''Le Naturaliste Canadien'' is a Canadian

French-language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. Like all other Romance languages, it descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. French evolved from Northern Old Gallo-Romance, a descendant of the Latin spoken in ...

peer-reviewed Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work ( peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review ...

scientific journal In academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication designed to further the progress of science by disseminating new research findings to the scientific community. These journals serve as a platform for researchers, schola ...

published semiannually by the Société Léon-Provancher d'Histoire Naturelle du Canada. The journal publishes articles on all topics of

natural science Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

s with a specific focus on

ecology Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their Natural environment, environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosystem, and biosphere lev ...

and

conservation biology Conservation biology is the study of the conservation of nature and of Earth's biodiversity with the aim of protecting species, their habitats, and ecosystems from excessive rates of extinction and the erosion of biotic interactions. It is an i ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

. The journal also acts as the official publication of the society. The journal is the oldest scientific publication in French in North America and one of the oldest scientific journals still in publication in Canada.

Foundation by Provancher

The ''Naturaliste Canadien'' was launched in 1868 by Léon Abel Provancher, an important figure in

's scientific history. It was aimed to be an organ for the diffusion of scientific findings and popularization: For all his life, Provancher would remain the owner and editor of the journal, as well as its main contributor, although a number of other prominent naturalists of the time also published in it: Dominique-Napoléon Saint-Cyr,

Charles-Eusèbe Dionne Charles-Eusèbe Dionne (20 July 1846 – 25 January 1925), also known as Charles Eusebe or C. E. Dionne, was a French Canadian naturalist and taxidermist. He is considered the first professional French Canadian ornithologist. Dionne was a sel ...

(who also for a time edited a concurrent journal), François-Xavier Bélanger, Joseph-Alexandre Crevier,

James MacPherson Le Moine Sir James MacPherson Le Moine (24 January 1825 — 5 February 1912) was a Canadian author and barrister. He was involved with the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec, helping in the development of their natural history museum, and later ser ...

and

Jean-Baptiste Meilleur Jean-Baptiste Meilleur (May 8, 1796 – December 6, 1878) was a medical doctor, educator and political figure in Lower Canada, Canada East, and Quebec. He was born at Petite-Côte in Saint-Laurent, Lower Canada on the Island of Montreal in 179 ...

amongst others. Their combined contribution amount to less than a hundred pages; Provancher providing the vast majority of the journal's content, over 6,000 pages' worth. While many articles treated scientific topics, Provancher also wrote essays on related topics such as public education, the establishment of museums, and a

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is ...

project in

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

. Soon after it was launched, having reached 500 subscription (a rather high rate when 50% of the population couldn't sign their name), it received a government grant to help with publication. During this whole period, Provancher maintained an overall anti-

evolution Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...

ist (particularly anti-Lamarckian) stance; for example, he published several virulent attack on evolution from François-Xavier Burque. However, the naturalist still got into disagreements with the more extreme elements of Quebec

ultramontane Ultramontanism is a clerical political conception within the Catholic Church that places strong emphasis on the prerogatives and powers of the Pope. It contrasts with Gallicanism, the belief that popular civil authority—often represented by ...

s over some theological points. A polemist at heart, he had a particularly violent dispute with journalist

Jules-Paul Tardivel Jules-Paul Tardivel (2 September 1851 – 24 April 1905) was an American–Canadian writer and a promoter of Quebec nationalism. Tardivel was born in Covington, Kentucky, Covington, Kentucky, and sent to Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, Saint-Hy ...

, in which he was defended by Burque, and his University and

Archdiocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associated ...

. In another instance, he called Lamarckism a theory "serving the self-pride of

materialist Materialism is a form of philosophical monism according to which matter is the fundamental substance in nature, and all things, including mental states and consciousness, are results of material interactions. According to philosophical materia ...

French politicians, Bert, Hugo robably referring to both

Victor_Hugo.html" ;"title="robably referring to both Victor Hugo">robably referring to both Victor Hugo and his sons Jules Ferry">Ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

, Goblet A chalice (from Latin 'cup', taken from the Ancient Greek () 'cup') is a drinking cup raised on a stem with a foot or base. Although it is a technical archaeological term, in modern parlance the word is now used almost exclusively for the ...

