The Requirement to Cite Authors of Plant Names in Botanical Journals Author(S): P

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The Requirement to Cite Authors of Plant Names in Botanical Journals Author(s): P. J. Garnock-Jones and C. J. Webb Reviewed work(s): Source: Taxon, Vol. 45, No. 2 (May, 1996), pp. 285-286 Published by: International Association for Plant Taxonomy (IAPT) Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1224669 . Accessed: 28/05/2012 14:42

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http://www.jstor.org TAXON45 - MAY 1996 285

The requirementto cite authors of plant names in botanicaljournals

P. J. Garnock-Jones1& C. J. Webb2

The authorcitation is anyhowsimply a bibliogra- phic referenceand not an awardof merit. Stafleu& Cowan,1981)

Many botanicaljournals stipulate that wheneverscientific names are used they must (at first mention) be followed by citation of the name(s) of their authors. Problemsarise because authorcitations have to do with persons' names, whereas most scientific papersare about plants. We argue that this requirementplaces an unnecessary,and sometimesconfusing, burden on botanistswho are not concerned with nomenclaturalniceties, and adds no usefulinformation to theirpapers.

Requirementsof the Code The Code (Greuter& al., 1994) says (Art.23.1), "thename of a speciesis a binary combinationconsisting of the nameof a genusfollowed by a singlespecific epithet..." The binarysystem of nomenclatureis fundamentaland was introducedin 1753 by Linnaeus.Mandatory citation of authorswould seem to introducea trinominalsystem (genericname + specificepithet + authorcitation) with no gainin informationcontent. The Code also says (Art. 46.1), "for the indicationof the name of a taxon to be accurateand complete, and in order that the date may be readily verified, it is necessaryto cite the name of the author(s)who validly publishedthe name concerned..."In most generaluse, the name withoutauthority is accurate(i.e., unam- biguous)and complete(see Art. 23.1). It is rarelynecessary in such cases to verify the dateof publication.In general,authors of articlesuse namesto referto individual plants or populations.They are not referringto the entirespecies (or othertaxon). The name refersto individualplants considered to be conspecificwith the type of thatname, i.e., the use of the nameexpresses an identification,which is an opinion.

Whatuseful new informationdoes citationbring? In most cases where a name is simply used to refer to a plant or plants,author citation brings no additionalinformation or clarification.Most journals insist that namesare used in accordancewith the Code,such that only legitimatenames may be used. Thereforethere can be no ambiguityif authorcitations are not included,because no two taxa can legitimatelyhave the samename. For nomenclaturaldiscussions where competinghomonyms are involved,author citationsare essentialto convey meaning.Note thoughthat in such cases (except by conservation)only one homonymcan be legitimate.If a namewhich has homonyms is used withoutan authorcitation, it could be assumedthat it is used in its legitimate (or conserved)sense.

School of Biological Sciences, VictoriaUniversity of Wellington,P.O. Box 600, Wellington,New Zealand. 2 Foundationfor Research,Science and Technology, P.O. Box 12240, Wellington,New Zealand. 286 TAXON45 - MAY 1996

When is it helpful to cite authorities? - Authorcitations are essential when competing homonyms are being discussed, or when a rejectedor illegitimatehomonym is indicatedas a synonymof anaccepted name. - They are helpfulin taxonomicand floristicworks where users may wish to check bibliographyor refer to original descriptionsand literature.In such cases, full bibliographiccitations are to be preferred. - They may be helpfulwhen names,rather than the plantsidentified by those names, arebeing discussed. - Authorcitations may be appropriatewhen taxa in theirentirety are being referred to.

Practical problems with author citations In most cases, authorsfaced with a requirementto cite authors'names simply look up in a Florathe namesthey have used. Sometimes,they are askedto cite authorities for the namesthat were used in workswhich they arequoting, when authorswere not cited in the originalpapers. This can leadto importanterrors.

Recommendation We recommendthat journals leave it to authors(and, if necessary,the referees)to decidewhen authorcitations are necessary. We believe citationsare only essentialin certainkinds of nomenclaturaldiscussions. In our view, it is much more importantthat journals insist on citationof voucher specimens,which allow referenceto the plantsstudied, rather than authorities, which only allow referenceto the namesused for the taxato whichthe plantswere (rightly or wrongly) assigned.We stronglysupport the proposalof Goldblatt& al. (1992) that all journals should insist on propercitation of vouchersin paperspresenting originaldata. This requirement,which allows experimentsto be repeated,also guar- anteesthe work will not becomeunintelligible if futuretaxonomic revision changes the namesor circumscriptionsof taxastudied. We believe such a requirementshould replace the slavishadherence to citationof authorsin journals.

Literaturecited Goldblatt,P., Hoch, P. C. & McCook,L. M. 1992. Documentingscientific data: the need for voucherspecimens. Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard.79: 969-970. Greuter,W., Barrie,F. R., Burdet,H. M., Chaloner,W. G., Demoulin,V., Hawksworth,D. L., Jorgensen,P. M., Nicolson, D. H., Silva, P. C., Trehane,P. & McNeill, J. 1994. Interna- tional code of botanicalnomenclature (Tokyo Code) adoptedby the FifteenthInternational BotanicalCongress, Yokohama, August-September 1993. Regnum Veg. 131. Stafleu,F. A. & Cowan,R. S. 1981. Taxonomicliterature, ed. 2, 3. RegnumVeg. 105.