Cargando…

A modularity analysis helps improving the structure of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature

BACKGROUND: In a recent work I transformed a complex and integrated text like the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature into a network of interconnected parts of text. This new approach allowed understanding that a continuous body of text cannot accurately reflect the true structure of the C...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor principal: Vlachos, Evangelos
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: PeerJ Inc. 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7908869/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33665017
http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.10815
_version_ 1783655805800677376
author Vlachos, Evangelos
author_facet Vlachos, Evangelos
author_sort Vlachos, Evangelos
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: In a recent work I transformed a complex and integrated text like the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature into a network of interconnected parts of text. This new approach allowed understanding that a continuous body of text cannot accurately reflect the true structure of the Code, and provided a scientific methodology to identify a priori parts that could be affected by future revisions. In this next step, I investigate further the structure of the Code, seeking to use the network in order to identify the various conceptual communities grouping the various articles and other text items of the Code. METHODS: Using the first version of the network of the Code, I perform a comprehensive modularity analysis in two rounds: the first round aims to identify the fewest and largest communities or modules for the entire network, whereas the second round identifies the sub-modules within each larger module. The potential conflicts between the current structure of the Code and the module composition are evaluated with a parcellation analysis. RESULTS: The optimal modularity search identified 10 different modules in the entire network of varying size (ranging from 75 to 200 nodes). Each module can be further divided into smaller modules, that all-together allow describing the 65 conceptual groups of text items in the Code. Parcellation analysis revealed that two-thirds of the current chapters of the Code are in excellent or good accordance with the recovered conceptual modules, whereas the current composition of six chapters is in serious conflict with the conceptual structure of the Code. DISCUSSION: Judging only the composition and not the order of appearance of the Articles in the Chapters of the Code, I show that in many cases the current structure of the Code is found to correspond quite well to the concepts presented therein. The most important conflict is found on the provisions related to the various groups of names governed by the Code: family-, genus-, and species-group names. Currently, these provisions are spread out in different Articles in different Chapters, along the entire length of the Code. The modularity analysis suggests that re-organizing the Code in chapters that will deal with all aspects related to a given group (e.g., chapters including information on name formation, availability, typification, and validity for a given group), could potentially improve reader experience and, consequently, the applicability of the Code.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-7908869
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2021
publisher PeerJ Inc.
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-79088692021-03-03 A modularity analysis helps improving the structure of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature Vlachos, Evangelos PeerJ Taxonomy BACKGROUND: In a recent work I transformed a complex and integrated text like the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature into a network of interconnected parts of text. This new approach allowed understanding that a continuous body of text cannot accurately reflect the true structure of the Code, and provided a scientific methodology to identify a priori parts that could be affected by future revisions. In this next step, I investigate further the structure of the Code, seeking to use the network in order to identify the various conceptual communities grouping the various articles and other text items of the Code. METHODS: Using the first version of the network of the Code, I perform a comprehensive modularity analysis in two rounds: the first round aims to identify the fewest and largest communities or modules for the entire network, whereas the second round identifies the sub-modules within each larger module. The potential conflicts between the current structure of the Code and the module composition are evaluated with a parcellation analysis. RESULTS: The optimal modularity search identified 10 different modules in the entire network of varying size (ranging from 75 to 200 nodes). Each module can be further divided into smaller modules, that all-together allow describing the 65 conceptual groups of text items in the Code. Parcellation analysis revealed that two-thirds of the current chapters of the Code are in excellent or good accordance with the recovered conceptual modules, whereas the current composition of six chapters is in serious conflict with the conceptual structure of the Code. DISCUSSION: Judging only the composition and not the order of appearance of the Articles in the Chapters of the Code, I show that in many cases the current structure of the Code is found to correspond quite well to the concepts presented therein. The most important conflict is found on the provisions related to the various groups of names governed by the Code: family-, genus-, and species-group names. Currently, these provisions are spread out in different Articles in different Chapters, along the entire length of the Code. The modularity analysis suggests that re-organizing the Code in chapters that will deal with all aspects related to a given group (e.g., chapters including information on name formation, availability, typification, and validity for a given group), could potentially improve reader experience and, consequently, the applicability of the Code. PeerJ Inc. 2021-02-23 /pmc/articles/PMC7908869/ /pubmed/33665017 http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.10815 Text en ©2021 Vlachos https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
spellingShingle Taxonomy
Vlachos, Evangelos
A modularity analysis helps improving the structure of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature
title A modularity analysis helps improving the structure of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature
title_full A modularity analysis helps improving the structure of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature
title_fullStr A modularity analysis helps improving the structure of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature
title_full_unstemmed A modularity analysis helps improving the structure of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature
title_short A modularity analysis helps improving the structure of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature
title_sort modularity analysis helps improving the structure of the international code of zoological nomenclature
topic Taxonomy
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7908869/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33665017
http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.10815
work_keys_str_mv AT vlachosevangelos amodularityanalysishelpsimprovingthestructureoftheinternationalcodeofzoologicalnomenclature
AT vlachosevangelos modularityanalysishelpsimprovingthestructureoftheinternationalcodeofzoologicalnomenclature