[CPN] Publication-Related Issues

[David Marjanovic]

In case it matters (I'm not a Council member), I wholeheartedly support 
the call for more editors for the Companion Volume. It is evident that 
the work is way too much for just three people.

Unfortunately, I don't think I can volunteer myself...

>  Dear Colleagues,
>
>  I am concerned about several issues on which I would like your views.
>  We have a proposal on the table about the rank of species, and we are
>  likely to have others. It seems impractical to try to resolve these
>  things by email.

I don't understand why. E-mail has several advantages over a meatspace 
meeting: it allows us
-- to cite sources and even link to them without further ado;
-- to look everything up and not just what we happen to carry around in 
our heads -- off-of-the-top-of-my-head comments are no way to deal with 
serious, detailed proposals to amend the PhyloCode;
-- and, more trivially, to "speak" all at the same time but still 
"listen" to everyone. This last one would stay an issue even in Skype.

Instead of e-mail, a forum (bulletin board) or even the comments section 
of a blog (which is almost the same as a forum) may work at least as 
well. The best discussions I have are all on blogs.

My financial situation, and thus ability to attend a meeting even in 
Berkeley, may greatly improve by January, but nothing is fixed yet.

>  2. In the intervening time I would suggest circulating a call for
>  proposals in the systematic community that would suggest any changes
>  in the substance or wording of the PhyloCode, prior to its
>  publication; no further changes would be entertained for a period of
>  "x" (x to be determined) years afterward. These proposals would have
>  a deadline at least a month before the meeting. The CPN would
>  consider them at that meeting.

Fine, if we include a plea to read the entire PhyloCode before writing a 
proposal, and a threat that proposals whose authors clearly haven't read 
the PhyloCode will be unceremoniously ignored. :-)