1. The European Journal of
Taxonomy:
towards an E-journal for
descriptive taxonomy
Patrick Grootaert (RBINS)
Laurence Bénichou (MNHN) Steve Dessein (NBGB) Daphne Duin (EDIT)
Isabelle Gérard (RMCA) Graham Higley (NHML) Koen Martens (RBINS)
CETAF October 2010

2. Taxonomic journals in NHIs
• Within EDIT consortium
≈ 25 out of 28 EDIT members are publishers
≈ 79 journals (+ 45 book/ monograph series)
≈ 70% available online (55 journals)
≈ 28% (22 journals) with Impact Factor
(of which 58 % <1 = 13 journals)
CETAF October 2010

3. Taxonomic journals in NHIs
• Small journal (without IF) that fail to attract good
papers
• Good journals (with IF) that attract more papers
than they can publish rapidly
• Journals commercially outsourced that have lost
editorial control (rush for ever increasing IF...)
=> All would benefit from a joint initiative like EJT
CETAF October 2010

4. Why do NHI need a new journal?
1. Real need for a high quality, peer-reviewed
e-journal in systematic biology
– That accepts descriptive taxonomic work
– Provides all services of high level analytical
journals
=> Previous EDIT meetings and the success of
new journals such as Zootaxa, Zookeys show
that such a journal would be highly valued by
the taxonomic community
CETAF October 2010

5. Why do we need a new journal?
2. The world of scientific publishing is changing fast:
online access, open access, DOI and cross
referencing tools,...
No single NHI has all the resources to follow these
rapid developments
Need for:
• Distinction of labour between editorial (scientific)
and publishing (technical) aspects
• Need for collaboration between the different NHI
CETAF October 2010

6. Digital revolution in electronic scholarly publishing: complexity
Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs)
Open Access
Berlin and Budapest Declaration
Green Road
Golden Road
IngentaConnect
Intellectual Property rights (IPR)
Really Simple Syndication
RSS
Extensible Markup Language
XML
Backlog
Not-for-profit
Trackback
Application Programming Interface
API
INTERNATIONAL CODE OF BOTANICAL NOMENCLATURE
Pay-per-view
CETAF October 2010

7. Taxonomic journals
• Classic journals shy away from descriptive taxonomy
– No single species description, need to add analytical part
– J nat Hist, Zool. Scripta, Invert Syst,...
• Paradox of taxonomic publishing:
– Some journals can’t get the papers (no IF)
– Other journals don’t want the papers (want to increase
their IF)
CETAF October 2010

8. What do we want: mission statement
European Journal of Taxonomy
– web-based,
– free and open access journal
– on descriptive systematics in zoology, entomology,
botany and palaeontology
– peer-reviewed
– including :
• descriptions of new taxa,
• taxonomic revisions,
• continental and global checklists,
• review and opinion papers related to taxonomic and systematic
research.
AND SETTING NEW STANDARDS FOR TAXONOMIC
PUBLISHING
CETAF October 2010

9. Setting a new standard in taxonomic
publishing
• Increased accessibility and visibility (through DOI &
Crosslinking)
• Guaranteed storage and electronic document
integrity through BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library)
– Taxonomic papers have long ‘shelf’-time
• Automatic links to Encyclopedia of Life, Species 2000,
WoRMs, FADA, GBIF, Zoobank, IPNI, ...
• Xml-based content harvesting technologies
=> Need for technical expertise in taxonomic publishing
CETAF October 2010

10. We want an E-journal...
With ‘E’ standing for
• Electronic = web-based, using novel E-
technologies
• European anchorage
– Published (and paid) by European NHI
– Authors should deposit specimens in European
collections
CETAF October 2010

11. The European Journal of Taxonomy
• Title of the journal to be
owned by a consortium
of (mainly) European NHI
• Boards of active editing
(scientific) and
publishing (technical)
staff from the NHI
• Rotating Editor-in-Chief
CETAF October 2010

