Correct identification in sequence studies: role of the editor and reviewer

[James B. Whitfield]

Peter,
        This might be something to bring up with Bill Piel, Mike
Donoghue, Mike Sanderson, etc. for inclusion in TreeBASE.  Since it
already contains mechanisms for storing and associating trees, data
sets, publications, etc., it would be the ideal place for such data.
                                                        Cheers, Jim


>  >Should journal editors insist that authors of papers for which DNA
>sequences were newly obtained deposit voucher specimens in a museum
>or herbarium of their choice?  Such vouchers being specimens that
>are identifiable by morphological means which are state-of-the-art
>as currently practiced by taxonomists working on the group in
>question?
>  >
>  >I suppose an editor could not make the same request with respect
>to papers that utilize only publicly available sequences from
>previous studies.  But an editor or reviewer could request that
>authors provide some measure of confidence in the taxonomic
>identification of the sequence -- not just, "well, it was there, so
>we used it."
>  >
>
>
>But please don't forget that morphological studies may have neither
>specimens nor data that can be linked to the statement, "0 - leaves
>15-20 com mong, 1, leaves 20-28 cm long."  Editors don't seem to
>mind about this.
>
>We also desperately need a repository for the measurement etc. data
>that forms the basis of morphological characters/states.  Some years
>ago, Vernon Heywood bewailed the fate of the shoeboxes in which
>taxonomists keep such information - if they have it.  On the death
>of the taxonomist, the shoe box is recycled/thrown away.  If there
>are problems attaching a molecular character state to a tangible
>object. i.e. specimen, I am willing to bet that the problems with
>morphological data are worse, perhaps even far worse.
>
>Peter S.

--
James B. Whitfield
Associate Professor
Entomology, 321 AGRI
University of Arkansas
Fayetteville, AR 72701
tel.  501-575-2482
FAX 501-575-2452
email jwhitfie at uark.edu