ICZN allows electronic publications

Today, in a paper published in Zootaxa, the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature announced that it had amended the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature to allow the availability of scientific names published in exclusively online publications. There are a few conditions of publication namely: 1) that the date of publication be contained within the publication and 2) that the publication be registered in ZooBank.

This announcement ends a debate that has been happening over the past several years. The issues at hand have been the tension between the obviously superior form of distribution that electronic works have, versus the known permanence of printed publications. The requirement that the work be registered is, I think, a prudent one, and one that will encourage the use and extend the utility of ZooBank.

Zoological taxonomy has entered a new and exciting era, and it will be interesting to see how the field responds and develops as a result of this decision.

Update
The announcement was published simultaneously in both Zootaxa and ZooKeys.

References:
    International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. 2012. Amendment of Articles 8,9,10,21 and 78 of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature to expand and refine methods of publication. Zootaxa 3450: 1–7.
    International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. 2012. Amendment of Articles 8,9,10,21 and 78 of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature to expand and refine methods of publication. ZooKeys 219: 1–10.