Publication Process
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`The RFC publication process includes the stages described below.
`
`• RFC Submission Process
`• RFC Editing Process
`• Authors' Final Review
`• Publication
`• Copyright Notice and Legend
`
`All RFCs are first published as Internet-Drafts (I-Ds). All RFCs have been I-Ds, but not all I-Ds
`become RFCs.
`
`A well-formed RFC starts with a well-formed Internet-Draft. Please see the Internet-Drafts page on the
`IETF site for policy and submision guidelines, as it is authoritative regarding Internet-Drafts. In addition,
`we recommend the following for authors.
`
`• Use formatting tools to create an Internet-Draft that meets the "Checklist for Internet-Drafts
`submitted for RFC publication" (a.k.a. ID-nits).
`• Use the Internet-Draft Submission Tool to submit an I-D.
`• Refer to the RFC Style Guide for details on formatting and style conventions.
`RFC Submission Process
`
`• RFCs from the IETF
`
`All RFCs in a standards-track or Best Current Practice (BCP) category, as well as some
`Informational and Experimental RFCs, originate within the IETF process and reach the RFC Editor
`through the IESG. Members of the IESG include the IETF Area Directors (ADs), who are
`responsible for sets of related working groups. These working groups develop documents that may
`be approved for publication as RFCs by the ADs with IESG concurrence.
`
`• Independent Submissions
`
`Anyone can write an Internet-Draft and independently submit it to the RFC Editor for possible
`publication as an RFC (Informational or Experimental category only). It will be published after
`review, and perhaps revision, for technical competence, relevance, and adequate writing. It will
`also be reviewed by the RFC Editor and by the IESG for possible conflict with the IETF process.
`Once this has been completed successfully, independent submissions enter the same publication
`process as IETF submissions.
`
`http://www.rfc-editor.org/pubprocess.html
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`Publication Process
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`An independent submission must first be published as an Internet-Draft. Please see the instructions
`on the Independent Submissions page regarding submission.
`RFC Editing Process
`
`The RFC Editor maintains a list of documents in the editorial process. Since documents are processed in
`roughly FIFO order, this list is called the publication queue.
`
`Each document in the queue is assigned to a state that tracks its progress. The state diagram shows the
`overall publication process. The top of this diagram, in yellow, shows the independent submission review
`process. The bottom, in green is the actual publication process.
`
`Whenever a document enters the editorial queue, changes its state in the queue, or leaves the queue, an
`automatic email message summarizing the state change is sent to the authors. This message is for
`information only; it does not replace existing messages to authors, such as AUTH48 messages.
`
`Here are some important notes on the process.
`
`• IANA processing generally takes place in parallel with editing, but occasionally a document can be
`held up a long time in IANA state (through no fault of IANA).
`
`• A document A that has a normative reference to a document B that is not yet in the queue will be
`held at MISSREF state (perhaps a very long time) until B enters the queue.
`
`Once A and B are both in the queue, they will both be edited. For various reasons, this editing may
`require different times. A will be held in REF state, if necessary, until B's editing is complete, so
`that A and B will enter the final quality-control state RFC-EDITOR, together. Collections of 5 or
`more documents linked by such normative references are not unusual.
`
`• IETF working groups sometimes submit sets of documents that should be published together
`although they are not explicitly coupled by normative references. (Ideally, such document sets
`would be visible in the queue; we are working on that). A document that belongs to such an
`implicit set may be held (perhaps a long time) in RFC-EDITOR state, until the entire set has
`entered RFC-EDITOR state.
`
`• Editing sometimes raises issues that lead to technical discussions involving the working group and
`an Area Director. If the delay is significant, the document is put into IESG state until the issue is
`resolved.
`
`• A document may occasionally "fall out" of the queue at any time, e.g., because a working group,
`an author, or an Area Director requests that it be withdrawn.
`Authors' Final Review (AUTH48 State)
`
`Once an RFC has been edited and is ready for publication, the author(s) are given "48 hours" (in practice,
`this often stretches over weeks) to look over their document for errors, editorial and otherwise. We DO
`NOT make changes to RFCs once they have been published, so please look over your document
`carefully. Upon approval by all authors, the RFC will be published.
`
`http://www.rfc-editor.org/pubprocess.html
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`The AUTH48 notification message sent to authors asks that they review the entire document, paying
`particular attention to:
`
`• IANA considerations updates (if applicable),
`• contact information, and
`• references.
`
`See the general AUTH48 process described here.
`
`If an author is no longer available, there are several options (as listed in the FAQ). Indefinite delays are
`not allowed, but when there is a choice, the RFC Editor would in general prefer to publish it right than to
`publish it early.
`
`See the AUTH48 FAQ for more information.
`Publication
`
`When an RFC is published, an announcement is sent to ietf-announce and rfc-dist mailing lists. The
`canonical URI is of the form: http://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfcXXXX.txt. The most recently published
`RFCs are listed here.
`Copyright Notice and Legend
`
`The IETF Trustee License Information page summarizes the current rules governing RFC copyrights and
`disclaimers on patent ("Intellectual Property") rights, as of 10 November 2008.
`
`Reference
`
`• RFC 2026 "The Internet Standards Process -- Revision 3".
`
`This page was last updated on 18 September 2012.
`
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