[Taxacom] two names online published - one new species

Richard Pyle deepreef at bishopmuseum.org
Fri Jan 22 15:15:55 CST 2016


Hi Stephen,

You seem to be confused about the role of "Secretary General".

Aloha,
Rich

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Stephen Thorpe [mailto:stephen_thorpe at yahoo.co.nz]
> Sent: Friday, January 22, 2016 11:03 AM
> To: 'Stephen Thorpe'; taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu; 'engel'; 'Doug
> Yanega'; deepreef at bishopmuseum.org
> Subject: RE: [Taxacom] two names online published - one new species
> 
> Rich,
> 
> I'm going to have to reply to some of your comments individually. Firstly:
> 
> >Finally, can you elaborate on what you mean by this statement:
> >"BTW, congrats to Z.-Q. Zhang on his recent appointment as head of the
> ICZN"
> >?
> 
> This is what I mean:
> http://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/about/news/snippets/researcher-in-nz-
> first
> 
> Looks like I do know something that you don't! :)
> 
> Stephen
> 
> --------------------------------------------
> On Sat, 23/1/16, Richard Pyle <deepreef at bishopmuseum.org> wrote:
> 
>  Subject: RE: [Taxacom] two names online published - one new species
>  To: "'Stephen Thorpe'" <stephen_thorpe at yahoo.co.nz>,
> taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu, "'engel'" <msengel at ku.edu>, "'Doug
> Yanega'" <dyanega at ucr.edu>
>  Received: Saturday, 23 January, 2016, 9:55 AM
> 
>  Hi Stephen,
> 
>  Let me clarify... I scale the
>  magnitude of the issue using a baseline of paper-based  publications and/or
> the situation as it existed prior to the  amendment for electronic
> publication.  I often see lots of  frantic arm-waving and other forms of virtual
> panic about  one crisis or another related to electronic publication.  To be
> sure, there are some new problems that have been  introduced with the
> Amendment, and CERTAINLY the Amendment  did not solve all of the
> problems that existed before it  (nor could it have).  As Doug has already
> alluded to, the  Amendment represents a compromise between many
> different  possible approaches, and ultimately reflects the best  consensus of
> the community at the time.
> 
>  One thing the Amendment has done is shine a  spotlight on problems that
> have existed for a long time, but  which people scarcely noticed before.  That
> they went  unnoticed before doesn't mean that they were any less  serious
> before; only that many of us were blissfully  ignorant.  One might argue that
> an "ignorance is  bliss" approach is warranted, but it seems incompatible  to
> basic scientific principles that we taxonomists would  generally like to adhere
> to.
> 
>  So, here are some examples of things that are
>  helpful:
>  - Specific observations about how
>  the existing rules fail in particular circumstances
>  - Constructive suggestions on how the next  edition of the Code can be
> improved to minimize such  failures
> 
>  And here are some
>  examples of things that are not helpful:
>  -
>  Frantic arm-waving and hyperbolic exclamations about how the
> nomenclatural sky is falling.
>  -
>  Misrepresentation of problems with the Code that have been  illuminated by
> the Amendment for electronic publication as  though they were *caused* by
> the Amendment (when in most  cases they were, in fact, extant prior to the
> Amendment, and  in many cases at least mitigated to some extent by the
> Amendment).
>  - Representing personal
>  interpretations about how the Code "should" be,  with what is actually
> written in the Code.
>  -
>  Utterly bogus (and, frankly,  childish) accusations that  the Amendment was
> somehow nefariously influenced by the  needs/demands of the for-profit
> publishing community.
> 
>  Note: Stephen, I am not
>  necessarily accusing you of all these things; but I've  seen examples of them
> fly through Taxacom and other venues  on a regular basis.
