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- Title
Protecting stable biological nomenclatural systems enables universal communication: A collective international appeal.
- Authors
Jiménez-Mejías, Pedro; Manzano, Saúl; Gowda, Vinita; Krell, Frank-Thorsten; Lin, Mei-Ying; Martín-Bravo, Santiago; Martín-Torrijos, Laura; Feliner, Gonzalo Nieto; Mosyakin, Sergei L; Naczi, Robert F C; Acedo, Carmen; Álvarez, Inés; Crisci, Jorge V; Garcés, Modesto Luceño; Manning, John; Saiz, Juan Carlos Moreno; Muasya, A Muthama; Riina, Ricarda; Meseguer, Andrea Sánchez; Sánchez-Mata, Daniel
- Abstract
The fundamental value of universal nomenclatural systems in biology is that they enable unambiguous scientific communication. However, the stability of these systems is threatened by recent discussions asking for a fairer nomenclature, raising the possibility of bulk revision processes for "inappropriate" names. It is evident that such proposals come from very deep feelings, but we show how they can irreparably damage the foundation of biological communication and, in turn, the sciences that depend on it. There are four essential consequences of objective codes of nomenclature: universality, stability, neutrality, and transculturality. These codes provide fair and impartial guides to the principles governing biological nomenclature and allow unambiguous universal communication in biology. Accordingly, no subjective proposals should be allowed to undermine them.
- Subjects
BIOLOGICAL nomenclature; SCIENTIFIC communication; INTERNATIONAL communication; SYSTEMS biology; REVISION (Writing process)
- Publication
BioScience, 2024, Vol 74, Issue 7, p467
- ISSN
0006-3568
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1093/biosci/biae043