James L. Reveal* *Section Editor: Taprobanica, the journal of Asian Biodiversity
For many a young person there is nothing worse than a grumpy old curmudgeon with opinions steeped in tradition and a “we have always done it that way” attitude. Call me guilty. Now in my seventh decade of life with some fifty years of experience writing botanical papers I bring a modicum of experience to the subject, and being one of the “old school” the baggage includes a lot of established tradition that dates back centuries. This is not to say that I am laboring on this editorial on an old manual typewriter with a faded ribbon, technology is something all of us embrace for it often saves time and resources. Rather, I am talking about the traditions established by botanists on how information is presented when written. Again, I am not suggesting publications should only be in the form of a hard copy, quite the contrary as I am a firm supporter of electronic publication.