Guidelines
for Preparation of an Application
Why follow the Guidelines?
These guidelines provide detailed instructions on how to write an
application to the Commission. An application is, by its nature,
a relatively formal document, unlike many scientific papers, and
should be presented in a consistent manner that allows the Commission
to vote on a clearly formulated proposal(s). English is the official
language of the Bulletin, with preference for British
written conventions. Applications and correspondence relating to
applications to the Commission should be sent to the Executive
Secretary at the address given on the inside of the front cover
and on the Commission website (iczn[at]nhm.ac.uk). All applications
should be submitted electronically, either by e-mail, or on CD,
with an accompanying letter addressed to the Executive Secretary. Your
application should be supported by photocopies (or scanned images)
of relevant pages of the main references, particularly of the original
references to the names to be placed on Official Lists or Indexes
(unless you are working under extenuating circumstances). You may
send these under separate cover from the application, if need be.
What happens next?
The ICZN bylaws are very specific on further procedure to ensure
adequate consideration of all cases. The Commission votes on applications
a minimum of eight months after they have been published, although
this period is normally extended to enable comments to be submitted.
In all new applications for questions involving the use of the
plenary power, a vote of the Commission shall be deemed to be complete
when a period of three months has elapsed from the dispatch of
the voting paper and when votes have been received from at least
one fourth of those who were members on the date of dispatch. In
questions involving additional details or corrections of factual
errors regarding authors and dates, or second votes not involving
further use of the plenary power, a vote of the Commission shall
be deemed to be complete when one month has elapsed from the dispatch
of the voting paper and when votes have been received from at least
one fourth of those who were members on the date of dispatch. At
the close of the voting period, the votes are summarized by the
Secretariat, and a ruling of the Commission (an Opinion) is published
in the Bulletin.
Guidelines
Title, Applicant’s name and address, Abstract,
Keywords
1. The title should be written in bold and contain
the original combination, current combination (if different from
the original), taxonomic affinities of the taxon concerned and
a brief statement of the aim of the application.
Examples
2. Name, postal address, e-mail address of applicant(s).
The address should be written in non-bold italics. The e-mail address
should be in non-bold, non-italic.
Examples
3. Abstract. The
abstract should contain a statement of the purpose of the application,
a reference to a relevant Article of the Code, brief information
on the taxon concerned including its common name (if one exists),
geographical distribution, economic (medical, educational, conservational,
etc.) importance (if any) and a short explanation of the nomenclatural
problem. The last sentence of the abstract should contain a brief
statement of the nomenclatural action proposed.
Examples
4. Keywords. Nomenclature; taxonomy; class; order;
family-group (in small capitals); generic name(s) (in italics);
specific name(s) (in italics); vernacular name(s); geographical
region(s); geological horizon (for fossils). All words in this
section should be separated by semicolons.
Examples
5. Body of the text
(i). This should consist of numbered paragraphs setting out the details
of the case and leading to a final paragraph of formal proposals.
Describe the background to the problem (where possible in chronological
order). Explain the context of this application, e.g. the result
will be an integral part of an impending monograph. Double space
all text.
(ii). For all generic,
specific or family-group name(s) to be conserved or suppressed, provide
author, date and page number of the publication that made this/these
name(s) available. Please check carefully the authorship and date
of the names, using the original sources where possible. Consult
Index Animalia and Nomenclator Zoologicus where possible.
(iii). Give the type species of
any generic names to be conserved and the type species for the type
genus of the family to be conserved, indicating whether by monotypy
or original designation, or by subsequent designation (with author,
date and page number). In cases dealing with synonyms give the page
reference of the publication where the synonymy was first established.
In cases dealing with neotypes give the details of the neotype proposed
(to comply with the requirements of the Code).
(iv). State the problem to
be resolved and the implications of maintaining the present situation.
(v). State the proposed solution
requiring Commission action. Which Article(s) of the Code
are invoked?
(vi). Give possible alternative
solutions and explain why they are not acceptable. Outline the basis
of any anticipated opposition to the proposals.
(vii). Give page references wherever
possible. References for names to be placed on the Official Lists
and Official Indexes are particularly important.
(viii). Any references to particular
specimens must be accompanied by institutional registration number,
catalogue entry number, database number, or similar, as appropriate.
(ix). In cases dealing with new
type designations, give references for any significant designations
(neotype, lectotype, type species, etc.), including page.
(x). Outline any additional information
you think will be helpful in consideration of this Application.
(xi).
Explain why it is not possible to resolve this nomenclatural problem
under the provisions of the Code.
(xii). Please reference using standard scientific format, as we do
not publish footnotes in the BZN.
Final paragraph of formal
proposals to the Commission
The final paragraph of formal proposals
should be organized as follows:
(i) The formal proposal of a ruling
beginning with the words: “The
International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature is accordingly
asked” followed by the statement of the ruling proposed.
(ii) List names to be placed on
the Official Lists of Generic, Specific or Family-Group Names in
Zoology (for generic names give gender, type species and the method
of the type species designation).
(iii) List names to be placed on
the Official Indexes of Rejected and Invalid Generic, Specific or
Family-Group Names in Zoology.
Examples (the
list is not exhaustive)
6. References
(i). In the reference list, give
full references (without abbreviations) to all publications cited
in the application. For references with multiple authors, all authors
should be cited. The last authors should be separated with “&”.
In the text, references with two authors should be cited using & (not “and”,
e.g. Melville & Smith, 1987), references with three and more
authors should be cited using the abbreviation “et al.” (e.g.
Melville et al., 1865).
(ii). In cases involving prevailing
usage (Article 23.9.3 of the Code), authors should supply a comprehensive
list of references, in which the relevant name(s) was/were used,
and examples of usage since 1899 of names to be suppressed.
(iii). Lists of additional references,
i.e. demonstrating examples of usage may be supplied to be held by
the Commission Secretariat (those will not be published).
(iv). The author and volume number
are given in bold. The year of publication is not in bold and is
followed by a full stop. A comma separates title and series/volume/part
number. A colon separates series/volume/part number and page numbers.
A hyphen separates first and last page of relevance. The reference
ends with a full stop. The comma following
the journal name should be in non-italic. Series numbers are given
in parentheses (but not in bold) before the volume number; part or
issue numbers are given in parentheses after the volume number (but
not in bold).
Examples
Illustrations
If a neotype designation is requested
it is strongly advisable to submit an appropriate illustration in
TIFF format of sufficiently high resolution for printing. Hardcopy
figures will be accepted, at discretion of the Editor. It is desirable
to illustrate both specimen and its label, with a scale bar. Furthermore,
we are willing to consider illustrations of the organisms under discussion
contributed simply to add visual interest to the applications. Line
drawings should be high-resolution TIFFs at 1200 dpi; photographs
may be 400 dpi. If the files are difficult to send electronically,
LZW compression of TIFF files allows recovery of original file quality. Please
note that JPG format often introduces artefacts in printing,
thus we are not able to accept JPGs.