12. Organisation
• Journal will be a collaborative effort
beween Museums and institutions
– Core of participating partners
• Financial contributions
• Man-power resources
– Circle of supportive partners
• Some NHI may integrate extant bulletins into this
new journal (eg. Brussels, Tervuren)
– Name of old journal always mentioned on webpage
– Salaries of scientific staff presently acting as editors
and technical publishers will thus be liberated
CETAF October 2010

13. Organizational charts
1. Steering Committee
Representatives of institutions that signed CPA
Chair: to be elected from the group
Meets once yearly
Appoints Editor-in-Chief
Appoints Publications head
Signs off budget proposals and DoW
prepared by MC
1. Steering Committee
Representatives of institutions that signed CPA
Chair: to be elected from the group
Meets once yearly
Appoints Editor-in-Chief
Appoints Publications head
Signs off budget proposals and DoW
prepared by MC
Scientific Publishing in Natural History Institutions
7th-8th October 2010
2. Management Committee
Production team, desk editors,
IT staff, Editor in chief, Topical Editors
Chair: Publications head
Meets when necessary
Day-to-day management
Prepares budget and DoW
2. Management Committee
Production team, desk editors,
IT staff, Editor in chief, Topical Editors
Chair: Publications head
Meets when necessary
Day-to-day management
Prepares budget and DoW
3. Editorial Board
4 topical editors
(entomology, zoology, botany, palaeontology),
associated editors
Chair: Editor in Chief
Defines editorial scope
Editorial management
3. Editorial Board
4 topical editors
(entomology, zoology, botany, palaeontology),
associated editors
Chair: Editor in Chief
Defines editorial scope
Editorial management
4. Associated Group
Institutions with an interest in EJT
Friends of the journal
4. Associated Group
Institutions with an interest in EJT
Friends of the journal
Ownership
Technical
management
Scientific decisions

14. Advantages for
Natural History Institutions
1. Publishing taxonomic literature is part
of the mission of most NHI
2. If NHI pool resources:
– Higher critical mass of tools when
pooling expertise
– Increased authority in the field
– Higher influence
– Higher visibility (than in small,
hidden journals)
of the dissemination of taxonomic
knowledge
CETAF October 2010

15. Advantages for
Authors
• Publish descriptive work in
journal with good impact
factor
• Publish in journal with all
the novel services offered
by web based info-
platforms
=> high exposure and
visibility
=> Reflects positively on
the journal
Readers
• Easy and free access
• Papers are of high scientific
and technical quality
Publishing Staff
• Transfer of expertise
• Learning from competitive
position
CETAF October 2010

16. Advantages for NHI
3. Visibility of NHI in taxonomic publishing
4. Positive image through collaborations, sharing expertise,
sharing resources
5. By producing an excellent journal: increase image of
taxonomy => taxonomy is worth funding
6. Our own data are in our own hands => not all scholarly
publications should be in the hands of commerical
companies
• decision making
• spending public money
CETAF October 2010

17. Remaining issues
• Journal exchange programs
– Exchange programs are not without cost
– Re-evaluation of these programs is urgent
• EDIT questionnaire in progress
– Exx of NHM London (Bratislava EDIT report)
• More than 100 years
• 35% of total library (220 – 330 kE)
• Costs for exchange: 71 kE
• Electronic exchange
=> Will be c 66% in 5 years time
EDIT - Copenhagen Oct 2010 -
martens@naturalsciences.be
% Electronic Exchanges
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
% Electronic Exchanges

18. Schedule
12th December 2008: 1st meeting on Scientific publishing in Natural History
Institution, 1st presentation of the project, Paris
22nd June 2009: 2nd meeting on Scientific publishing in Natural History
Institution, 2nd presentation and discussion, Bratislava
15th December 2009: presentation of the project to the BoD, Carveiro
1st April 2010: Business plan
16th June 2010: Copyright Publishing Agreement negociated, Brussels
October 2010: signature CPA
November 2010: Creation of Editorial Board
From January 2011: online submission system available
March 2011: implementation and Launch of EJT
Scientific Publishing in Natural History Institutions
7th-8th October 2010

19. Thank you for your attention!!
Please join!!!
EDIT - Copenhagen Oct 2010 -
martens@naturalsciences.be