A person goes to a country, collects some plants and dumps them in his country. 22 yrs later, a student submits a paper describing a new taxon, to a most reputed journal which sends it to that person for refereeing. then the referee sends a mail to the student to exclude his supervisor's name because more than 2 authors describing a new taxon is not good and also that c22 yrs ego he also collected similar plant from students country. What should the student and his supervisor do?
There are no rules governing how many authors can be on a taxon. That is up to the naming author. I agree with the sentiments already expressed here - whether or not someone else collected something is quite irrelevant. If they didn't do anything about it at the time does not then give them the right and priority to dictate what another person does later. Don't allow yourself to be bullied - just publish your paper. If you can't in the journal you submitted it to then send it to another citing the problem with the evidence. There are plenty of journals out there looking for copy.
'..more than 2 authors describing a new taxon is not good'. I do not see any justification behind this statement. Then from where the concept of et al. comes?
There are no rules governing how many authors can be on a taxon. That is up to the naming author. I agree with the sentiments already expressed here - whether or not someone else collected something is quite irrelevant. If they didn't do anything about it at the time does not then give them the right and priority to dictate what another person does later. Don't allow yourself to be bullied - just publish your paper. If you can't in the journal you submitted it to then send it to another citing the problem with the evidence. There are plenty of journals out there looking for copy.
''What should the student and his supervisor do?'' Firstly, they must notify the editor of the journal, explaining in detail the situation and ask for their help. The editor, logically, must respond. After the editor's response, they will evaluate the new situation. If the editor's response is not satisfactory for them, they must proceed as the colleagues have already pointed out.
Regards
I am happy to let all of you know that such a kind of incident never happened in my research career. I still remember a problem concerning authorship of the name Bauhinia diphylla. Dr. H.J. Noltie (E) pointed me out about the problem. He helped me in many aspects. After drafting the paper I requested him to be the first author but he informed me that he is not interested in authorship. I acknowledged his help accordingly.
The paper was published in Edinburgh Journal of Botany 72(2):215 – 217 · July 2015
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/279931239_A_U_T_H_O_R_ATTRIBUTION_AND_LECTOTYPIFICATION_OF_THE_NAME_BAUHINIA_DIPHYLLA_FABACEAE_CAESALPINIOIDEAE
Article A U T H O R ATTRIBUTION AND LECTOTYPIFICATION OF THE NAME BA...
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