Editing International Plant Names Index (section)

{{short description|Database of plant names}}
{{Infobox website
| name           = International Plant Names Index
| logo           = [[Image:IPNI logo4 1.png|frameless]]
| url            = {{official URL}}
| commercial     = No
| type           = Database
| registration   = Not required
| owner          = Plant Names Project
| author         = The [[Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew]], Harvard University Herbarium, and the Australian National Herbarium
| launch_date    = 1999
| current_status = 
}}

The '''International Plant Names Index''' ('''IPNI''') describes itself as "a [[database]] of the names and associated basic bibliographical details of [[seed plant]]s, [[fern]]s and [[lycophyte]]s." Coverage of plant names is best at the rank of [[species]] and [[genus]].<ref name=IPNI-on-IK/> It includes basic bibliographical details associated with the names. Its goals include eliminating the need for repeated reference to primary sources for basic bibliographic information about plant names.<ref name=IPNI-schol-publ/><ref name=IPNI-orig-schol-publ/>

The IPNI also maintains a list of standardized [[Author citation (botany)|author abbreviations]]. These were initially based on [[Authors of Plant Names|Brummitt & Powell (1992)]], but new names and abbreviations are continually added.