[Taxacom] are journal-ranking algorithms code-compliant?
Derek Sikes
dssikes at alaska.edu
Wed Apr 15 10:28:12 CDT 2015
2015
I feel I should provide a little more detail on one example of this problem:
In the thesis, typical of many works, any author who wrote "These species
may form a monophyletic group because they all share x, y and z." was cited
because this was a hypothesis of phylogenetic relationship that the student
could test.
But if an author and actually named that monophyletic group as a new genus
back in 1977... and although the student also wanted to test the monophyly
of all genera... the authors of those genera were not cited.
The lesson learned - if you want your work to be cited, never name your
monophyletic groups!
-Derek
On Tue, Apr 14, 2015 at 8:18 PM, Gerwin Kasperek <
sls2411 at ub.uni-frankfurt.de> wrote:
>
> Quoting Stephen Thorpe <stephen_thorpe at yahoo.co.nz>:
>
>> It would be completely pointless to treat name authorities as citations!
>> For one thing, certain Turks would rub their hands with glee at the
>> prospect of all those citations for renaming homonyms! For another thing,
>> it makes no more sense than to cite the person who first coined any term
>> used in the article, or a person who helped to invent any concept used
>> therein. Should we cite Linnaeus every time we use the Linnean system of
>> naming? Should we cite Hennig every time a cladistic concept is used?
>> Should we cite Thomas Edison if we mention a light bulb?
>> Stephen
>>
>
>
> Eugene Garfield, inventor of the impact factor, wrote some interesting
> papers on what he called uncitedness. He saw three forms of uncitedness:
> uncitedness I: publications too irrelevant or lousy
> uncitedness II: publications overlooked by later authors
> uncitedness III: "It is an uncitedness of distinction that comes to those
> whose work has become so well known (and presumably been previously so
> heavily cited) that one finds it at first tedious, then unnecessary, and
> finally actually gauche to cite such men at all." (E. Garfield, Essays of
> an Information Scientist 1: 413-414, 1973)
>
> Obviously, Garfield did not recognise uncitedness of taxonomic authors,
> else he would have considered this to be form no. IV. Most cases of
> uncitedness of taxonomic authors do not seem to fit any of the three forms
> described (although a minority might be refered to form III).
>
> Regards
> Gerwin Kasperek
>
>
>
> --------------------------------------------
>> On Wed, 15/4/15, Frank T. Krell <Frank.Krell at dmns.org> wrote:
>>
>> Subject: RE: [Taxacom] are journal-ranking algorithms code-compliant?
>> To: "mivie at montana.edu" <mivie at montana.edu>, "deepreef at bishopmuseum.org"
>> <deepreef at bishopmuseum.org>, "'Dan Lahr'" <dlahr at ib.usp.br>, "'Stephen
>> Thorpe'" <stephen_thorpe at yahoo.co.nz>
>> Cc: "'TAXACOM'" <taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>, "penev at pensoft.net" <
>> penev at pensoft.net>
>> Received: Wednesday, 15 April, 2015, 9:44 AM
>>
>> It doesn't help the
>> impact factor, but it helps citation counts of authors (i.e.
>> us taxonomists). So it would be good for our metrics rather
>> than for the journals' metrics.
>> Frank
>>
>>
>> Dr. Frank-T.
>> Krell
>> Curator of Entomology
>> Commissioner, International Commission on
>> Zoological Nomenclature
>> Chair, ICZN ZooBank
>> Committee
>> Department of Zoology
>> Denver Museum of Nature & Science
>> 2001 Colorado Boulevard
>> Denver, CO 80205-5798 USA
>> Frank.Krell at dmns.org
>>
>> Phone: (+1) (303) 370-8244
>> Fax: (+1) (303) 331-6492
>> http://www.dmns.org/science/museum-scientists/frank-krell
>> lab page: http://www.dmns.org/krell-lab
>>
>> The Denver Museum of Nature
>> & Science aspires to create a community of critical
>> thinkers who understand the lessons of the past and act as
>> responsible stewards of the future.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Taxacom [mailto:taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu]
>> On Behalf Of Michael A. Ivie
>> Sent: Tuesday,
>> April 14, 2015 2:39 PM
>> To: deepreef at bishopmuseum.org;
>> 'Dan Lahr'; 'Stephen Thorpe'
>> Cc: 'TAXACOM'; penev at pensoft.net
>> Subject: Re: [Taxacom] are journal-ranking
>> algorithms code-compliant?
