Taxon (journal)

Taxon (journal)
source
Title	Taxon
Discipline	Botany; Plant systematics; Nomenclature
Abbreviation	Taxon
Publisher	International Association for Plant Taxonomy
Country	International
Frequency	Bimonthly
History	1951–present
Openaccess	Hybrid
Issn	0040-0262

Taxon (journal) is a peer-reviewed scientific journal specializing in botany, plant taxonomy, systematics, and nomenclature. Published by the International Association for Plant Taxonomy, the journal has served as a primary venue for descriptive treatments, monographs, nomenclatural proposals, and methodological studies linking evolutionary biology, phylogenetics, and biodiversity documentation. It functions at the intersection of major institutions and projects, including herbaria, botanical gardens, and international codes guiding scientific names.

History

Founded in 1951, the journal emerged during post-war expansion of botanical institutions such as the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, and the Smithsonian Institution. Early volumes reflected work by figures associated with the International Botanical Congress and the development of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature later retitled the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants. Over decades the journal published contributions from taxonomists affiliated with the Field Museum of Natural History, Missouri Botanical Garden, Natural History Museum, London, Harvard University Herbaria, and the Australian National Herbarium, documenting flora from regions such as the Amazon rainforest, Congo Basin, Siberia, Himalayas, and Madagascar. The editorial lineage has included scholars linked to the Royal Society, the National Science Foundation, the European Research Council, and major botanical societies, reflecting shifts in molecular methods, digital herbaria, and global collaboration.

Scope and Content

Taxon covers nomenclatural proposals, monographic treatments, phylogenetic analyses, floristic accounts, and methodological papers connected to institutions like the Kew Gardens, New York Botanical Garden, Botanical Research Institute of Texas, Jardin des Plantes, and university departments at Oxford University, University of California, Berkeley, University of Cambridge, University of Tokyo, and University of São Paulo. Articles address taxa across lineages such as Angiosperms, Gymnosperms, Mosses, Ferns, Fungi, and Algae, and interact with projects including the International Plant Names Index, Global Biodiversity Information Facility, Catalogue of Life, Consortium of Barcode of Life, and the Tree of Life Web Project. The journal publishes proposals to amend rules of the International Code of Nomenclature, lists of conserved and rejected names, and reports from International Botanical Congresses, often involving committees and working groups from institutions such as the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Botanical Society of America, Botanical Survey of India, and the China Plant Specialist Group.

Editorial Structure and Peer Review

The editorial board typically comprises editors and associate editors affiliated with universities and museums, including scholars from the University of Vienna, University of Göttingen, University of Basel, University of Helsinki, University of Melbourne, and the University of Pretoria. Peer review follows standard double-blind or single-blind procedures involving specialists from networks such as the International Mycological Association, International Association for Plant Taxonomy, International Union for Conservation of Nature, and national botanical societies. Manuscripts proposing nomenclatural changes undergo scrutiny by experts associated with herbaria like Herbarium Berolinense, Herbarium Hookerianum, Herbarium of the Arnold Arboretum, and databases like the Index Herbariorum. Editorial processes align with guidelines from organizations such as the Committee on Publication Ethics and funding agencies including the Wellcome Trust and National Institutes of Health when relevant.

Publication and Access

Issued bimonthly, the journal is distributed through institutional subscriptions held by libraries at the Natural History Museum, the Bibliothèque nationale de France, the Boston Public Library, the Biodiversity Heritage Library, and university consortia. Digital access integrates platforms used by publishers and aggregators linked to the HathiTrust Digital Library, JSTOR, Project MUSE, Springer Nature, and Wiley-Blackwell collections. The journal supports hybrid open access arrangements compatible with funder mandates from entities such as the European Commission, Research Council of Norway, and the National Science Foundation, and it deposits nomenclatural acts that interact with repositories like Zenodo and Figshare.

Notable Articles and Impact

Taxon has published landmark articles that influenced nomenclatural codes, phylogenetic frameworks, and floristic knowledge. Noteworthy contributions include proposals and decisions emanating from International Botanical Congress sessions, monographic revisions affecting genera housed at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the Missouri Botanical Garden, and molecular phylogenies that reshaped classification schemes used by projects such as the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group. The journal’s content has been cited in conservation assessments by the IUCN Red List, regional floras produced by the Flora of China and the Flora of North America, and global checklists like the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. Its articles inform curatorial practices at herbarium collections including the New York Botanical Garden Herbarium, the Köln Botanical Garden, and the National Herbarium of the Netherlands.

Awards and Prizes Associated with the Journal

While Taxon itself sponsors editorial recognition and occasional best-paper notices, it intersects with awards and prizes conferred by organizations such as the International Association for Plant Taxonomy, the Royal Society, the Linnean Society of London, the Darwin Trust, the Adams Prize, and national science academies. Contributors and editors have been recipients of honors including the Darwin Medal, the Royal Medal, the Linacre Medal, and fellowships from institutions like the National Academy of Sciences and the Australian Academy of Science, reflecting the journal’s central role in botanical scholarship.

Category:Botany journals Category:Academic journals established in 1951