[Taxacom] Ornamental flourishes

[Stephen Thorpe]

the authors must be fans of Metallica! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cunning_Stunts_(video)


From: Geoffrey Read <gread at actrix.gen.nz>
To: Ken Kinman <kinman at hotmail.com> 
Cc: taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu 
Sent: Tuesday, 22 May 2012 6:11 PM
Subject: Re: [Taxacom] Ornamental flourishes

And maybe Ken this is it.

A Cunning Stunt: An Alternative Mechanism of Eukaryotic Translation
Initiation. DOI: 10.1126/scisignal.125pe32

I guess someone just had to do it first.

Geoff


On Tue, May 22, 2012 2:53 pm, Ken Kinman wrote:
>
> Hi Geoff,? ? I see no problem with those three examples.? They are
> catchy, informative, and in good taste.? The trouble is that such trends
> in today's world eventually end up inviting low-brow copy-cats who stoop
> to being misleading or even vulgar (just to stand out and attract
> attention).? When editors allow that sort of thing to creep into the
> scientific literature, that's when it will no longer deserve our approval.
>? Not that I think it will happen anytime soon, but in a world that
> increasingly celebrates self-serving sensationalism which overshadows any
> higher purpose (information), such examples are bound to crop up
> eventually.? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ----------------Ken
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> Date: Tue, 22 May 2012 14:00:12 +1200
>> From: gread at actrix.gen.nz
>> To: taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu
>> Subject: [Taxacom] Ornamental flourishes
>>
>> Do taxacomers approve of paper titles which preface the nitty-gritty of
>> the descriptive part with an adaption of a cliche phrase such as those
>> below?
>>
>> At the bottom of the deep blue sea: a new wood-boring bivalve (Mollusca,
>> Pholadidae, Xylophaga) from the Cape Verde Abyssal Plain (subtropical
>> Atlantic)
>>
>> Between a whale bone and the deep blue sea: the provenance of dwarf
>> males
>> in whale bone?eating tubeworms
>>
>> These two aren't bad actually, having some wit & relevance, but is this
>> 'lightening up' with embellishments a phenomenon to be encouraged? It
>> seems to be getting more common. I suppose it can make a paper more
>> memorable if original.
>>
>> Here's another ocean-related one.
>>
>> Descending into the abyss: Bathymetric patterns of diversity in decapod
>> crustaceans shift with taxonomic level and life strategies.




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