CHAPTER IV

EFFECTIVE PUBLICATION

SECTION 1

CONDITIONS OF EFFECTIVE PUBLICATION

Article 29

29.1. Publication is effected, under this Code, by distribution of printed matter (through sale, exchange, or gift) to the general public or at least to scientific institutions with generally accessible libraries. Publication is also effected by distribution on or after 1 January 2012 of electronic material in Portable Document Format (PDF; see also Art. 29.3 and Rec. 29A.1) in an online publication with an International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) or an International Standard Book Number (ISBN).

Ex. 1. The paper containing the new combination Anaeromyces polycephalus (Y. C. Chen & al.) Fliegerová & al. (Kirk in Index Fungorum 1: 1. 2012), based on Piromyces polycephalus Y. C. Chen & al. (in Nova Hedwigia 75: 411. 2002), was effectively published when it was issued online in Portable Document Format with an ISSN on 1 January 2012.

Ex. 2. Intended nomenclatural novelties by Ruck & al. (in Molec. Phylogen. Evol. 103: 155–171. 22 Jul 2016) appeared only in supplementary material published online in Microsoft Word document format and were not therefore effectively published. These novelties were effectively published when they appeared in Portable Document Format (Ruck & al. in Notul. Alg. 10: 1–4. 17 Aug 2016), meeting the requirements of Art. 29.1.

Note 1. The distribution before 1 January 2012 of electronic material does not constitute effective publication.

Ex. 3. Floristic accounts of the Asteraceae in Flora of China 20–21, containing numerous nomenclatural novelties, were published online in Portable Document Format on 25 October 2011. Because they were distributed before 1 January 2012 they were not effectively published. Effective publication occurred when the printed version of the same volume became available on 11 November 2011.

Ex. 4. The paper in which the diatom “Tursiocola podocnemicola” was first described was distributed online on 14 December 2011 as an “iFirst” PDF document (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/0269249X.2011.642498) available through the Diatom Research website (ISSN 0269-249X, print; ISSN 2159-8347, online). Although the paper appeared online in an ISSN-bearing electronic publication in Portable Document Format, it was distributed before 1 January 2012 and was not therefore effectively published. It did not become effectively published on 1 January 2012 merely by remaining available online. Effective publication occurred on 28 February 2012 upon distribution of the printed version of the journal in which the name T. podocnemicola C. E. Wetzel (in Diatom Res. 27: 2. 2012) was validly published.

29.2. For the purpose of Art. 29.1, “online” is defined as accessible electronically via the World Wide Web.

29.3. Should Portable Document Format (PDF) be succeeded, a successor international standard format communicated by the General Committee (see Div. III Prov. 7.9) is acceptable.

Note 2. Citation, for electronic material, of an inappropriate ISSN or ISBN (e.g. one that does not exist or that refers to a serial publication or book in which that electronic material is not included, not even as a declared supplement to an included item) does not result in effective publication under Art. 29.1.

Ex. 5. The paper by Meyer, Baquero, and Cameron in which “Dracula trigonopetala” was described as an intended new species was placed online as a PDF/A document on 1 March 2012. There was no mention of a journal or ISSN in the document itself, but, because it was made accessible through the homepage of OrchideenJournal (ISSN 1864-9459), it could be argued that it qualified as an “online publication with an International Standard Serial Number” (Art. 29.1). However, the content of the paper was not presented in a format suited for publication in the OrchideenJournal and was evidently not intended for inclusion in that journal. A new version of the paper, translated into German, appeared in print (OrchideenJ. 19: 107–112) on 15 August 2012. Although this was effectively published, “D. trigonopetala” was not validly published there because no Latin or English description or diagnosis was provided. (The name was later validated as D. trigonopetala Gary Mey. & Baquero ex A. Doucette in Phytotaxa 74: 59. 9 December 2012.)

Recommendation 29A

29A.1. Publication electronically in Portable Document Format (PDF) should comply with the PDF/A archival standard (ISO 19005).

29A.2. Authors of electronic material should give preference to publications that are archived and curated, satisfying the following criteria as far as is practical (see also Rec. 29A.1):

(a) The material should be placed in multiple trusted online digital repositories, e.g. an ISO-certified repository.

(b) Digital repositories should be in more than one area of the world and preferably on different continents.