peer review and certification

[Robin Panza]

>> So, how to enforce the certification business.  Well, one way would be to
>> get the systematic societies who sponsor journals to refuse to accept papers
>> unless one of the authors was certified.  This idea would spread because of
>> the perception of quality work that would be attached to such papers.  In
>> other words, peer review isn't enough.
>
>Why isn't peer review enough? What are its specific failings (with
>respect to systematics/taxonomic pubs)? How would certification prevent
>those failings?

Perhaps we should discuss certifying the *journals* rather than the
taxonomists.  By this I mean that the ICBN/ICZN could explicitly state which
journals will qualify for proper publication of names.  This would cut out the
"self-published" and non-peer-reviewed stuff.

just a suggestion,
Robin K Panza                           panzar at clpgh.org
Section of Birds, Carnegie MNH
Pittsburgh  PA  15213  USA