{
  "id": 14284533,
  "title": "It runs in the family: New extinct species from charismatic clades are more likely to be published in high-impact journals than those from non-charismatic clades",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/13/it-runs-in-the-family-new-extinct-species-from-charismatic-clades-are",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-10-13T00:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "bioRxiv",
    "slug": "biorxiv",
    "url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.06.756798v1?rss=1"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A recent study has found that species from charismatic clades, such as dinosaurs, are more likely to be published in high-impact scientific journals like Nature and Science compared to species from less charismatic clades. This perceived taxonomic advantage in scholarly publishing may lead to a skewed distribution of opportunities and knowledge generation, favoring the charismatic clades at the expense of less charismatic ones. The researchers analyzed articles from 2000 to mid-2026 in 13 journals, spanning high-profile multidisciplinary journals to more specialized ones. They discovered a strong correlation between a journal's prestige, measured by its impact factor, and the proportion of new species belonging to charismatic clades. For instance, avemetatarsalians and mammaliamorphs made up over 50% of new species in Nature and Science, but less than 15% in the control group of paleontological journals. This bias in favor of charismatic clades has the potential to create a competitive landscape where opportunities and knowledge generation become increasingly concentrated, hindering the discipline's ability to maintain a comprehensive understanding of the history of life. The study highlights the need for further investigation into potential biases in paleontological publications, as they are a crucial element in the academic field.",
  "summary": "The cultural landscape of paleontology is dominated by dinosaurs and a few other charismatic clades that are more likely to be depicted in media and to be recognized by the public. There is a prevailing belief among researchers that these biases extend to scholarly publishing - that certain clades enjoy a 'taxonomic advantage' that renders them more likely to be published in high-impact journals…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}