[Taxacom] Species Cite: linking scientific names to publications and taxonomists

[Roderic Page]

Hi Donat,

I think we’re conflating access with granularity, although I realise that you would argue that the two are linked because of the argument that legally you can extract fragments of an article even if the article itself is copyrighted.

As I’ve said in response to Lyubo, I’m not arguing that having treatments isn’t nice, I’m just arguing that going from a string citation to an identifier (e.g., converting a string to a DOI) also adds something of value. Not that it is the best possible solution, or the only solution, but something that is an improvement on a simple string.

Regards,

Rod


On 3 Aug 2021, at 08:11, Donat Agosti <agosti at amnh.org<mailto:agosti at amnh.org>> wrote:

Hi Rod

Thanks for this example. I agree only insofar that we need the article citation. But in todays digital world a citation is not helpful, illustrated by your example, Coughenour, J. M., Simmons, M. P., Lombardi, J. A., Yakobson, K., & Archer, R. H. (2011). Phylogeny of Celastraceae subfamily Hippocrateoideae inferred from morphological characters and nuclear and plastid loci. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 59(2), 320–330. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2011.02.017 which leads to a closed access articlehttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2011.02.017

Whilst a taxonomic name and the Molec. Phylogen. Evol. 59(2): 328, for example for Pristimera dewildemaniana (N.Hallé) R.H.Archer refers to a treatment:

Pristimera dewildemaniana (N.Hallé) R.H.Archer, comb. nov.
Simirestis dewildemaniana N.Hallé, Bull. Mus. Nat. Hist. Nat., Sér 2,
30: 465 (1958). Hippocratea dewildemaniana (N.Hallé) J.B. Hall,
Kew. Bull. 35: 841 (1981). Simirestis dewildemaniana N.Hallé,
Mem. Inst. Franc. Afr. Noire 64: 71 (1962). —TYPE: Democratic
Republic of Congo, Central Forest, Lesse, Bequaert 4154 (BR, holo.).
Hippocratea affinis De Wild., Pl. Bequaert 2: 61 (1923).

which includes another plethora of links that is essentially an essential part of the catalogue.

A treatment citation is not at all cryptic but rather clear. The problem is that the current citation style to refer to an article is cumbersome, but once we made the treatments citable, this will be open, save time for anybody else interested in Pristimera dewildemaniana (N.Hallé) R.H.Archer, Molec. Phylogen. Evol. 59(2): 328.
Essentially anybody cataloguing makes the effort to find the treatments, but then discards it.

Donat