> 
>  In
>  answer to some of your specific questions: every edit to  every record in
> ZooBank is logged with information on what  field was changed, what the
> previous and new values are, who  changed them, and exactly (to the nearest
> millisecond, UTC
>  time) when the change was made. So, for example, if you  edited archive
> info into the Zoobank record for Systematic  Entomology, there would be a
> record of the fact that you  edited it, and exactly when you edited it. Not all
> of this  information is visible on the ZooBank website, but as soon  as we
> receive the next round of ZooBank development funding,  much of it will be
> added. In the meantime, I am happy to  retrieve and provide this information
> for any field of any  record.
> 
>  Finally, can you
>  elaborate on what you mean by this statement:
>  "BTW, congrats to Z.-Q. Zhang on his
>  recent appointment as head of the ICZN"
>  ?
> 
>  Either you
>  know something that I don't, or this serves as one more  example reflecting
> the reliability of your insights on the  ICZN and its functions.
> 
>  Thanks, and Aloha,
>  Rich
> 
> 
>  Richard L.
>  Pyle, PhD
>  Database Coordinator for Natural
>  Sciences | Associate Zoologist in Ichthyology | Dive Safety  Officer
> Department of Natural Sciences,  Bishop Museum, 1525 Bernice St.,
> Honolulu, HI 96817
>  Ph: (808)848-4115, Fax: (808)847-8252 email: deepreef at bishopmuseum.org
> http://hbs.bishopmuseum.org/staff/pylerichard.html
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>  > -----Original
>  Message-----
>  > From: Stephen Thorpe
>  [mailto:stephen_thorpe at yahoo.co.nz]
>  > Sent: Friday, January 22, 2016 10:29 AM  > To:
> taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu;  'engel'; 'Doug Yanega';  >
> deepreef at bishopmuseum.org  > Subject: RE: [Taxacom] two names online
> published - one new species  >  > The issue may not be "huge", but  I think it is
> probably bigger than you  >  indicate. There can be problems in determining
> "the  earliest date on which all  > of the  requirements have been met".
> Adding to this problem is  the fact that  > many publishers are  publishing
> print editions online ahead of actual print  > (sometimes by months). We
> have already  seen Frank Krell suggest, quite  >  erroneously in my view, that
> "March 2016" must be  a mistake on the  > Cretaceous Research  website. In
> fact, it is no mistake! They have published  > their March 2016 print edition
> online  already, but it presumably won't be  >  actually printed until March!
> One, I suppose only fairly  minor problem,  > concerns the nominal  year of
> publication for taxon names, which is  > frequently widely appended to the
> names  (i.e., Aus bus Author, YEAR). It is  > now  very hard to choose between
> one year and the next (if online  versions  > are published in one year, but  the
> print version isn't actually printed until the  > following year). Another
> problem is that  many people have wasted a  > significant  amount of time
> doing preregistrations on ZooBank that were  in  > fact pointless. They
> thought that  they were validly publishing online first!
>  > There are also issues relating to how easy  it might be to make apparently
> >  retroactive edits on ZooBank, which cannot be (at least not
>  publicly)
>  > datestamped (for example,
>  what would happen if I now edited archive info  > into the Zoobank record
> for Systematic
>  Entomology?) Regrettably, I think
>  > that
>  in the rush to push through a Zootaxa optimised electronic  amendment,  >
> the ICZN has created rather  a confusing mess for many authors and  >
> publishers to try to deal with. BTW, congrats to Z.-Q. Zhang  on his recent  >
> appointment as head of  the ICZN (I would have thought that there was  >
> rather a big COI involved there, but  apparently not...)  >  > Stephen  >  >
>  --------------------------------------------
>  > On Fri, 22/1/16, Richard Pyle <deepreef at bishopmuseum.org>
>  wrote:
>  >
>  >  Subject:
>  RE: [Taxacom] two names online published - one new  species  >  To:
> "'Stephen  Thorpe'" <stephen_thorpe at yahoo.co.nz>,  >
> taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu,  "'engel'" <msengel at ku.edu>,  "'Doug  >
> Yanega'"
>  <dyanega at ucr.edu>
>  >  Received: Friday, 22 January, 2016, 6:45  PM  >  >  Well,  it's neither
> >  new, nor huge*.  But it is a problem, and it was a problem  that was  >
> recognized prior to the publication of  the  Amendment, and one which the  >
> Commissioners have discussed  several times.
