More than 30 biodiversity journals published on the ARPHA platform are now being archived in the Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL), a major open-access repository for biodiversity literature. The partnership includes over 16,000 legacy articles and will extend to newly published content, enhancing long-term access to critical research.
BHL, maintained by a global consortium of natural history, botanical, and research libraries, provides free access to digitized biodiversity literature. This resource enables researchers to locate historical and contemporary materials that are often difficult to obtain elsewhere.
Under the agreement, both past and future articles from ARPHA-hosted journals are being added to BHL, complete with full-text PDFs and comprehensive metadata. These records are indexed and integrated into the Library’s full-text search, improving discoverability for biodiversity researchers. Scientific names within the content are also indexed via the Global Names Architecture, supporting seamless taxonomic search across the BHL corpus.
The integration is supported by ARPHA’s automated workflow, which uses the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH) to expose and transmit metadata to BHL.
ARPHA stated that this collaboration will improve accessibility and discoverability of biodiversity literature, further supporting researchers’ ability to locate relevant information. The inclusion of ARPHA content in BHL aligns with broader efforts to expand open access to biodiversity knowledge through global infrastructure.
This development coincides with forthcoming organizational changes at BHL. Beginning in 2026, the Smithsonian Institution will conclude its role as host of the Library’s administrative and technical operations. While the consortium explores alternative models, BHL indicated that the transition presents an opportunity to pursue a more sustainable future for the initiative.
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