From: Sue Gardner <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wed, 1 Oct 2014 13:59:52 +0000

Laura,

For purposes of biological nomenclature, the appearance of
nomenclatural acts, such as establishment of new genus and species
names, in written works must follow the pertinent code, such as the
International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN), and others. The
release of a dissertation in electronic format can violate these
codes, so professors and graduates who work in taxonomy request to
embargo ETDs until proper publication of the names can take place. I
believe it is a courtesy that we allow ample time (several years--as
long as they need) for our colleagues in this field to complete the
work. Taxonomy is exacting and time-consuming and species description
is often just one of many tasks the authors are engaged in. Two years
seems a woefully brief period for an embargo.

There is a protocol in place in the taxonomy community to work around
mandated deposit of manuscripts, such that authors can register names
in a database, such as Zoo Bank, to validate the names, but I think
this places an unfair burden on the authors who may wish to publish
the names in a more elegant  and purposeful manner.

I know of instances, also, where names presented in ETDs have turned
out to be ones that should never be released because later data showed
that there were problems with the original designations, or because
another author established another name for one of the organisms ahead
of the one in the ETD.

Here is a link to one pertinent section of the ICZN that covers this issue:

http://www.nhm.ac.uk/hosted-sites/iczn/code/index.jsp?nfv=true&article=9

and a link to information about proper electronic publication of names:

http://iczn.org/content/electronic-publication-made-available-amendment-code

Best wishes,
Sue Gardner

Sue Ann Gardner, MLS
Scholarly Communications Librarian
Discovery and Resource Management
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Lincoln, Nebraska 68588-4100 USA
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From: Laura Czerniewicz <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2014 20:08:37 +0000

Thanks for a very useful list which I enjoy following. I now need to
get a sense from others. Our university Council recently passed an
open access mandate which inter alia requires theses and dissertations
for be deposited before graduation. Two of the faculties have
requested that the metadata be put up but there be a two year embargo
to allow time for publishing. What are the pros and cons of doing this
in others’ experiences? What reasons might one give in argument either
way?

Thanks in advance

Laura

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UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN