Call for nominations: ICZN
Thomas Pape
Call for nominations for new members of the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature
http://dx.doi.org/10.21805/bzn.v82.a004
The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) will soon have six vacancies among its ordinary members and is seeking nominations for new Commissioners to be elected in May 2027. Five vacancies stem from retiring Commissioners A. Ballerio (Italy; Coleoptera), P. Bouchard (Canada; Coleoptera), M. Harvey (Australia; Arachnida), D. Yanega (USA; Insecta), and H.-Z. Zhou (China; Coleoptera); a sixth vacancy needs to be filled to reach the Commission’s target of 28 members.
The Commission hereby invites nominations, from any person, organisation or institution, of potential candidates for election. The nationalities and areas of expertise of the present members of the Commission may be found on the ICZN website (http:// iczn.org/commissioners).
Article 2.2 of the ICZN Constitution prescribes that “The members of the Commission shall be eminent scientists, irrespective of nationality, with a distinguished record in any branch of zoology and an interest in zoological nomenclature”. Furthermore, according to Article 2.3 of the Constitution, the composition of the Commission shall be such as to secure representation of diverse interests and different parts of the world.
Current activities within the Commission include monthly virtual meetings, voting on Cases every two or three months and participating in various activities as needed (e.g., reviewing or proofing Cases and Opinions, co-writing Declarations, participating in ad-hoc committees, preparing the next edition of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, updating the ICZN Constitution and Bylaws). Based on Article 3.1.1 of the Constitution, the maximum term of service of a member of the Commission is 18 years.
Nominations, including the age, affiliation, nationality and qualifications of each nominee should be sent before 1 January 2027 to the ICZN Secretary (ic...@nus.edu. sg) together with a statement that the potential nominee will accept the nomination. Self-nominations are accepted.
Under Article 3 of the Bylaws, the list of nominees will be narrowed to a slate with twice as many names as there are vacancies. Members of the ICZN are elected via a secret ballot, as mandated by the Constitution. The most recent election, held in 2025, was conducted through an online voting portal, significantly expanding voter participation and geographic coverage. The same procedure is planned for the forthcoming election.
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Thomas Pape
International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature
Roderic D. M. Page
Thomas Pape
>>> the call is behind a pay wall
Thanks, Rod, good point – I will arrange for open access.
/Thomas
From: tax...@googlegroups.com <tax...@googlegroups.com>
On Behalf Of Roderic D. M. Page
Sent: 6. marts 2026 11:58
To: Taxacom <tax...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [TAXACOM] Re: Call for nominations: ICZN
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David Redei
Roderic D. M. Page
Thomas Pape
BZN is freely available through https://biotaxa.org/bzn
The paywall is only when accessed through BioOne.
/Thomas
From: tax...@googlegroups.com <tax...@googlegroups.com>
On Behalf Of Roderic D. M. Page
Sent: 9. marts 2026 15:38
To: Taxacom <tax...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [TAXACOM] Re: Call for nominations: ICZN
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I agree that it makes little sense, although I suspect the ICZN gets income from subscriptions to the journal. Maybe that is a significant contributor to the Commission's finances? Would people submit cases if they had to pay author fees to do that?
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Douglas Yanega
I suspect the fundamental issue is money: who gets to pay and at what point in the process?
The history of the financial troubles of the original Trust that supported the Commission, and the ensuing move of the Secretariat from London to Singapore when that Trust dissolved, is not a secret, though it happened some time ago. Revenue from the BZN is one of the few steady sources of support still available, though I cannot say how much that may be. I imagine there are some people who are out there trying to raise funds to support the existing Secretariat, but if so, this is not something that is part of the general discussion among Commissioners.
Everything, everywhere, is ultimately about money, and the BZN does cost money to produce, and the website takes money to sustain.
Now, as to the matter of learning what Opinions have been rendered on Cases, the ICZN website does eventually show them.
https://www.iczn.org/cases/resolved-opinion-issued/
Admittedly, the most recent entry in this listing is 2021 (same for new Applications), but the Cases aren't permanently behind a paywall. It's just a significant backlog, and limited resources to get caught up on the website.
Peace,
-- Doug Yanega Dept. of Entomology Entomology Research Museum Univ. of California, Riverside, CA 92521-0314 phone: 951-827-4315 FaceBook: Doug Yanega (disclaimer: opinions are mine, not UCR's) https://faculty.ucr.edu/~heraty/yanega.html "There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness is the true method" - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chap. 82
Roderic D. M. Page
Mikhail Daneliya
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Thomas Pape
Thanks, Doug.
Yes, money matters, and BZN comes at an expense.
Currently, ICZN gets a small income through BioOne, with the amount depending on the number of downloads.
/Thomas
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Richard Littauer
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Todd Johnson
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David Redei
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Thomas Pape
It is certainly desirable to have an equal (or somehow ‘fair’) representation on the Commission for each continent.
It is likewise desirable to have a broad taxonomic representation on the Commission.
This is spelled out in the ICZN Constitution, which explicitly states that, “As far as practicable, the composition of the Commission shall be such as to secure a balanced representation:”
-- of systematists in the principal divisions of the animal kingdom;
-- of zoologists from different parts of the world;
-- of palaeozoologists;
-- of workers in general zoology and applied biology with an interest in nomenclature.
Furthermore, it is necessary for the Commission to muster sufficient editorial capacity, and with ZooBank growing in importance, we need at least one Commissioner able to understand the ‘machinery’ of ZooBank.
By our Constitution, there has to be at least 18 Commissioners, but there is no upward restriction. The current number agreed on in the Commission is 28, which appears to be working very well.
/Thomas
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Thomas Pape
International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature
MOBILE: +45 2875 1106
ORCID: 0000-0001-6609-0609
ZOOM: ucph-ku.zoom.us/j/4409502389
From: tax...@googlegroups.com <tax...@googlegroups.com>
On Behalf Of Todd Johnson
Sent: 9. marts 2026 15:55
To: David Redei <david...@gmail.com>
Cc: Taxacom <tax...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [TAXACOM] Re: Call for nominations: ICZN
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