6. RESEARCH GROUP DOCUMENTS

6.1. Meeting documents

All relevant documents for a meeting (including the final agenda) should be published to the group mailing list and available at least two weeks before a meeting starts.

It is strongly suggested that the Research Group Chair make sure that an anonymous FTP directory or Web site be available for the upcoming meeting. All relevant documents (including the final agenda and the minutes of the last meeting) should be placed in this directory. This has the advantage that all participants can retrieve all files in this directory and thus make sure they have all relevant documents. Also, it will be helpful to provide electronic mail-based retrieval for those documents.

6.2. Request For Comments (RFC)

The work of an IRTF Research Group usually results in publication of research papers and other documents, as well as documents as part of the Informational or Experimental Request For Comments (RFCs) series [1]. This series is the archival publication record for the Internet community. A document can be written by an individual in a Research Group, by a group as a whole with a designated Editor, or by others not involved with the IRTF. The designated author(s) need not include the group Chair(s).

NOTE: The RFC series is a publication mechanism only and publication does not determine the status of a document. Status is determined through separate, explicit status labels. In other words, the reader is reminded that all Internet Standards are published as RFCs, but NOT all RFCs specify standards.

The RFC's authors are expected to work with the RFC Editor to meet all formatting, review and other requirements that the Editor may impose. Usually, in case of a submission intended as an Informational or Experimental RFC minimal review is necessary, although publication in the Experimental track generally requires IESG review. However, in all cases initial publication as an Internet Draft is preferred.

If the Research Group or the RFC Editor thinks that an extensive review is appropriate, the IRTF Chair may be asked to conduct one. This review may either be done by the IRTF Chair, the IRSG, or an independent reviewer selected by the IRTF Chair. Occasionally, review by the IETF or IESG may be appropriate.