[Taxacom] How important is italicisation, when writing taxon names on web pages?

[Richard Pyle]

Back in the days when manuscripts were drafted on a typewriter (no italics option), we used to underline scientific names.  My understanding was that the tradition of highlighting scientific names in some way (underlining, italics) has its origins in the practice of representing words from languages different from the primary language of the text.  Scientific names, being Latin, are almost always (especially in modern times) words in a language different from the surrounding text.  So, perhaps if these standardized styles already accommodate offsetting alternate language words from the main part of the text, the same style should be applied to scientific names.

In any case, the failure to italicize is the lesser offense.  The much greater offense is the capitalization of the first letter of the species epithet, which I continue see with disarming regularity in even respectable news venues.

Aloha,
Rich

Richard L. Pyle, PhD
Senior Curator of Ichthyology | Director of XCoRE
Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum
1525 Bernice Street, Honolulu, HI 96817-2704
Office: (808) 848-4115;  Fax: (808) 847-8252
eMail: deepreef at bishopmuseum.org
BishopMuseum.org
Our Mission: Bishop Museum inspires our community and visitors through the exploration and celebration of the extraordinary history, culture, and environment of Hawaiʻi and the Pacific.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Taxacom <taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu> On Behalf Of John
> Grehan via Taxacom
> Sent: Monday, November 1, 2021 5:21 AM
> To: Andy Mabbett <andy at pigsonthewing.org.uk>
> Cc: TaxaCom <taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>
> Subject: Re: [Taxacom] How important is italicisation, when writing taxon
> names on web pages?
> 
> While italics is most common, and usually within text, other options are to
> make the words stand out, such as in bold text, or underline.
> 
> On Mon, Nov 1, 2021 at 10:06 AM Andy Mabbett via Taxacom <
> taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu> wrote:
> 
> > I was always taught to write species, subspecies, and genus names in
> > italics, in print and online.
> >
> > Some time ago, I persuaded the Guardian newspaper to update their
> > style guide to include this [1] - something that they mostly, but not
> > always [2], do now.
> >
> > I recently asked the UK government to update their online style guide
> > similarly, and they refused, saying:
> >
> >
> > #~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#
> >
> > "A lot of the GOV.UK style guide decisions are based on:
> >
> >      * accessibility
> >      * evidence and user research into how people read online
> >
> > "For example, some evidence suggests that people with dyslexia find
> > italics difficult to read as it can make the text appear to run
> > together and cause crowding. It's important that GOV.UK content is
> > accessible to everyone, so you shouldn't see italics used across
> > GOV.UK.
> >
> > "However, our style guide isn't set in stone - with enough relevant
> > evidence and user-research we can take suggestions for updates to our
> > style team here. If you feel that you might be able to provide some
> > evidence to support a change, let us know and we can run it past our
> > team here."
> >
> > #~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#
> >
> > How important an issue do you think such italicisation is?
> >
> > Is it more important on pages about taxonomy than, say, news reporting
> > aimed at the general public?
> >
> > My understanding on accessibility is that italicised paragraphs or
> > long sentences should be avoided, but single words (for emphasis) or
> > species names, are OK. Can anyone give sources to support this? LInks
> > to prior discussion would also be welcome.
> >
> >
> > [1] https://www.theguardian.com/guardian-observer-style-guide-s
> >
> > [2] e.g.
> > https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/oct/28/human-species-homo-
> bod
> > oensis-who-lived-500000-years-ago-is-named
> >
> > --
> > Andy Mabbett
> > @pigsonthewing
> > http://pigsonthewing.org.uk
> > _______________________________________________
> > Taxacom Mailing List
> >
> > Send Taxacom mailing list submissions to: taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu
> > For list information; to subscribe or unsubscribe, visit:
> > http://mailman.nhm.ku.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/taxacom
> > You can reach the person managing the list at:
> > taxacom-owner at mailman.nhm.ku.edu
> > The Taxacom email archive back to 1992 can be searched at:
> > http://taxacom.markmail.org
> >
> > Nurturing nuance while assailing ambiguity for about 34 years, 1987-2021.
> >
> _______________________________________________
> Taxacom Mailing List
> 
> Send Taxacom mailing list submissions to: taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu For
> list information; to subscribe or unsubscribe, visit:
> http://mailman.nhm.ku.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/taxacom
> You can reach the person managing the list at: taxacom-
> owner at mailman.nhm.ku.edu The Taxacom email archive back to 1992 can be
> searched at: http://taxacom.markmail.org
> 
> Nurturing nuance while assailing ambiguity for about 34 years, 1987-2021.