Open AccessTaxonomic inflation or taxonomist deflation? A comment on Dubois
Author(s) -
SUNDBERG PER,
STRAND MALIN
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
biological journal of the linnean society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.906
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1095-8312
pISSN - 0024-4066
DOI - 10.1111/j.1095-8312.2008.01157.x
Subject(s) - biology , prestige , citation , taxonomic rank , deflation , ecology , taxon , economics , linguistics , computer science , library science , philosophy , monetary policy , monetary economics
In a recent article, Dubois (2008) discussed the problem of an increasing number of taxonomic names and the load of synonymies. Dubios recognized three reasons for an increasing number of species description: one comprising unwarranted descriptions in an effort to increase citations. We discuss this aspect, arguing that although new names may increase the prestige of the taxonomist, few journals actually put authors of taxonomic names in the reference lists and hence it does not affect citation figures. This practice instead deflates the importance of taxonomic work in a world with increasing bibliometric evaluations of research output. © 2009 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2009, 96 , 712–714.