Electronic publishing of new animal species allowed by new rules of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN)

In a highly debated decision, the rules for publication of scientific zoological names have changed to allow purely digital publications to meet the requirements of the stringent Code of Zoological Nomenclature. On 4th of September, the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) has passed an amendment that considers a publication in a digital scientific journal ‘legitimate’ if meeting archiving criteria and the publication is registered at the ICZN’s official online registry, ZooBank. The Amendment was published simultaneously in the journals ZooKeys and Zootaxa.

The decision has been contentious because the rules of the ICZN are considered to be among the most rigorous in scientific publication. The task of keeping information straight on animal names is immense and critical, as almost all data on the living world is linked through organismal names. Animals comprise the vast majority of multicellular species recognised (currently around 1.8 million, growing at a rate of about 20,000/year) and for each of these taxa, there are as many as 2-10 legitimately published names due to past debate and poor information exchange. Estimates of the total of living animal biodiversity are 4-20 times this number (8-50 million species).

The change in ICZN publication rules is intended to speed the process of publishing biodiversity information, to improve access to this information, and to help reduce the ‘taxonomic impediment’ that hinders cataloguing of the living world. The move, however, is seen by some as a risky experiment in unmooring a previously well-anchored system of linking publications, names and taxonomic concepts.

The ICZN ruling is explicit that while the publication can exist in an electronic-only format, it still must be published through a journal or book that has an ISSN or ISBN (International Standard Serial Number or International Standard Book Number) and should indicate that it will be archived for long term access. Purely web options such as blog posts, forums, Wikimedia, Wikipedia, Scratchpads and other potentially ephemeral, unarchived web-only sources still do not qualify as legitimate publications under the new ICZN rules.

In practical terms this means:

1) The work must be registered in ZooBank prior to publication

2) The work itself states the date of publication and includes the registration record number (LSID) at ZooBank

3) The ZooBank registration record contains the ISSN or ISBN of the piblication venue (journal or book0 and the name of an electronic archive where the work is intended to be preserved

“The change in ICZN publication rules is intended to speed the process of publishing biodiversity information, to improve access to this information, and to help reduce the ‘taxonomic impediment’ that hinders our cataloguing of the living world. The new rules will open the door to electronic publication and facilitate a truly web-based taxonomy!”, said Dr Ellinor Mitchel, Executive Secretary of ICZN.

Contact

Dr Ellinor Michel, Executive Secretary, ICZN

Tel: +44-207-942-5653 or mobile +44-750-607-1547

Email: iczn-em@nhm.ac.uk

Original source

International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (2012) Amendment of Articles 8, 9, 10, 21 and 78 of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature to expand and refine methods of publication. ZooKeys 219: 1–10. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.219.3944

The paper was published simultaneously also in the journal Zootaxa.

Additional Information:

The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature is an international body of experts on scientific nomenclature who act as the arbiter on scientific names of animals. The Commission’s job is to ensure names of animals are stable and universal by applying the rules of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, or occasionally by overriding the rules of the Code to better serve stability. www.iczn.org

The Natural History Museum is a world-leading science research centre and also winner of Visit London’s 2010 Evening Standard’s Peoples Choice Best London for Free Experience Award and Best Family Fun Award. Through its collections and scientific expertise the Museum is helping to conserve the extraordinary richness and diversity of the natural world with groundbreaking projects in more than 70 countries. www.nhm.ac.uk

Ensuring that species names mean what people think they mean is critical for reliable science, and normally the first example of a species that is described is the type specimen. A core role of natural history museums is to house and preserve type specimens, anchoring our information on biodiversity. The Natural History Museum in London has the largest collection of type specimens in the world.