>>
>> If anyone is thinking that citing the paper is
>> going to help impact factors, think again, as only the
>> citations in the first 2 years post publication are
>> counted. The half-life of a taxonomic paper may be 50
>> years, but that does not matter.
>>
>> Mike
>>
>> On
>> 4/14/2015 2:35 PM, Richard Pyle wrote:
>> >
>> I have always treated name authorities as citations (i.e.,
>> included the full literature citation in the
>> bibliography). In the days when paper-based publication
>> dominated and every character on the printed page was
>> precious, editors would push back. Now, there doesn't
>> seem to be as much (if any) resistance.
>> >
>> > Aloha,
>> > Rich
>> >
>> >> -----Original Message-----
>> >> From: Taxacom [mailto:taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu]
>> On Behalf
>> >> Of Dan Lahr
>> >> Sent: Tuesday, April 14, 2015 1:56
>> AM
>> >> To: Stephen Thorpe
>> >> Cc: TAXACOM; penev at pensoft.net
>> >> Subject: Re: [Taxacom] are
>> journal-ranking algorithms code-compliant?
>> >>
>> >> Hi all,
>> >>
>> >> This
>> discussion has brought back an issue that I often wondered
>> about.
>> >>
>> >>
>> Assume that the authority placed after a name, besides being
>> metadata
>> >> that objectively
>> establishes unambiguous taxon identity, is ALSO a
>> citation.
>> >> This should actually mean
>> that taxonomic descriptions are in fact highly cited.
>> >>
>> >> Perhaps it is
>> easier to start actually adding authority citations in
>> >> the references list. This would
>> certainly increase IF, not to
>> >>
>> mention it may increase objectivity in some works. I am not
>> entirely
>> >> sure what the down-side
>> to doing this would be.
>> >>
>> >> best,
>> >>
>> >> dan
>> >>
>> >> __________________________________
>> >> Daniel J. G. Lahr
>> >> PhD, Assist. Prof.
>> >> Dept of Zoology, Univ. of Sao Paulo,
>> Brazil Office number: + 55 (11)
>> >>
>> 3091 0948 http://www.ib.usp.br/zoologia/lahr/
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> On Mon, Apr 13, 2015 at 10:08 PM,
>> Stephen Thorpe
>> >> <stephen_thorpe at yahoo.co.nz
>> >>> wrote:
>> >>> Doug Yanega said [Quote]So, if
>> Zootaxa went from 25% of all names to
>> >>> 100%, ...?[Unquote]
>> >>>
>> >>> It
>> might not look too good if the ICZN ever tried to declare
>> Zootaxa
>> >>> as the sole valid
>> journal for zoological nomenclature, since it is
>> >>> privately owned by an ICZN
>> commissioner. Even if he sold it
>> >>> beforehand, its market value would
>> be greatly increased if this were
>> >>> known
>> >> to
>> be in the pipeline.
>> >>> At least it
>> would solve the problem that the electronic amendment
>> >>> seems to have been written with
>> the Zootaxa publishing model firmly
>> >>> in mind (and little or no thought
>> given to other publishing models),
>> >>> though one could perhaps see the
>> whole thing as someone playing a
>> >>> long game for personal gain.
>> I'm not suggesting, of course, that
>> >>> this is the case, but only that it
>> might look that way.
>> >>>
>> >>> Also, the microbiology system is a
>> bit pointless. It simply creates
>> >>> two different systems of
>> nomenclature, one just slightly more
>> >>> "official" than the
>> other. For most intents and purposes, candidatus
>> >>> names are just fine as names for
>> taxa, and their validation in IJSEM
>> >>> adds nothing but a bureaucratic
>> rubber stamp. I guess that there is
>> >>> a bit of bureaucrat in every
>> scientist, defines as making things
>> >>> overly complicated for no
>> practical gain.
