ABSTRACT
As noted above, biodiversity research publications, which include journal articles, books, manuals, databases and other written and electronic forms of expression, raise important social, political and ethical questions. Consequently, newly recognized obligations, as expressed in the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and elsewhere (see Chapter 1), emphasize the need to clarify through a process of a consultation some fundamental issues such as prior informed consent, full disclosure of research objectives and appropriate negotiation of the terms of research relationships. These terms include the ways in which results might be published or disseminated, and how benefits resulting from dissemination ought to be shared. While by far the greatest concerns have arisen in relation to the publication of cultural knowledge, publication of biological data has also raised a number of concerns, particularly related to the distribution of threatened or commercially valuable endemic species, or those of special sacred or cultural significance to local communities.
