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

[Tony Rees]

If you want to cite examples of italicization of scientific names in
arguably the top 2 most prestigious scientific journals in the world
(Nature and Science), here are a couple of open access articles you could
use:

Hockings, K.J., Mubemba, B., Avanzi, C. et al. Leprosy in wild chimpanzees.
Nature 598, 652–656 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03968-4
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03968-4

CHRIS T. DARIMONT AND FANIE PELLETIER. Of war, tusks, and genes. SCIENCE •
22 Oct 2021 • Vol 374, Issue 6566 • pp. 394-395 • DOI:
10.1126/science.abm2980

Regards - Tony


On Tue, 2 Nov 2021 at 05:37, Richard Pyle via Taxacom <
taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu> wrote:

> 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
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>
> > -----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
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