outlets for alpha taxonomy

[Barry M. OConnor]

At 3:24 PM +0200 1/30/02, Denis Brothers wrote:
-Barry-
>There are some systematists who view the ICZN rule about paper-only
>publishing as anachronistic and are willing to flaunt the rule as a
>"test-case" so to speak.  Some have already done so.

-Denis-
>If such authors are happy to have their work ignored (or even pirated
>without acknowledgement), then they are free to follow this course. I
>hardly see it as a "test-case", however - such 'papers' effectively do
>not exist for nomenclatural purposes.

True today, but if enough people take this course, the next revision of the
ICZN could make valid electronic publication retroactive to some date.
Remember the vast majority of the "users" of names don't care about the
legalities of the ICZN, so if a name is published electronically, other
users may go ahead and "use" it.  I'm not defending this practice; I would
not do this myself.  However, there is a movement in this direction, and it
appears that not all journal editors will serve as a "firewall." - Barry

Barry M. OConnor
Curator & Professor             phone: (734) 763-4354
Museum of Zoology               FAX: (734) 763-4080
University of Michigan          e-mail: bmoc at umich.edu
1109 Geddes Ave.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1079  USA