>> >>>
>> >>> Stephen
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> --------------------------------------------
>> >>> On Tue, 14/4/15, Doug Yanega
>> <dyanega at ucr.edu>
>> wrote:
>> >>>
>> >>> Subject: Re:
>> [Taxacom] are journal-ranking algorithms code-compliant?
>> >>> To: "Roderic
>> Page" <Roderic.Page at glasgow.ac.uk>,
>> "TAXACOM" <
>> >>> taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>
>> >>> Received: Tuesday, 14
>> April, 2015, 1:18 PM
>> >>>
>> >>> On 4/13/15 4:44
>> PM,
>> >>> Roderic Page
>> wrote:
>> >>> > Hi
>> Doug,
>> >>> >
>> >>> > Alas that's
>> not how
>> >>> impact
>> factor works. It's a function of both the > number of
>>
>> >>> articles published by a
>> journal, and the number of > citations,
>> >>> see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impact_factor
>> >>> >
>> >>> > Given that
>> most
>> >>> taxonomic
>> work is likely to few citations (certainly > over the
>>
>> >>> two-year period typically
>> used when calculating impact > factor).
>> >>> Consider Zootaxa, far
>> and away the largest journal in >
>> >>> zoological taxonomy. In 2013
>> approximately a quarter of all
>> >>> published > animal names were
>> published in Zootaxa, but its impact
>> >>> factor in the > same year
>> was 1.060 >
>> >>> http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/support/impactfactor.htm
>> >>> >
>> >>> > A mega journal
>> for
>> >>> taxonomy is
>> pretty much exactly the wrong strategy > to maximise
>>
>> >>> impact factor.
>> >>> >
>> >>> So, if Zootaxa went
>> from
>> >>> 25% of all
>> names to 100%, you're saying that its impact factor
>>
>> >>> would DECREASE?
>> >>>
>> >>> Also, while I see
>> your point
>> >>> in
>> terms of the status quo, are you not among the people
>> >>> advocating that scientific names
>> that are digitally published get
>> >>> automatically linked back to their
>> original publications?
>> >>>
>> >>> If this becomes
>> common practice, will that not mean that every
>> >>> time a scientific name appears
>> in print, it will *automatically*
>> >>> create a trackable, quantifiable
>> citation event? This is more a
>> >>> matter of how people track
>> citations, and is *also* presumably
>> >>> subject to change as technology
>> evolves. I admit that I assume it
>> >>> will change to our advantage, and
>> in precisely this way. Do you not see this happening?
>> >>>
>> >>> Sincerely,
>> >>>
>> >>> --
>> >>>
>> >>> Doug Yanega
>> Dept. of Entomology
>> >>>
>> Entomology Research Museum
>> >>> Univ. of California,
>> Riverside, CA 92521-0314
>> >>>
>> skype: dyanega
>> >>> phone: (951)
>> >>> 827-4315 (disclaimer:
>> opinions are mine, not UCR's)
>> >>>
>> http://cache.ucr.edu/~heraty/yanega.html
>> >>> "There are some
>> enterprises
>> >>> in
>> which a careful disorderliness
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> is the true method" - Herman Melville, Moby Dick,
>> Chap. 82
>> >>>
>> >>> _______________________________________________
>> >>> Taxacom Mailing
>> List
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>> >>> The Taxacom Archive
>> back to 1992 may be searched at:
>> >>> http://taxacom.markmail.org
>> >>>
>> >>> Celebrating 28 years
>> of
>> >>> Taxacom in
>> 2015.
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>> >>>
>> >>>
>> Celebrating 28 years of Taxacom in 2015.
>> >>>
>> >>
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>> 28 years of Taxacom in 2015.
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>> --
>> __________________________________________________
>>
>> Michael A. Ivie, Ph.D.,
>> F.R.E.S.
>>
>> Montana Entomology
>> Collection
>> Marsh Labs, Room 50
>> 1911 West Lincoln Street
>> NW
>> corner of Lincoln and S.19th
>> Montana State
>> University
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>> USA
>>
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>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>> Celebrating 28 years of Taxacom in 2015.
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>>
>
> _______________________________________________
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> Celebrating 28 years of Taxacom in 2015.
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--
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Derek S. Sikes, Curator of Insects
Associate Professor of Entomology
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dssikes at alaska.edu
phone: 907-474-6278
FAX: 907-474-5469
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