A recent increase in published studies of lianas has been paralleled by a proliferation of protocols for censusing lianas. This article seeks to increase uniformity in liana inventories by providing specific recommendations for the determination of which taxa to include; the location of diameter measurement points on individual stems the setting of minimum stem diameter cut-offs the treatment of multiple-stemmed and rooted clonal groups and the measurement of non-cylindrical stems. Use of more uniform liana censusing protocols may facilitate comparison of independently collected datasets and further our understanding of global patterns in liana abundance diversity biomass and dynamics.