Standards Review & Development FAQ
How can I find current information about activities involved with the review and development of Standards?
Read the latest edition of the Standards and TIPS Action Report (STAR). Go to the Specialty Newsletter page on the TAPPI web site and scroll down to the listing for the STAR.
What groups are involved in the development and review of TAPPI Standards?
TAPPI members and nonmembers are eligible and invited to participate in the development and review of TAPPI Standards. Under the current guidelines, a series of Standard-Specific Interest Groups (SSIGs) have been established to facilitate this process.
Standard-Specific Interest Groups are groups of TAPPI members and other interested parties who have indicated an interest in a particular Standard. Standards are grouped by Subject Category to make it easier for members to find standards of interest.
What are the Subject Categories for the TAPPI Standards?
View here to see the list.
What is expected of an individual who joins a Standard-Specific Interest Group?
Members of the SSIGs are expected to respond to ballots when Standards are being developed or reviewed. Any SSIG member who misses three ballots in a row from any of the SSIGs that he/she belongs to will be dropped from membership that SSIG. Members who have been dropped from three SSIGs will be dropped from all SSIGs that they sign up for.
A member of an SSIG may be recruited to become a Working Group Chairman (WGC) to head up the review of a particular document. WGCs should be experts in the technical field of the document under review. Their primary function is to review negative votes and comments from ballots and resolve them to the satisfaction of the SSIG for that document. The SSIG for a particular document must reach a consensus on the wording of a document before it can be accepted as a TAPPI Standard
How can a TAPPI member join a Standard-Specific Interest Group?
First, you may want to review the listing of Subject Categories that currently cover the Standards in the TAPPI set. Follow the instructions on the Subject Category page for requesting membership in SSIGs.
What groups regulate the process for development and review of TAPPI Standards?
The Quality and Standards Management Committee (QSMC) is a committee appointed by the TAPPI President and which reports to the TAPPI Board of Directors. QSMC is responsible for establishing, reviewing, and revising (when necessary) the regulations and style guidelines for TAPPI Standards. QSMC has other responsibilities as well, as outlined in its scope:
Scope: The Quality and Standards Management Committee is responsible for implementation of the portions of TAPPI’s Strategic Plan that relate to the sharing of technical information and knowledge in the specific areas of Test Methods, Technical Information Papers, and quality management systems. The Committee coordinates with other groups in achieving all appropriate strategic outcomes, takes action to insure progress, and recommends changes in strategic direction as necessary. The Committee oversees TAPPI Test Methods and Technical Information Papers and maintains liaison with internal and external groups as appropriate. The Committee brings major policy proposal changes to the Board of Directors.
The Standards Advisory Review Group (SARG) is a group of TAPPI members appointed by the QSMC who are familiar with the TAPPI Standards process and are qualified to participate in the final review of Standards after they have been approved by the appropriate SSIG. The Standards Advisory Review Group (SARG) is responsible for determining that the Standards review and/or development process has been properly followed, and that all negatives and comments have been resolved as required by the regulations. The SARG is appointed to terms whose lengths are determined by the Q&SMC. The SARG shall have a minimum of three members, but may have as many as the Q&SMC deems appropriate.
Where can one find details on the review and development process?
See the TAPPI Standards: Regulations and Style Guidelines. Go to the following specific sections in this document for these specific needs:
- How to write a Standard Test Method using proper terminology and format (Section 7)
- How to write TAPPI Standard Specifications, Glossaries, and Guidelines using proper terminology and formation (Section 8).
- What requirements exist for precision statements in Official and Provisional Test Methods (Sections 4.2.1, 4.2.2, 6.4.5, 7.4.17).
- Use of a checklist to make sure that all required sections have been included in a Standard draft (Appendix 4).
- How Working Group Chairman, Working Groups, and Standard-Specific Interest Groups fit into the process of preparing a Standard (Section 6.3, 6.4.1, 6.4.2, 6.4.3, 6.4.4, 6.4.6, 6.4.7).
- How the balloting process works (Sections 6.4.6, 6.4.7, 6.4.8, 6.4.9)
- How to resolve comments and negative votes (Sections 8.5, 8.6, 8.7)