Only high-quality photographs are included in the PHOTOPAL database. A maximum of information is given about the species (origin of the specimen, Herbarium references, author of the species, synonymies, geographic distribution, period of blooming, ecology, etc.), the photographs of which appear in the PHOTOPAL database. Philosophy of the PHOTOPAL database aims to promote increasing quality in botanical identification of Cenozoic pollen records.

One of the following conditions is required for a free usage of the PHOTOPAL database :

to have provided high-quality pollen records to the "Cenozoic Pollen database and Climatic values" (C.P.C.) (http://medias.obs-mip.fr/cpc) as required in the C.P.C. Chart, to provide yearly 30 modern pollen slides with information on the botanical specimens (origin, Herbarium references if available).

Publications including results based on the use of the PHOTOPAL database must mention the database within acknowledgements.