Pensoft launches collaborative scientific writing platform
Pensoft Publishers has launched the beta version of ORPHO, a online platform designed for collaborative scientific writing and the production of machine-readable scholarly content.
The platform combines collaborative writing tools with semantic enrichment and builds on Pensoft’s 15 years of work developing semantic publishing infrastructure.
Within a shared online workspace, researchers can use built-in customisable templates, create their own templates or import existing files in ODT, Microsoft Word or JATS-XML formats.
Authors can collaborate in real time using track changes, role-based user rights, inline comments and document-level chat. ORPHO also automatically structures scientific content according to international publishing standards in JATS-XML format, with the aim of making published research outputs more discoverable, interoperable and FAIR-compliant.
Unlike its predecessor, the ARPHA Writing Tool, ORPHO is available as a standalone collaborative workspace and is not tied to journals hosted on Pensoft’s ARPHA Publishing Platform. Once a manuscript is completed, authors receive machine-readable content that can be formatted to meet the requirements of different journals.
ORPHO has been developed specifically for academic co-writing and enables users to search for and import references and research objects automatically.
Researchers can also apply citation-context metadata using the Citation Typing Ontology (CiTO), embed domain-specific ontologies and link terminology to external resources while retaining machine-readable content. The platform’s ability to support domain-specific workflows is currently being piloted in biodiversity science.
ORPHO integrates with biodiversity data aggregators including the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) and PlutoF, with import and export facilities for structured data.
Taxon names can also be imported and linked using persistent identifiers from resources including the Catalogue of Life, International Plant Names Index, World Register of Marine Species and World Flora Online.
Automated semantic tagging can be carried out against domain-specific ontologies and standards including the Environment Ontology, Relation Ontology, Gene Ontology and Darwin Core standard, as well as geographical gazetteers.
Pensoft said the platform is intended to reduce the technical and formatting workload faced by researchers while improving the structure of scholarly content for both human and machine use.
Prof. Dr. Lyubomir Penev, founder and CEO of Pensoft, said: “We are well aware that researchers today face an overwhelming list of formatting requirements and technical demands in an AI-driven landscape. It is true that rapid technological advancement presents both immense opportunities and mounting complexities for researchers. We built ORPHO to remove that friction by offering an intuitive, collaborative workspace that lets scientists focus on their research. As a scientific publisher, our mission is to make scholarly publishing a seamless, rewarding experience fit for the modern age.”
The ORPHO name draws partly on Orphium, a monotypic plant genus endemic to South Africa, and partly on Orpheus, the figure from Greek mythology associated with ancient Thrace. Pensoft is headquartered in Bulgaria, which encompasses part of the historical region of Thrace.
The beta release is now open to researchers, institutions and publishing platforms, with Pensoft inviting users to trial the platform and provide feedback.