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How to … Effectively publish a new name

Follow these steps to ensure that a new name you publish is effectively published under the Code.

  1. If you plan to publish through printed matter (a journal, book etc.), check that your publication will be made widely available to the general public or at least to scientific institutions with generally accessible libraries. Almost all printed books and journals are effectively published, but some printed matter is excluded, (e.g. non-scientific newspapers). See Art. 29 and. Art. 30.

  2. If you plan to publish online, check that the online publication has an ISSN or ISBN, that the publication will be available in Portable Document Format (PDF; note that HTML and other formats are not eligible for effective publication), and that the publication is guaranteed not to be altered after it is first issued. 

Note that if there is evidence within or associated with the publication that it is merely a preliminary version that was, or is to be, replaced by a version that the publisher considers final, then only the final version is effectively published
(Art. 30.2). This is particularly relevant to publication in online journals that have an early-online system. When the phrase "Version of Record" appears, this is a good indication that the publication is the final version.

Note also that publication of new names in non-serial works stated to be dissertations or theses does not constitute effective publication, unless certain criteria apply (see Art. 30.9).

For more information, see Chapter 4 Media for publication in The Code Decoded.

Do you have another general nomenclatural question, and want a how-to guide to help?

You can submit questions here.

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