Consortium of European Taxonomic Facilities (CETAF) best practices in electronic publishing in taxonomy

Abstract

In order to consider the effects of online publishing on the career of researchers, as well as to encourage both its recognition and its improved positioning within the field and beyond, the CETAF Membership organized two workshops during which specific questions about scientific publishing in taxonomy were addressed: authorship citation and Open Access. The present opinion paper is the result of those workshops held on 19 October 2016 in Madrid and on 4 October 2017 in Heraklion. The discussions were aimed at reconciling the requirements of the relevant nomenclatural codes with recommendations for best practices that are adapted to the evolving landscape of e-publishing. By evaluating the different policies of a range of journals regarding authorship citation, we were able to recognise the conflicting and incoherent practices related to the citation of taxon authorships; an issue that is important to clarify for scientific (explicit source), practical (findability of source) and reputational (citation index) reasons. A collective policy on authorship citation also fits into the wider challenge faced by researchers and institutions, whereby interoperability and traceability become key priorities, both for facilitating access to scientific resources and for generating metrics that accurately represent the activities and output of the community. Publications resulting from publicly-funded research should be considered as an essential part of the research process and there has been a strong move towards Open Access, which increases visibility, citability, innovation and impact. Diverse models of Open Access have appeared in scientific publishing but while they each promote free access to the end user, they are not always equitable for the authors and funders of the original research. Herein we formulate recommendations for the relevant research communities and outline the advantages behind adopting a collective strategy towards the issues of authorship citation and Open Access.