12. Body of an IEEE draft standard

12.1 Normative and informative clauses

IEEE standard document structure (6.4) of the IEEE SA Standards Board Operations Manual defines which parts of a standard are normative and which parts of a standard are informative.

Normative text is information that is required to implement the standard and is therefore necessary to determine conformance with the standard. Informative text is provided for information only and is therefore not necessary to determine conformance with the standard. Both normative and informative text are provided for review and commenting during the IEEE Standards Association ballot.

Normative text (information required to implement the standard) includes the following:

• The main clauses of the documents including figures, tables, and equations
• Footnotes to tables
• Footnotes to figures
• Annexes marked “(normative)”

Informative text (text provided for information only) includes the following:

• Frontmatter

• Notes to text, tables, and figures

  At the first instance of a note associated with text, a table, or a figure, the following footnote should appear:

  Notes to text, tables, and figures are for information only and do not contain requirements needed to implement the standard.

• Annexes marked “(informative),” e.g., Bibliography

Interspersed normative and informative text is not allowed. As such, neither clauses nor subclauses shall be labeled as informative. Contact IEEE SA content publishing staff early in the process if there are questions as to whether material in the draft should be labeled as normative or informative.

12.2 Order of clauses

12.2.1 General

The first clause of a standard, Clause 1, shall always be an overview (except for amendments and corrigenda, which do not usually have an overview, scope, or purpose). If the standard contains normative references and definitions, they shall be Clause 2 and Clause 3, respectively. The clauses that follow Clause 3 can be ordered in any way by the working group. If clause and subclause titles begin with numbers, they should be spelled out, unless unavoidable (e.g., 10BASE-T).

12.2.2 The overview of the draft

The overview includes the scope of the standard that shall be within the scope of that given on the PAR. The overview shall also include a subclause for word usage (see 12.2.5). Therefore, at a minimum, the overview will contain two subclauses—one for the scope and the other for word usage. The overview may include optional topics such as a purpose, applications, and other areas that the working group considers relevant. These optional topics should be presented as separate subclauses of the overview; they should not be lumped in with the scope or word usage.

The overview shall not contain detailed discussions of the general technical content of the standard nor shall it list the contents of the standard (since this is the purpose of the table of contents).

12.2.3 Scope

The scope of the standard shall explain in statements of fact what is covered in the standard and, if necessary, what is not covered in the standard—in other words, the technical boundaries of the document. The scope should be succinct so that it can be abstracted for bibliographic purposes.

For new and revision projects, the scope of the draft shall be within the scope of that given on the PAR, as determined by the balloting group voting on the draft.

For amendments and corrigenda, there is normally no scope in the draft. Therefore, on the PAR, the scope shall state what the amendment/corrigendum is changing.

For standards projects that incorporate Open Source, the fact that the standard incorporates Open Source and the location of that Open Source, via the URL or hyperlink, should be included in the Scope

Regardless of project type, the scope of the draft has to be within the scope of the project given on the PAR form.

Please note the distinction of the scope from the purpose of the standard discussed in 12.2.4.

12.2.4 Purpose

A paragraph describing the purpose of the standard is not mandatory in the draft. However, if included, the purpose of the standard and its intended application shall be included in a separate subclause (1.2). The purpose shall explain why the standards project is needed.

For new and revision projects, the purpose (if included) of the draft shall be within the parameters of the purpose given on the PAR, as determined by the balloting group voting on the draft.

For amendments and corrigenda, there is normally no purpose in the draft standard. Therefore, on the PAR form, the purpose shall state why the changes are being made.

Please note the distinction of the purpose from the scope of the standard discussed in 12.2.3.

12.2.5 Word usage

Include the definitions of “shall,” “should,” and “may” within a draft standard. The subclause appears in Clause 1 Overview of the draft. See 12.2.2 and the example of a draft standard in Annex B for more information.

12.3 Normative references

12.3.1 What is a normative reference?

In an IEEE standard normative references are those documents that contain material that must be understood and used to implement the standard.¹ Thus, normative references are indispensable when applying the standard. The decision to include something as a normative reference in a standard should be made thoughtfully. Documents to which reference is made only for information or background, and documents that served merely as references in the preparation of the standard, are not normative references. Such documents may, however, be included in a bibliography. (See Clause 19.)

Normative references may include the following:

1. Standards: IEEE standards and standards developed by other recognized standards developing organizations (SDOs) are the preferred source of normative references.
2. Non-standards documents: A document that is not a standard may be cited provided that:
   • It is judged by the balloting group to have wide acceptance and authoritative status.
   • It is publicly available at reasonable cost.
   • The reference includes the edition or date of publication

   Be aware that non-standards documents may prove problematic because they might be revised without notice in a manner that might adversely affect the standard in which it is normatively referenced.

3. Draft standards: Unpublished drafts may be used as normative references as long as they are:
   • Dated
   • Readily available
   • Retrievable

   A copy of ALL drafts shall be submitted to IEEE SA to be placed on file as an archive. Note that if a referenced IEEE draft is approved prior to publication of the document, the draft reference will be updated to reflect this change during the publication process. If the working groups prefers that the draft reference remain as is, the citation shall be followed by “(this version).”

4. Withdrawn standards: Although they may be included in the Normative References, BE AWARE: withdrawn standards may contain obsolete or erroneous information and may be difficult to retrieve.

