Flowchart of the data entry and publication process of the biological traits data in the Polytraits database. Starting with a species list for which data are to be collected, the respective taxa are entered in the database by the user. For each taxon, the required information is gathered from the literature. Data are always connected to their literature reference in the database and often the original text passage is also stored. Once in the database, the data can be accessed through an application programming interface (API), which also serves the Polychaetes Scratchpads, where data are displayed and can be browsed through a biological classification. Furthermore, data can be downloaded for offline use in various formats, and finally they can be browsed through the web portal of the Encyclopedia of Life.

 
  Part of: Faulwetter S, Markantonatou V, Pavloudi C, Papageorgiou N, Keklikoglou K, Chatzinikolaou E, Pafilis E, Chatzigeorgiou G, Vasileiadou K, Dailianis T, Fanini L, Koulouri P, Arvanitidis C (2014) Polytraits: A database on biological traits of marine polychaetes. Biodiversity Data Journal 2: e1024. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.2.e1024