Availability & electronic publication

The ICZN rules governing availability of animal names require publication in a durable medium. To date, that has been interpreted as including paper and 'hard' digital media such as CD-ROMs, but this has become increasingly problematic as electronic publication becomes more common. To address this issue the Commission is considering an amendment to the Code that will permit electronic publication of new names and nomenclatural acts. A proposed amendment has been published in the following journals :

Zootaxa (October 2008)
African Invertebrates (November 2008)
Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society (December 2008)
Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature (December 2008)
Journal of Crustacean Biology (April 2009)

This initiated a year-long period for community input, after which a final amendment will be drafted and voted upon by the Commission (see also the Resolution adopted by the IUBS).

The summary points are:

Electronic-only publications should be allowed, if mechanisms can be found that give reasonable assurance of the long-term accessibility of the information they contain.
Some method of registration should be part of the mechanism of allowing electronic publication of names and nomenclatural acts.
Physical works that are not paper-based (e.g. CD-ROMs, DVDs) should be disallowed.

We welcome your input on this important topic. Previous comments in the Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature are listed below:

Contributions to the Discussion on Electronic Publication (March 2009)
Contributions to the Discussion on Electronic Publication II (September 2009)
Contributions to the Discussion on Electronic Publication III (December 2009)
Contributions to the Discussion on Electronic Publication IV (March 2010)
Contributions to the Discussion on Electronic Publication V (September 2010)
Contributions to the Discussion on Electronic Publication VI (December 2010)

The rules of the current edition of the Code remain in effect until the proposed amendment passes. If the proposed amendment does not pass vote, the current rules will, of course, remain in effect. The proposed amendment has not yet been sent for Commission vote, as work is accelerating on ZooBank, the online registration system for new nomenclatural acts. ZooBank is likely to be a central mechanism in allowing e-only publication.

If you are in doubt about availability of names published in a particular journal, please ask the editor or publisher to contact the ICZN Secretariat.

For editors: You might find it helpful to read the interim solution arrived at by PLoS in discussion with the Commission.

Sites and discussion lists where this has been broadcast :

EDIT (European Distributed Institute of Taxonomy)

Swedish GBIF (in Swedish)

Acarology (discussion list)

Bryozoologists listserver

Diptera.info site

Center for North American Herpetology

Southwestern Center for Herpetological Research Discussion Forums

Ruthenica (Russian Malacological Journal)

Taxacom

ICZN listserver