To publish is to make publicly known, and in reference to text and images, it can mean distributing paper copies to the public, or putting the content on a website.

The word publication means the act of publishing, and it also means any writing of which copies are published, and any website. Among publications are books, and periodicals, the latter including magazines, scholarly journals, and newspapers.

In Taxonomy the publication of the description of a taxon has to comply with some rules.

  • It must be published in Latin.
  • It must be published on paper.
  • The publication must be generally available.
  • The date of publication is the date the published material became generally available.

A wikiwiki allows anyone to publish (provided that it within the scope of the wikiwiki) without intervention of a human publisher and without the need of one's own website, but with the understanding that others can change it. One's original publication may or may not be preserved as such, namely in a public page history archive.