Dan is rightly concerned about people making an end run around peer review (while I was writing the above) and seems to imply that my papers were trash and rejected, but I went ahead and published them anyway in order to pull a fast one on everyone. Once again, I suggest going over what I just wrote. The _Kayentavenator_ paper was sent back to me with revisions. I included those revisions in the final published paper. Just like every other thing that I have published, both papers were peer reviewed. Although I have been quite on the list for some time (in fact, I was unsubscribed for a while, due to the lack of computer access I mention above), I'd like to remind people that this isn't the first thing I've written - I know how peer review works, I know how the publication process works. This just happens to be the only time anything was (or will ever be) not published by an outside publisher.
Dan also wrote:>I'm not sure why this is would not be considered an electronic publication. You can order it as a pdf or print copy in any one of several page sizes (8x10, 6x9). Self publishing pay for print on demand seems to me to be an electronic activity.< Well, all publication activity is really electronic these days. When is the last time you typed something on a typewriter to submit it, got the reviews back, had to retype the whole thing on your typewriter, and the final volume was printed with movable-block print and not an electronic printer? Saying that you can order it online makes it an electronic activity would make anything available on Amazon primarily an electronic activity. The primary mode of publication is a physical book on paper. I dunno, maybe getting rid of the download option would make that more obvious?
Tim Williams mentions (while I was typing all of the above - I guess this is all pretty interesting for people!) that self-publishing is a can of worms. He wrote: >However, returning to Kayentavenator, if somebody attaches a different name to the same type specimen, and Rob Gay asserts his name to be valid, then it will be an issue for the ICZN to decide. Until then, it will be up to paleontologists to decide for themselves whether or not to acknowledge Kayentavenator as a valid genus.< How would it not be valid, since all the ICZN rules have been met? Now if my work was junk and it turned out the material was nondiagnostic (which I obviously disagree with), then maybe, but the ICZN rules have been met, and as long as someone doesn't make it a junior synonym of something else I don't see how it could be considered anything other than valid. The ICZN rules might be imperfect, but they are what they are and the rules have been met.
I'll say this again, clearly, with no ambiguity. My intention was not to end-run science. The papers were peer reviewed. The ICZN rules were met. I felt this was the best way, with today's changing technology, to get this research out there quickly to help create a publicly accessible record and expand the body of knowledge of early North American theropods. If you think my conclusions suck, that's fine, we can debate that - since the data is now out there, you (the collective You) can look at my data, my analysis, and my conclusions and draw your own. Why was my introduction so brief (and some said ambiguous?) in the volume? Because I didn't want to have 5 pages of introduction to a short volume. I could have typed up everything I just did here and put that in front of the papers, but I had assumed that one page would answer questions and set people at ease. Obviously I missed that guess.
Anyone want to talk about the papers themselves? Or since it was published by Lulu they shouldn't be looked at except as kindling?
Rob mhanson54@comcast.net wrote:
According to the ICZN: 8.1. Criteria to be met. A work must satisfy the following criteria:8.1.1. it must be issued for the purpose of providing a public and permanent scientific record, 8.1.2. it must be obtainable, when first issued, free of charge or by purchase, and 8.1.3. it must have been produced in an edition containing simultaneously obtainable copies by a method that assures numerous identical and durable copies. 8.6. Works produced after 1999 by a method that does not employ printing on paper. For a work produced after 1999 by a method other than printing on paper to be accepted as published within the meaning of the Code, it must contain a statement that copies (in the form in which it is published) have been deposited in at least 5 major publicly accessible libraries which are identified by name in the work itself.From Gay, R. 2010."Those that are concerned about the naming of a new genus in this format should not be. The availability and distribution requirements are more than met—the relevant institutions have received a copy for their records. In addition "Notes on Early Mesozoic Theropods" will remain available to all who wish to purchase it online, as well as those stores that chose to carry it, for the foreseeable future—far surpassing the availability of many other high profile publications to those anywhere on the globe."According to this 8.1.1, 8.1.2, and 8.1.3 are all fulfilled. The only criterion not fulfilled is 8.6, and its due to a very minor technicality; nowhere in this work are the "5 major publicly accessible libraries" where the hard copies are deposited named. I don't think that on-demand self publishing necessarily violates 8.1.3, on some contitions it might be, but a publication service such as Lulu ensures that multiple individuals can order and obtain "numerous identical and durable copies" at the same time.On 5/6/10 18:49, Dan Chure wrote:I have checked the website and Lulu clearly describes itself as a "Self Publishing" business and one that publishes on demand. So it would appear that Kayentavenatoir is not a valid taxon.Dan Brad McFeeters wrote:I'm not sure if Rob is a member of this list, but the book seems to have been published for a few days now, so I'll go ahead and share this. http://www.lulu.com/product/item/notes-on-early-mesozoic-theropods/11028233(download)http://www.lulu.com/product/item/notes-on-early-mesozoic-theropods/11028232(book)Summary: Notes on Early Mesozoic Theropods contains two papers on the poorly studied late Triassic and early Jurassic theropod dinosaur fauna of North America. The author discusses the evidence that has been used to support cannibalism hypothesis in the late Triassic dinosaur Coelophysis, and presents new evidence that disproves this commonly cited hypothesis. In the second paper, the author names a new genus and species of theropod dinosaur from the early Jurassic Kayenta Formation of Arizona. The new taxon represents the oldest yet-known example of a Tetanuran theropod in North America. For those interested in the paleontological history of the American southwest or the early evolutionary history of this interesting clade of dinosaurs, Notes on Early Mesozoic Theropods adds more information to the emerging picture of life in the southwest over 190 million years ago. The new theropod is named _Kayentavenator elysiae_. _________________________________________________________________Look 'em in the eye: FREE Messenger video chat http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9734386