PHOBOS PUBLICATION POLICY

Introduction:

This document outlines the PHOBOS publication policy. It details the authorship of publications and the policy of review of manuscripts by the PHOBOS Collaboration. It also outlines a procedure for the distribution of invited talks at workshops and conferences. Exceptions to this policy can be made by the spokesperson in consultation with the Collaboration Council.

Changes to this publication policy can be made by a 2/3 majority vote of the Collaboration Council.

Authorship:

1. The author list of the first publication of PHOBOS physics results shall include everyone who has ever been a member of the PHOBOS Collaboration since the Conceptual Design Report (CDR). The author list shall also include the engineers who contributed in an important way to the construction of the detector. A list of such people shall be compiled by the individual institutions and approved by the spokesperson in consultation with the Collaboration Council.
2. The authorship of all papers containing previously unpublished PHOBOS physics results shall consist of all the members of the Collaboration at the time the data were taken and those that made significant contributions to the data analysis. The author list shall be alphabetical.
3. The authorship of all conference proceedings dealing with PHOBOS physics results shall consist of all the members of the Collaboration at the time the data were taken and those that made significant contributions to the data analysis. The actual speaker and his/her institution shall be listed as the primary author, followed by the complete author list in alphabetical order. An example is shown in Appendix A.
4. Papers dealing solely with technical aspects of PHOBOS may be authored by a subset of the Collaboration, but care shall be taken to ensure that all who contributed are included in the authorship. To this end, a draft of the manuscript shall be circulated to the entire PHOBOS Collaboration to provide other Collaboration members with an opportunity to ask that their name(s) be added. The author list may or may not be in alphabetical order.
5. Conference proceedings dealing solely with technical aspects of PHOBOS may be authored by a subset of the Collaboration, but care shall be taken to ensure that all who contributed are included in the authorship. To this end, a draft of the proceedings shall be circulated to the PHOBOS Collaboration to provide other Collaboration members with an opportunity to ask that their name(s) be added. The actual speaker and his/her institution shall be listed as the primary author, followed by the complete author list which may or may not be in alphabetical order. An example is shown in Appendix A.
6. The authorship of invited or contributed abstracts dealing with PHOBOS physics results shall only list the actual speaker as the author, in the form "XXXX YYYY, for the PHOBOS Collaboration".
7. Invited or contributed abstracts dealing solely with technical aspects of PHOBOS may be authored by a subset of the Collaboration, but care shall be taken to ensure that all who contributed are included in the authorship.
8. Any individual may request that his/her name does not appear on the author list of any particular publication. Such a request may or may not signify a lack of concurrence with the contents of the paper.
9. Any conflicts on authorship on all PHOBOS publications shall be resolved by the spokesperson in consultation with the Collaboration Council.
10. An up-to-date list of the members of the PHOBOS Collaboration and those that have left the Collaboration but are eligible to appear as authors on manuscripts dealing with PHOBOS physics shall be maintained by the spokesperson.

Procedures for Review:

1. The initiating authors shall inform the spokesperson of their intent to prepare a manuscript for publication. The initiating authors shall provide a general outline of the manuscript, and for technical papers, a proposed author list. The spokesperson may request that the initiating authors present an outline of the manuscript at a Collaboration meeting, or at a special meeting which is announced well in advance (at least TWO WEEKS) to the Collaboration.
2. Draft versions of all manuscripts shall be submitted to a review committee of typically 3 people from different institutions, chosen by the spokesperson. The review committee confirms the results presented in the manuscript and provides detailed comments on the text. The review committee shall provide feedback to the initiating authors within FOUR WEEKS of receipt of the manuscript.
3. A new version of the manuscript shall be circulated to the authorship for comments and changes. The draft of a technical publication shall also be circulated to the entire PHOBOS Collaboration at this point to provide other Collaboration members with an opportunity to ask that their name(s) be added. The authorship has TWO WEEKS to provide feedback to the initiating authors and the review committee.
4. If the review committee and the initiating authors decide that significant changes are necessary, a new version of the manuscript shall be circulated again to the authorship for comments and changes. These steps shall be repeated until the review committee and the initiating authors are satisfied that the comments from the authorship have been addressed. The initiating authors must respond to any substantive comments which were not incorporated in the manuscript.
5. In the event of disagreement within the review committee or between the review committee and the initiating authors, the issue gets resolved by a 2/3 majority vote of the Collaboration Council. It is the responsibility of the spokesperson to achieve a compromise that is acceptable to 2/3 of the Council.
6. The final version of the manuscript shall be circulated to the spokesperson and the review committee ONE WEEK prior to submission.
7. The spokesperson in consultation with the review committee shall approve the final version of the manuscript prior to submission.
8. Preprints of the manuscript submitted for publication shall be distributed to the entire PHOBOS collaboration.
9. Any institution can request that the Collaboration Council review the actions taken by the review committee and the initiating authors.

Invited Talks:

1. Only results from PHOBOS data analyses that have been approved by a 2/3 majority vote of the Collaboration Council may be shown publicly at invited talks and appear in proceedings.
2. The spokesperson in consultation with the Collaboration Council shall ensure that opportunities to present PHOBOS results at workshops and conferences are equitably distributed among the PHOBOS Collaborators.
3. Invitations received by a PHOBOS Collaborator for seminars and colloquia are regarded as an invitation to an individual. Although no prior approval is needed from the spokesperson in order to accept such an invitation, the spokesperson shall be informed of the date, place, and title of the seminar or colloquium.
4. Invitations received by a PHOBOS Collaborator for a talk dealing with PHOBOS physics at a workshop or conference are regarded as invitations to the Collaboration. The invitation shall be forwarded to the spokesperson. The spokesperson, in consultation with the Collaboration Council and the person who received the invitation, shall decide whether or not to accept the invitation, and shall select a speaker from the PHOBOS Collaboration. It is the responsibility of the person who received the invitation to respond to it. In case the organizers of a workshop or conference refuse to accept the speaker nominated by the spokesperson and insist on the initially invited speaker, the spokesperson will reevaluate the invitation.
5. Invitations received by a PHOBOS Collaborator for a talk dealing solely with technical aspects of PHOBOS at a workshop or conference are regarded as invitations to a subset of the Collaboration. The invitation shall be forwarded to the spokesperson. The spokesperson, in consultation with the Collaboration Council and the person who received the invitation, shall decide whether or not to accept the invitation, and shall select a speaker from the PHOBOS Collaboration. It is the responsibility of the person who received the invitation to respond to the it. In case the organizers of a workshop or conference refuse to accept the speaker nominated by the spokesperson, and insist on the initially invited speaker, the spokesperson shall reevaluate the invitation.
6. If proceedings are published, the speaker shall be responsible for writing the PHOBOS contribution. The manuscript shall be circulated for comments as outlined in the procedures for review.
7. The material to be discussed in invited talks at conferences and workshops shall be presented to the Collaboration prior to its public presentation. The presentation to the Collaboration can occur at a general Collaboration meeting or at a special meeting of the Collaboration, announced to the Collaboration at least TWO WEEKS in advance. The transparencies to be shown shall be made available on the PHOBOS WEB pages at the time of the presentation to the Collaboration.

Appendix A