There are many fields in IUCN's Species Information Service (SIS) to record the various pieces of information required for a fully documented Red List assessment. Some of these fields are compulsory and some are optional, and a few should only be completed by specific people in the Red List assessment process (e.g., reviewers, consistency checkers, Red List Unit staff, etc.). SIS includes a background integrity check, which will check for missing information in compulsory fields and for conflicting information between some fields, but to help us identify which fields we need to complete, the following information can be used as a guide. Fields not mentioned below are optional.

Please note that this is still "work in progress", and that the contents of this webpage will be updated in the future.

Fields to complete during an assessment and to check during a review

The following fields are compulsory and should be completed by assessor groups, data compilers, or workshop facilitators while entering or editing information and assessing the taxon:

• Common Name, if known
• Taxonomic Notes
• Geographic Range information
• Biogeographic Realm
• Countries of Ocurrence (record presence, origin and seasonality)  
• Population information
• Current Population Trend
• Habitat Information
• IUCN Habitats Classification Scheme
• Generation Length – if known (certainly if Criterion A is used)
• System 
• General Use & Trade Information
• Detailed Use & Trade Information (if taxon is utilised)
• Offtake trends (if taxon is utilised)
• Threats Information
• Threats Classification Scheme
• Conservation Actions Information
• Research Needed
• Conservation Actions Needed
• Conservation Actions In Place
• Red List Status (include category and criteria); if Criteria Calculator is being used, all appropriate fields must be completed
• Date of Assessment
• Assessor(s)
• Contributor(s)
• Regional Information (only if it is a regional assessment that is being carried out, the default is Global)
• Assessment Rationale
• Reasons for change (if the taxon has been assessed before)
• Bibliography (all information sources must be cited in this section)

The following fields are compulsory if the Criteria Calculator is being used:

• Area of occupancy (AOO) – complete three sections (estimated AOO, continuing decline, extreme fluctuation)
• Extent of occurrence (EOO) – complete all three sections (estimated EOO, continuing decline, extreme fluctuation)
• Locations information – complete three sections (estimated number of locations, continuing decline, extreme fluctuation)
• Very restricted AOO or number of locations (D2) – this section is important to determine whether VU D2 applies.This is to be completed only if there is a plausible threat to the taxon; this is not to be used if the taxon has a restricted range but there are no actual or plausible threats
• Population Information – Current population trend is compulsory for ALL assessments, In addition to this, the Criteria Calculator needs the other 11 sections to be completed
• Population Reduction - Past – complete all five sections
• Population Reduction - Future – complete all five sections
• Population Reduction - Ongoing – complete all five sections
• Continuing Decline in Habitat
• Life History – Generation Length is the only field that is compulsory for the Criteria Calculator

Fields to complete during the consistency check  (compulsory for those carrying out the consistency checks)

• Consistency Check Status
• Data of Consistency Check – when the check is complete
• Status

Fields to complete during the peer-review (compulsory for those coordinating the peer-review) 

• Reviewed
• Date of Review
• Status
• Reviewers

Fields to complete after submission  (to be completed ONLY by Red List Unit staff)

• Caveat – this is used to flag current assessments that need to be highlighted on the Red List web site as being older than 10 years
• Petitioned – this is used to flag assessments that currently have an official petition against them underway
• Red List History Text – this field is used to for published assessments only, to indicate the name the taxon was listed under at the time if this was different from the taxonomic name currently used. Very specific text is used in this field

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