Huard's continuation

Charles Boucher de Boucherville Sir Charles-Eugène-Napoléon Boucher de Boucherville (May 4, 1822 – September 10, 1915) was a Canadian politician and medical doctor. He twice served as the premier of Quebec. Personal life Boucher was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. ...

entomology Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...

ichthyology Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish (Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 35,800 species of fish had been described as of March 2 ...

geology Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth ...

anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old scien ...

microbiology Microbiology () is the branches of science, scientific study of microorganisms, those being of unicellular organism, unicellular (single-celled), multicellular organism, multicellular (consisting of complex cells), or non-cellular life, acellula ...

Laval University Laval means ''The Valley'' in old French and is the name of: People * House of Laval, a French noble family originating from the town of Laval, Mayenne * Laval (surname) Places Belgium * Laval, a village in the municipality of Sainte-Ode, Luxe ...

Laval and modern incarnations

The University took over the journal and its publication (which was also for a time the official publication of the newly founded Linnean Society of Quebec) from 1930 onward, making it the official publications of the department of biology. The format and editorial policies—only original material—were revised, attracting criticism from both its original public and the scientific community as the editorial committee attempted to satisfy both. As early as 1931 it was one of the most circulated French-Canadian publications, its 600 copies going to individuals and institutions in 18 countries, but changes in leadership and editorial problems left the journal wobbly until the 60s. With the subtitle "''revue d'écology et de systématique''" ("journal of ecology and systematics"), a clearer policy and a proper peer review system, the magazine acquired an unprecedented circulation, and was published in French with abstracts in both English and French. It remained a monthly until 1942, when it became a bimonthly, then became a quarterly publication in 1976. By 1991 dwindling numbers of submissions, increasing difficulties with respecting deadlines—several of the later issues were published with a year of delay—, new governmental policies for grants and other factors such as the increasing specialization of publications made discontinuation the obvious outcome. Issue 1 of volume 118 was the last of this run. In 1994 a new departmental journal, '' Écoscience'' was launched, edited by mostly the same team that had edited the previous journal. The University announced it would be willing to give out the ''Naturaliste'' if its original goals were to be perpetuated. The Société Léon-Provancher d'Histoire Naturelle du Canada and the university came to an agreement where the society would take over publication, the magazine replacing the Society's previous ''Euskarien''. Although the combined volumes have a single

collation Collation is the assembly of written information into a standard order. Many systems of collation are based on numerical order or alphabetical order, or extensions and combinations thereof. Collation is a fundamental element of most office fi ...

, Provancher, Huard's and Laval's runs are often treated as first, second and third series respectively, with Huard's and Laval's series having collations of their own. This additional collation was abandoned at Laval in 1942. The journal now publishes papers and observations on

and

in Quebec, as well as the Society's own news, notably about

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

history in the province—the Society owns and manages the Île aux Basques archeological site and

bird sanctuary An animal sanctuary is a facility where animals are brought to live and to be protected for the rest of their lives. In addition, sanctuaries are an experimental staging ground for transformative human–animal relations. There are five types of ...

. It is a semiannual publication and as of 2007 was indexed by Repères,

Cambridge Scientific Abstracts Cambridge Scientific Abstracts (later simply CSA) was a division of Cambridge Information Group and provider of online databases, based in Bethesda, Maryland, before merging with ProQuest of Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 2007. CSA hosted databases of ...

, and

The Zoological Record ''The Zoological Record'' (''ZR'') is an electronic index of zoological literature that also serves as the unofficial register of scientific names in zoology. It was started as a print publication in 1864 by the Zoological Society of London, ...

. The journal has an unusual policy on reprinting: much like the

Creative Commons Creative Commons (CC) is an American non-profit organization and international network devoted to educational access and expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organization has release ...

attribution license, articles may be reprinted in all or part as long as the source is mentioned.

Notes

References

* * * *
Bibliographic data
Library of Congress Online Catalog]. Accessed 2008-07-04.

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Naturaliste Canadien Ecology journals French-language journals Publications established in 1868