Integrating Biodiversity Content: ICZN -> ZooBank -> Institutional Repository -> Internet Archive

Authors

Sue Ann Gardner, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Paul Royster, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Date of this Version

6-2022

Document Type

Article

Citation

Poster presented at Open Repositories 2022, June 6-9, 2022, Denver, Colorado, United States

Presented in person by Paul Royster

Comments

Copyright 2022, the authors

License: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 International

Abstract

Background

With rapidly advancing global warming and the concomitant disruptive effects on life on Earth, documenting species is urgent (Ceballos et al., 2020). Taxonomists are keenly aware that they must do all that they can to document species before their demise. As of 2012, the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN, 1999; 2012) began to allow electronic publication of nomenclatural acts (resulting in the official naming of animal species).

Problem

Even though 10 years have passed since changes to the codification regarding the registration of animal species names, repository managers and animal taxonomists may not be collaborating to their fullest potential to leverage the capabilities in the digital environment.

Approach

The institutional repository managers at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (the poster authors) have collaborated with the editor of the born-digital journal Manter: Journal of Parasite Biodiversity to ensure that nomenclatural acts presented in the journal are legal according to the 2012 ICZN rules for electronic publication. For an all-electronic process, (1) the correct application of this rule relies on the completion of a series of steps involving (2) registration of a proposed taxonomic species name in ZooBank, (3) publication in a peer-reviewed electronic journal (which is often housed in a university’s institutional repository; the journal must have an ISSN), and (4) permanent archival deposition of the article in an electronic library (such as the Internet Archive). We have outlined visually the steps involved in depositing valid species names fully electronically.

Conclusion

Repository managers should be aware of the ICZN and its rules for codification of nomenclatural acts so they can be responsive to the needs of biodiversity researchers.