The past, present and future of African herpetology

Abstract

Abstract.*After 47 years and 60 volumes, editorial policy in the scholarly journal of the Herpetological Association of Africa has changed from largely unscientific to strictly scientific. I investigate the causes for this by examining the changes in editorial policy throughout the history of the journal and find that there has been a gradual change with some important milestones. Of key importance were the introduction of the peer-review process in 1979 and the inception of a newsletter in 1983. Interest in African herpetology is growing and the quality and quantity of articles in African Journal of Herpetology are seen to continue to increase. The future may include changes in the way that the content is produced, but will continue to provide a platform for herpetological discoveries on the African continent; thereby verifying the maxim: ex Africa aliquid semper novi.

Naming and gaming: The illicit taxonomic practice of ‘nomenclatural harvesting’ and how to avoid it

“…Strictly speaking, all of these registered names could perhaps be considered available and used in publications. However, based on the specifics of how these names were produced, the herpetological community has decided against their use (Wüster et al., 2021), journal editors of herpetological publications are boycotting them (Measey, 2013), and most publications will not even mention or acknowledge the existence of those taxon names except to criticize them (Kaiser, 2014; Kaiser et al., 2013). For example, in a recent publication, Wood Jr. et al.…”