Electronic publication

[Robert Mesibov]

Many thanks for the on- and off-list replies on this topic, especially
Fabio Moretzsohn's. Like Fabio, I am very happy with Zootaxa's efforts, and
I was hoping to model any special, taxonomic issues of our Museum's
'Records' on the Zootaxa prototype.

One opinion that came through in the responses was that electronic-only
taxonomic publication is not  (yet) acceptable. To quote one taxonomist:

'I also feel that an electronic-only journal is not much of an idea at all.
I know that at present there are many moves afoot for on-line publishing.
Despite the blather, most serious publications, though they may go
electronic, maintain a paper publication in parallel. My view, and that of
several colleagues with whom I have discussed such philosophies, is that
electronic-only journals are not up to much; they rarely attract the
highest quality papers and their readership is minimal. Personally, whilst
I would consider submitting a paper to QVM in its current form if the
opportunity arose,I would never ever publish in an electronic journal, and
I would be very unlikely to even consult one unless forced to.'

This taxonomist indicated that he would consider publishing in a 'Records'
that was mostly issued on CD but was also issued in parallel in a limited
set of print copies. The magic of paper...

Dr Robert Mesibov
Honorary Research Associate
Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery
Home contact: PO Box 101, Penguin, Tasmania, Australia 7316
(03) 64371195; 61 03 64371195