A zoologist asks: botanical names practice

[Meredith Lane]

Dear Barry,

It is common practice in the botanical literature to cite the
authority(ities) of a scientific name the first time it is used in a
paper (but not thereafter); the date of publication is not typically used.

You can easily acquire the dates and citations by searching the GBIF
(Global Biodiversity Information Facility) name service at www.gbif.net
<http://www.gbif.net>.

Meredith
M. A. Lane
Scientific Liaison, GBIF

Barry Roth wrote:

>Dear Taxacomers,
>
>A colleague and I have a manuscript in submission to a zoological taxonomic journal.  In a section about the habitat of our studied animals, we briefly describe the vegetation and list prominent plant species.  The editor has requested that we provide full authors' names and dates of proposal for these plant species -- not just author/reviser abbreviations as we have done.
>
>We took the plant names and author abbreviations from the current literature on our area, including the most widely cited regional flora.  Full names and dates are not given in that literature, and I think predominant practice is not to cite them.  It would be very burdensome for us to have to comply with the editor's request and the result would add little of value to the paper.  What are list members' experience and views on this subject?  Thanks,
>
>Barry Roth
>
>
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--
Meredith A. Lane, PhD
PR & Scientific Liaison
GBIF Secretariat
Global Biodiversity Information Facility
mlane at gbif.org
www.gbif.org <http://www.gbif.org>