Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) – Contributors Collection

What type of material is acceptable for submission to IEEE SA Contributors Collection?

Contributions may be different types of documents ranging from pure research to technical analysis, complete technical specifications and use cases but the contribution must have been previously submitted to an IEEE Working Group or Standard Committee for consideration. These contributions may or may not be directly implemented or referenced in the development of IEEE SA standards. Additionally, these documents may be in many formats including presentations, text documents and many others.

All Contributions must be submitted by the author, and the author must own the copyright of the Contribution. If any other person or entity owns material in any Contributions, the author must also submit a copyright release from the relevant person or entity, with explicit permission to provide the material under the Creative Commons license selected.

Are the materials submitted peer-reviewed?

No, materials submitted to Contributors Collection are not are not peer-reviewed (e.g., not screened for technical merit, completeness, or novelty) and submissions are not edited or typeset. Submitted documents are vetted for appropriateness and then their submission status is confirmed by WG volunteer leadership for acceptance on the platform.

What type of information is posted on IEEE SA Contributors Collection?

Contributors Collection encompasses material submissions related to or inconsideration of technical standards development in various areas but not limited to electrical engineering, computer science, and related areas. Non-technical information such as news, advertisements, or calls for papers will be declined.

Is there a fee to submit or read a contribution on IEEE Contributors Collection?

No, uploading or downloading material on Contributors Collection is free for both authors and readers.

What file format should I use?

You can submit your contribution in any file format (maximum individual file size 10 MB) using drag-and-drop or browse functions during submission. Contributors Collection will preserve the original file’s information and formatting. Once posted, readers can view the file through the web browser viewing tool or download it in the original format.

To help readers, you should include a PDF version of the contribution alongside the original file(s). If we don’t receive a PDF we may try to create one ourselves but it will not be available for you to proofread.

Can I post a contribution in any language?

IEEE SA Contributors Collection only accepts materials in English.

How long does it take from submission to posting on IEEE SA Contributors Collection?

Materials are typically posted within 10 business days of submission.

What happens after I submit my contribution to IEEE SA Contributors Collection?

Submitted documents are vetted for appropriateness and then their submission status is confirmed by WG volunteer leadership for acceptance on the platform.

Will my submission receive a Digital Object Identifier (DOI)?

Yes, all posted contributions receive a DOI and are fully citable.

Can I remove material I have submitted that is already posted on IEEE SA Contributors Collection?

No. All contributions posted on Contributors Collection receive Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs), making them part of the citable scientific record and indexable by external services such as Crossref and Google Scholar. As such, no posted contribution may be removed from Contributors Collection. If it is discovered that there are errors in a contribution and the author wishes to withdraw it, the contribution will still appear in Contributors Collection but it will be marked as “withdrawn” and annotated with comments explaining the reason for the withdrawal. In an extraordinary situation in which it is deemed necessary to remove access to a contribution (e.g., a fraudulent contribution, a duplicate contribution, or copyright infringement), the original metadata record will be retained but the record will be annotated with a note explaining the reason for removal.

Where is IEEE SA Contributors Collection content indexed?

Submitted materials may be indexed by Crossref, Google Scholar, and other third-party indexing services.

Is there an open API for Contributors Collection?

Yes, Contributors Collection is Open API compatible. You can review the full documentation or download the Open API Swagger specification.

What benefits does IEEE SA Contributors Collection offer?

Contributors Collection is a free, open and publicly accessible platform for materials used/considered in IEEE standards development. Submissions will be available to a global audience for review and download.  All contributions receive a DOI (Document Object Identifier) which may be referenced in CVs, biographies, etc.

Does Contributors Collection allow text data mining? If so, under what terms?

Contributors Collection does allow metadata mining and allows all associated files to be downloaded. Interested users should refer to the Open API documentation.

The terms applicable to the mining of contributions are determined by the author’s selection of a Creative Commons license (CC BY, CC BY-SA, CC BY-NC-SA, or CC0). Interested parties may limit searches to specific license types to meet their specific reuse needs.

What rights do I have under IEEE SA Contributors Collection’s license options? Do I have to assign my copyright to IEEE SA Contributors Collection?

Contributors Collection offers several Creative Commons licenses, all of which permit you to retain copyright of your work. You do not need to transfer your copyright to Contributors Collection. The use of a Creative Commons license means that you are free to sign a copyright agreement with most journals if you wish to publish your work in a journal. It is your responsibility to ensure that posting in Contributors Collection complies with the journal’s policies.

During the submission process, you will be asked to select a Creative Commons license for your contribution:

CC BY 4.0 (Attribution only) allows others to copy, reuse, adapt, and build upon your work, including for commercial purposes, as long as the content is attributed to you.

CC BY-SA 4.0 (Attribution-ShareAlike) allows others to copy, reuse, adapt, and build upon your work, including for commercial purposes, as long as the content is attributed to you and the adapted work is distributed under the same license as the original.

CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 (Attribution-Noncommercial-ShareAlike) allows others to copy, reuse, adapt, and build upon your work for non-commercial purposes, as long as the content is attributed to you and the adapted work is distributed under the same license as the original.

CC0 1.0 (Public Domain Dedication) allows others to copy, reuse, adapt, and build upon your work for any purpose without attribution; all your rights in the work are waived and the work is dedicated to the public domain.

Visit Creative Commons for more detailed information.

How are submissions to Entity Projects handled in Contributors Collection?

Authors of a contribution to an Entity project need to be listed on the contribution and, if submitted, one of those authors shall complete the Contributors Collection submission process.  Non-authors, e.g., working group participants who are not authors, shall not be listed on the contribution.

If I download documents from the Contributors Collection, am I limited in how I can use the document?

Yes. The license associated with the document explains how you can use the document. You will need to read the license carefully, so you know what you are permitted to do, and what you are not permitted to do. The submitter of the document determines which license applies.

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