior synonym
misapplied
nomen dubium
nomen oblitum          
original name/combination
other, see comments
pro parte
subsequent name/combination
unavailable, database artifact
unavailable, incorrect original spelling
unavailable, literature misspelling
unavailable, nomen nudum
unavailable, other
unavailable, suppressed by ruling
unjustified emendation
unnecessary replacement  

Kingdoms Plantae & Fungi:

database artifact
homonym (illegitimate)
horticultural
invalidly published, nomen nudum
invalidly published, other
misapplied
orthographic variant (misspelling)
other, see comments
pro parte
rejected name
superfluous renaming (illegitimate)
synonym

Data Quality Indicators:

(See also the Data Development History and Quality Indicators page for more information.)

Record Credibility Rating – (Populated for all records.)  A rating determined by criteria established by the ITIS Taxonomic Work Group reflecting the level of review of the entire record’s data elements and the perceived level of accuracy of the record’s scientific name and associated attributes. 

Values:
verified – standards met – All data elements in the record and the position of the scientific name in the hierarchy are perceived to be accurate and are supported by one or more credible references (e.g., publication, database, expert, data steward).       

verified – minimum standards met – Data in the record are incomplete and/or contain accuracy, placement, or nomenclatural issues, or are from a non-peer reviewed source.  Data issues can’t be resolved without detailed consultation with systematists and/or the pertinent literature. 

unverified – Data in the record are of unknown quality (legacy data).

Latest Record Review – (Populated at the rank of genus or above.)  The year a record was reviewed by ITIS.  See also cited references for their currency.   

Values:
date (e.g., 1999)
unknown

Global Species Completeness – (Populated at the rank of genus and above.) A rating indicating whether all of the known species are represented in ITIS. 

Values:
complete - All of the known species of the group are represented in ITIS.
partial -  Not all of the known species of the group are represented in ITIS.
unknown - It is uncertain whether or not all of the known species of the group are represented in ITIS.