Electronic publication and ZR

[Joan Thorne]

A short response from Zoological Record to Will Kipling's
comments.


The policy of ZR is to index only material which is, as far as we
can determine, properly published and publicly available.  In
deciding whether a publication fits these criteria we use such
indicators as the presence of ISSN/ISBN, evidence that the
material is deposited in a publicly accessible library, published by
an academic or commercial publisher etc.


Occasionally it can be difficult to determine the 'status' of a
publication and this is why we issue the statement quoted by Will
Kipling: 'The purpose of ZR, ZRO and ZR on CD is to provide
access to material, but not to decide on its merits. While every
care is taken to ensure accuracy, the appearance of a publication,
act or name in ZR, ZRO or ZR on CD should not be taken as an
indication that the item, act or name is validly published.'


With respect to acts or names published in electronic format we
are still debating how these should be treated for ZR.  It is our
belief that under the third edition of the Code the publication of an
act or name on CD ROM is acceptable, but publication on the
Internet is not.  Under the fourth edition, publication on CD ROM
will probably only be acceptable if it can be demonstrated that
identical copies are deposited in a number of publicly accessible
libraries.  Publication on the Internet alone will not be acceptable.
However, only when the final version of the Code is published will it
be absolutely clear what is acceptable.


Please note that the policy statements on the ZR web site and the
comments in this message relate only to ZR; they do not reflect
how publications are treated in Biological Abstracts/BIOSIS
Previews.  ZR and BA have separate editorial policies.


Joan Thorne

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Joan Thorne
Editorial Manager
BIOSIS, U.K.
54 Micklegate, York, North Yorkshire, Y01 1LF, U.K.

Telephone +44 (0)1904 642816  Fax +44 (0)1904 612793