FW: The Taxonomic Report (TTR)

[Kondla, Norbert FOR:EX]

Bruce raises a couple of interesting points below.  I am not worried about
one person or even several people forming opinions about the quality of work
that is published. I make that independent assessment everytime I read
published material, regardless of which individual or institution publishes
the information.  And then there is the very real issue of what does one do
when there is no peer available to deal with the topic at hand.  Of course
getting review comments is still a good idea to do a logic check and to
ensure that nothing of consequence has been missed.  Having peer review does
not guarantee scientific validity (however one wishes to define that and
whatever criteria one uses to test for congruence with that definition).
Private vs non-private material makes no difference to me.  I have seen some
real crap published in big name journals and I have seen some really
interesting material published in no-name journals.  I am not interested in
judging a book by its cover.  I am more concerned about ideas and
information being suppressed under the guise of peer review just because the
material presents a different view than that held by the reviewers.  Hats
off to Ron Gatrelle and anyone else who wishes to share information in
written form with others who have an interest in the topic.  Human history
is replete with examples of ideas that were once viewed as heresy by the
establishment (peers?) of the day and which are now widely accepted.  May
the debates continue with all vigour and without any censorship cloaked in
the mantle of science :-) 

-----Original Message-----
From: Bruce Walsh [mailto:jbwalsh at u.arizona.edu] 
Sent: Tuesday, October 03, 2000 11:59 AM
To: Ron Gatrelle; Leps-l
Subject: The Taxonomic Report (TTR)


I read with interest on this list about the The Taxonomic Report (TTR)
from the  International Lepidoptera Survey .

Given that there is a rich history of private journals covering
lepidoptera, could we get some idea of who the editors and reviewers are.
My worry
is that a single author could be the sole judge on the quality of their
work. Independent peer-review is critical to give any such publications any
  scientifically validity.

Cheers

Bruce