JATS4R is open for all to participate in

• New subgroups are advertised via various communication channels and anyone is welcome to join a subgroup
• To register interest to participate in a subgroup, please email info@jats4r.niso.org or the subgroup chair directly
• Each subgroup is chaired by a Steering Committee member or another volunteer from the community and supported by a Steering Committee member

An overview

Subgroup autonomy

Once formed, the sub-groups will be autonomous up to the point of completing a recommendation, at which point the recommendation will be presented to the Steering Committee and Schematron reviewer for comment. 

Sample review

The subgroup will use the below suggested initial framework (depends on the recommendation being created – samples may not be available if it is a new publishing ‘feature’)

• Are there common practices already?
• What is the scope of this recommendation?
• Are there any tricky nuances we know about already?

Recommendation structure

The subgroup will follow the recommendation template structure (add link)

JATS DTD version support

• The version of the DTD used when recommendations are written will be indicated in the recommendation. JATS4R will also ensure all recommendations apply to Blue and Green tag sets of JATS.
• Recommendations are not written for draft versions of the DTD because they are still subject to change and not stable.

Review process

Steering Committee review

Once the draft recommendation is completed by the subgroup, it is reviewed by the JATS4R Steering Committee.

This may result in feedback to the subgroup and the subgroup chair is responsible for managing this process.

Public commenting

• The draft version is published on the JATS4R website and the googledoc draft recommendation is advertised for comment.
• Draft recommendations will be held open for comment for 1 month as standard.

Post-public process

• Any comments received during the public commenting phase are addressed by the original subgroup
• Once these have been resolved the recommendation will be reviewed by the Steering Committee for final sign off 

Final publication

The JATS4R steering committee manage this final process and promote the publication of the final version

Versioning guidelines

We have guidelines for the levels of versioning: 

• no version number change (1.0)
• dot change (1.1)
• number change (2.0)

Applying the rules (deciding which level is appropriate) is an editorial decision that must be made for each revision by the Steering Committee.

Revision	Change	Version?
Minor edits to text, reviewed by Steering Committee	Example: Misspelling in text – not going to affect the meaning of the recommendation. Comment/Date in change log	None (1.0)
Minor edits to recommendation, reviewed by Steering Committee	Example 1: Misspelling in value recommending to use  – eg conflict of interest use “coi-statement” attribute value but one place use “coi_statement” need to change this – cleaning up recommendation. Example 2: Wording was confusing and we cleared it up and reworded.Comment/Date in change log	Dot change (1.1)
Revisions suggested by steering committee – sent our for public commenting	Example: feedback from community or impact of another recommendation requires rework but not a new subgroup	(2.0)
New subgroup formed: 1. New JATS version has changed or provided new alternative for the JATS4R recommendation 2. New outside work has an impact on the current recommendation 3. It’s been a long time since it was published	New googledoc. Reaffirmed with no changes, we keep the same numbering and add a “R2019” If changes, given 2.0 Comment/Date in changelog	(2.0) OR suffix eg R2019 (if no changes)