>  >
>  >  The
>  >  fundamental question that we do not have  a definitive answer  for yet
> (even  >  though we have an over-abundance of opinions),  is how to
> establish the  > date of publication for  purposes of  priority, when the
> following dates are  > non-identical:
>  >
>  >  1) The date on which the
>  >  publication was registered in
>  ZooBank.
>  >  2)
>  >
>  The date of publication as stated in the ZooBank record.
>  >  3) The date of publication as stated in  the  work itself.
>  >  4) The date on
>  which the first
>  >  electronic edition of
>  the work was obtainable.
>  >  5) The date
>  on which the ISSN or ISBN was added  to the ZooBank  record.
>  >  6) The date on which
>  >  the Intended archive was added to the  ZooBank record.
>  >  7) The date on which
>  a revised version of the  electronic edition of the work  > was obtainable
> (e.g.,  containing  evidence of registration).
>  >  8) The
>  >  date on which paper copies were
>  obtainable.
>  >
>  >
>  There are other dates as well
>  >  (e.g.,
>  the date of publication as stated in the paper  edition of  the work,  > etc.),
> but I hope you get the  point  that it's not a simple issue, because there  > are
> many  possible dates associated with  a given work.
>  >
>  >
>  So... which is the date of
>  >
>  publication for purposes of priority?  Certainly, most  would agree that it  >
> cannot be prior to
>  #4 (assuming the  above list is in chronological  > sequence).  Certainly,
> not  after #8  (provided the paper edition meets all  >  other  criteria of the
> code for paper-based  publications).  Most  > Commissioners I  have
> discussed this with agree that the  logical answer  is,  > generally "the earliest
> date  on  which all of the requirements have been  > met".   As #2 has no
> bearing on any article  in the Code, we can probably  > ignore that one.  But
> all the  others  are in potential play.  One could argue  > (pretty  effectively, in
> fact), that  while the Code requires  electronic works to  > include the date of
> publication to be  stated within the work itself, there is no  > requirement
> that  it be the *correct*  date of publication.  Indeed, if such a  > requirement
> was, in fact, part of the Code  (or how the Code  is interpreted),  >  stability
> would most likely suffer.
>  >
>  >  Until there is clarity on this
>  >  issue, either by Declaration, Amendment,  formal statement,  or ratified
> 5th  >  Edition by the Commission, it seems to me  (and most others  I've
> discussed it  > with), that the  trusty "the earliest date on which all of the
> requirements  > have been met"
>  approach seems the most  logical to use as a guideline.
>  >
>  >  Aloha,
>  >  Rich
>  >
>  >  *The reason it's not a
>  "huge"
>  >  issue is that it
>  ultimately affects date of publication for  purposes of  priority;  > and while
> there may be a few  cases  where potentially competing names  > both fall
> within the  "grey  zone", there certainly aren't many.
>  >
>  >
>  >  > -----Original
>  >  Message-----
>  >  >
>  From: Stephen Thorpe
>  >  [mailto:stephen_thorpe at yahoo.co.nz]
>  >  > Sent: Thursday, January 21, 2016
>  11:53  AM  > To:
>  > taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu;
>  engel; Doug Yanega  > Cc:
>  > deepreef at bishopmuseum.org
>  > Subject: Re: [Taxacom] two names online  > published - one new
> species  >  >  Doug (CC Rich),  >  > I think we may have  > just stumbled upon
> a  huge problem:
>  "the ZooBank  >  registration state both  > the name of an electronic archive
> intended to  > preserve the work and  ..."
>  >  >
>  >  > I
>  have
>  >  always assumed that the
>  publisher does this, once for each  journal?
