This special publication of Language Documentation & Conservation represents a collection of the first available phonetic descriptions of several languages of Southern New Guinea. This area encompasses the southernmost regions of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. The languages included in this collection belong to multiple non-related, non-Austronesian, and non-Australian families and include Yelmek (Yelmek-Maklew family; by TINA GREGOR), Ngkolmpu (Yam family; by MATTHEW CARROLL), Nmbo (Yam family; by ERI KASHIMA), Idi (Pahoturi River family; by DINEKE SCHOKKIN and colleagues), Bitur (Trans-New Guinea family; by PHILLIP ROGERS), and Urama (Kiwai family; by JASON BROWN and colleagues). Our issue opens with an overview of the region's phonetic systems by NICHOLAS EVANS (p. 7), and then each language is detailed in turn. First, we will contextualize the format of this special issue and the methodologies used for collecting, analyzing, and archiving the data in Southern New Guinea.