How the Standards Track Works

1. The Task Group Convener submits the working draft and appropriate documentation as a package to the Open Journal System's (OJS) journal 'TDWG Standards Track' and emails a notification to secretary(at)tdwg(dot)org.
2. If the Executive Committee agrees to the submission, they will appoint an independent Review Manager to manage the standard through the review process (that uses OJS).
3. The Review Manager seeks relevant reviews, provides feedback to the submitter, and then provides recommendations to the Executive Committee.
4. The Executive Committee evaluates the recommendations. They can advance the standard with public review, request a new revision to address specific problems or decline the standard.*
5. If the draft standard is approved, it will be placed in the TDWG repository for a minimum of 30 days for public comment.
6. At the end of the comment period, the Group Convener must address the comments and make any appropriate changes.
7. If the draft has been through at least one round of public review before the Executive Committee, the draft is accepted as a Standard and its status in the repository is updated accordingly.

*If the standard is declined at any point in the ratification process, the Group Convener will be contacted by the Review Manager with the decision and justification.