>  >  > Certainly Magnolia Press does
>  >  it for Zootaxa (not surprisingly,
>  perhaps, since  > the whole electronic
>  > amendment is arguably  optimised for
>  Zootaxa). How  > many  authors think
>  > to worry about the archive when
>  registering  articles on  > ZooBank? Bugger  > all!
>  >  Looking at
>  some random records on ZooBank, I'm now  > worried  that a  > large
> number of them fail  this  requirement! I think we need  > some  >
> clarification here (Rich?)  >  >  Stephen  >  >  >
>  --------------------------------------------
>  >  > On Fri, 22/1/16, Doug Yanega <dyanega at ucr.edu>  >  wrote:
>  >  >
>  >  >  Subject:
>  >
>  Re: [Taxacom] two names online published - one new  species  >  To:
>  > taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu,
>  "engel" <msengel at ku.edu>
>  >  Received:
>  > Friday, 22 January,
>  2016,
>  >  10:17 AM
>  >
>  >
>  >  >  On
>  >
>  1/21/16 1:03 PM,
>  >  >  Stephen
>  Thorpe
>  >  wrote:
>  >
>  >  > It is worth
>  >  >  noting
>  that Michael Engel did
>  >  preregister
>  his article (twice
>  >  >
>  >  actually!) on ZooBank:
>  >  >  >
>  >
>  >  > 18 October 2015 http://zoobank.org/References/A6A94078-42E5-48B8-
>  >  > B602-49DA7D0523F6
>  >  >
>  >  [Record not
>  publicly viewable]
>  >  >  >
>  >  13
>  >  >
>  November 2015 http://zoobank.org/References/ADFE8605-38F3-45C6-
>  >  > B686-5094367C9695
>  >  >
>  >  >
>  >  >  > It would therefore
>  >  >  appear to be the fault of the
>  journal  (Cretaceous Research)  editorial  > team  >  that no ZooBank
> registration  was indicated in  the  publication, and  > very  > unfortunate
> in  this case  since it  the same taxon was apparently  > validly  > described as
> new by  Pohl  & Beutel shortly after!
>  >
>  >  >
>  >  >  It is not just
>  this one thing that
>  >  causes the  name
>  to be unavailable.
>  >  >
>  >  There are *three*
>  >
>  >  requirements under
>  >  the present
>  ICZN, and the Engel et  al. online paper  > failed to  comply with  > *two*
> of  them, not  just  one. Note  the following  > (from  >
> >  http://iczn.org/content/electronic-publication-made-available-
>  > amendment-
>  >  >
>  code):
>  >  >
>  >
>  >  " The requirements for
>  >
>  >  electronic publications are that the  work be  registered in ZooBank before
> > it  >  is published,  that the work itself  state  the date of  publication and  >
> contain  > evidence  that registration has  occurred,  and that the ZooBank  >
> registration  > state  both the name  of an  electronic  archive intended to  >
> preserve the work  > and the ISSN or  ISBN  >  >  associated  with the work."
>  >  >
>  >  >  The
>  online version of this
>  >  >  work
>  fulfills the first of these
>  >
>  criteria,  but neither of the latter two.
>  >  >
>  >  >
>  Sincerely,
>  >  >
>  >  >  --
>  >  >
>  Doug Yanega      Dept.
>  >  >  of
>  Entomology
>  >     Entomology
>  Research  Museum  Univ. of  California,  > Riverside,  CA  > >  92521-0314
>     skype:
>  >  dyanega
>  >  >  phone: (951) 827-4315
>  >  (disclaimer: opinions are  mine, not
>  UCR's)
>  > >
>  http://cache.ucr.edu/~heraty/yanega.html
>  >  >     "There are
>  some
>  >  enterprises
>  >  >  in which a careful
>  >  disorderliness
>  >
>  >
>  >  >
>  >
>     is the true method" - Herman Melville,  Moby Dick, Chap. 82  >  >  >
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>  >  years of
>  >  >  Taxacom in 2016.




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