Experts are calling for scientists to withhold data from published research, in order to protect rare species from poaching.

The ANU Fenner School of Environment and Society's David Lindenmayer said more than 20 newly-described species had been targeted by poachers.

And providing detailed habitat information only served to provide hunters with a map.

Wildlife poachers are able to access online reports and publications at a click of a button. In the past it could only be accessed through hard copies and library basements, Professor Lindenmayer said.

"In some cases, as soon as some animals are described, they can be poached to extinction in the wild," he said.

He said days after research was published on the pink-tail-worm lizard the school received calls about people trespassing on private property to find some.

"We started getting phone calls from land owners saying they had people digging up the rocky areas where they live," he said.

Professor Lindenmeyer and Professor Benjamin Scheele argued in an essay published in Science that self-censorship was a tangible safeguard the science community could put in place.

Professor Scheele said for decades the best practice for ecologists was to publish as much detail as possible, but this school of thought needed to change.

He argued biologists should take a lead from fields such as palaeontology, where the location of artefacts and fossils was often kept secret, to protect sites from tampering.

"There are a lot of benefits to open access online journals including an increased public awareness of science and citizen science participation, but for some species this benefit needs to be weighed against the risk of increased poaching" he said.

The problem ranged from coordinated poaching to public disturbance of habitat by those seeking to find or photograph species.

In response to the growing problem, scientists reporting behaviour had been changing slowly but Professor Scheele said the essay was a call to action.

To protect the rigorous assessment of research in academic papers, full location details would be disclosed at the submission stage and amended or generalised prior to release depending on the risk level. 

And if we don't know exactly where, how do we avoid development or infrastructure intruding on these habitats?

Professor Scheele said the restriction of information needed to be proportionate to the risk. The key was to strike a sensible balance that protected rare species.

"The challenge going forward with this is how to centrally organise information on rare and endangered species in a central, secure database that can be assessed," he said.

"If for example there is a development proposal a wide range of people need to know this information because it has important implications. There is currently not a structure in place for dealing with this issue, but it is something that we highlight and suggest it needs to be developed."