Posted Copies of Printed Articles

Erik Sandewall

This memo is available in the following formats, besides the HTML version that follows below:

• [postscript]

The present memo describes a procedure which can be used when an article has already been accepted for a conference and printed in its conference proceedings, and the article is then submitted to the ETAI. The goal is to make sure that the article is available on-line for the duration of the review period, and that it is also available (but not necessarily on-line) at later times for the purpose of understanding the on-line discussion, and also for checking priority. The essential aspects of the arrangement are as follows:

• The article must have been published in a widely available conference proceedings from a major publisher (for example, Springer Verlag, or Morgan-Kaufmann).

• A copy of the article is posted on the Internet in a location of the author's choice, for example, the author's home page, and is held there for the duration of the review and refereeing periods (usually 4 months, absolute maximum 6 months)

• The posted copy must be identical to what was published in the conference proceedings. The author confirms in writing that this is the case.

• It is agreed that the ETAI secretariat can download a copy of the article and keep it with them, but not necessarily to make it available over the net. This copy is used for verifying, should the question ever arise, whether the copy posted by the author has been changed, so that it is no longer identical to the original in the conference proceedings.

• After refereeing, if the article is accepted, then the usual procedure is used for including it in the ETAI, possibly after revision. Specifically, the article is published in a First Publication Archive, and this publication is used as the basis for the article as included in an ETAI issue. As usual, the author retains the copyright to the article.

• Should the article not be accepted by the ETAI or should it be withdrawn by the author, then the author's obligation to keep the article on the net ceases to apply immediately. The ETAI secretariat must also discard its electronic copy if requested to do so. The posted discussion about the article will remain posted. In order to put it into context, it will contain a reference to the conference publication where the article was published initially.

• All the above must be consistent with the publication agreements which the author may have made with the publisher of the conference proceedings, or with any other publisher.

Those are the important aspects of the rules. These rules are intended to make it as easy as possible to submit an article to the ETAI and to make use of the fact that it has already been published in a conference proceedings. At the same time, they aim to make sure that the article is on-line available, since this is essential for the ETAI reviewing process. They also aim to make sure that there is no disturbance to that on-line availability.

The following are some additional rule items which further clarify the details of the arrangement:

• If the author should wish to make some changes to the article from the conference version to the ETAI submitted version, then the author shall put the following three files on line: the original article, the revised article, and a modification file which specifies what changes have been made. The modification file is downloaded to the ETAI secretariat and is also posted by them. It will remain even if the article itself is removed.

  This method is only recommended if the changes are of limited extent. For major changes, it is recommended to publish the revised article in an FPA or FPS.