5. Open Source: Normatively referenced Open Source shall be listed in the Normative Reference clause. Similar to other types of normative references, normative Open Source may be dated (to reference a specific version) or undated (to reference the most recent version). A decision to have an undated normative reference to Open Source shall be considered carefully by the Working Group. The Working Group is expected to review updates to undated normative references during the standards development process and after IEEE SA Standards Board approval to determine if they continue to align with the standard, and if not, to take appropriate action (e.g., if a dated reference should be noted in the standard instead, submit a PAR for a revision or amendment to the standard.). Open Source developed in the IEEE Open Source repository may be listed as an undated reference.

   The normative reference to Open Source shall specify one or more source code libraries within a specified code repository in a specified project. A reference may specify one or more specific versions of each library, or “the most current version” in the instance of undated references. If the reference is undated, the version approved by the IEEE SA Standards Board approval shall be indicated on the repository, and a footnote shall be provided for access to the approved version.

12.3.2 Dated versus undated normative standards references

First, remember ALL drafts included in the Normative References shall be numbered and dated [see item c) in 12.3.1]. Similarly, ALL non-standards references shall be dated [see item b) in 12.3.1].

When referencing standards, dated and/or undated references are allowed. Make this decision thoughtfully. Using undated references helps eliminate the burden of continuous updates to align standards as they are revised, while ensuring that the most up-to-date information on technologies and statutes is referenced (when appropriate). Dated references can be used in certain circumstances, such as when a high degree of specificity is needed. Note that in-text reference to a specific clause, subclause, table, or figure of another document shall be dated even if the undated version of the document is listed in the normative references. Ultimately, the responsibility of determining whether a reference should be dated or undated lies with the working and balloting groups, who shall determine what is best during implementation of a given standard, and therefore what is best for the standard’s users.

12.3.3 Citing a normative reference in text

As described in 6.4 of the IEEE SA Standards Board Operations Manual, each normative reference shall be cited in normative text and the role and relationship of each referenced document shall be explained in the body of the standard.

If a reference is not specifically cited in the normative text of the document, then it shall not be listed in the normative references clause. In such cases, it shall be listed in the first or final informative annex, titled Bibliography.

Examples of properly constructed in text citations of a normative reference are as follows:

Dedicated battery systems for control power, starting, and field flashing shall be sized per IEEE Std 485™, or IEEE Std 1115™, and according to postulated number of starts over an extended duration without capability to recharge.

Where the clamping component is used in signal circuits, it is important to know the capacitive loading and its variation with voltage. The capacitance values should be measured at zero voltage bias and at 80% of the minimum limiting voltage threshold (see 5.7 of IEEE Std C62.42.3-2017).

12.3.4 Structure of the normative references clause

The following guidelines shall be followed when structuring the normative references clause:

1. The normative references clause is introduced with the following paragraph:

   “The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this document (i.e., they must be understood and used, so each referenced document is cited in text and its relationship to this document is explained). For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments or corrigenda) applies.”

2. IEEE SA content publishing staff will list the information (i.e., title) for the most current edition of the undated material cited. In some cases, the most current edition is not the one required. It is also important for the working group to remember that the dated edition listed in the balloted document will be the one that appears in the published document. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the standards committee to determine not only which edition of a document is applicable in each case, but also to ensure that the balloted document lists the correct edition.
3. The working group shall endeavor to supply complete and current information for normative references. Note that IEEE SA content publishing staff cannot verify that normative references to updated editions of documents (i.e., undated references) are accurate; therefore, it is up to the standards committee to consult the latest editions to see if they still apply.

12.3.5 Style for standards reference entries

Normative references shall be listed in alphanumeric order by designation, including the full title. Documents that are not standards shall include the edition or date of publication in the citation. A footnote should be inserted in the text after the first cited normative reference in order to tell the reader where the references can be obtained.

For an example of a properly formatted normative references clause, see the example of a draft standard in Annex B.

References should be cited by designation (e.g., IEEE Std 1226.6™ or IEEE Std 1625™-2004) in the text, in tables, in figures, or in notes at the point where the reference applies. Note that IEEE designations shall be identified as trademarks (® or ™, as appropriate) at first citation of each designation in the frontmatter and in the body of the draft.

12.3.6 Style for non-standards citations

Refer to The Chicago Manual of Style for rules on citing sources other than standards.

For citing Internet sources, the following format should be used where <entity> is replaced with the name of the organization and <URL> is replaced by the Internet location:

“… is available from the <entity> Website <URL>.”

“(see the information at the following Internet location: <URL>).”

The URL should be the most stable location to avoid inadvertent or intentional changes that would affect the site name, i.e., use the index to the page rather than the page itself.

The working group shall obtain permission where needed. The IEEE SA should be contacted at stds-copyright@ieee.org, in instances where legal agreements are required (see Clause 5).

If a document listed in the bibliography or normative references is accessed from the Internet, the document title, date, version, and other pertinent information should be listed, followed by a footnote that gives the Internet location. If the document needs to be on the IEEE Standards website, the working group can insert the following placeholder until the site location is assigned:

“This document is available from the IEEE Standards Website <insert IEEE Internet location>.”

Contact IEEE SA content publishing staff with any questions about documents that should be placed on the IEEE Standards website.

12.3.7 Style for Open Source

Open Source developed in the IEEE Open Source repository may be listed as a dated or undated reference as follows:

Dated references

General template:

Company or Creator Last Name, Creator First Name. Year published. Title of Software in Title Case, version number. Place of Publication. Accessed full date. DOI or URL.

Example using DOI: Brian McFee, Matt McVicar, Stefan Balke, Carl Thomé, Vincent Lostanlen, Colin Raffel, Dana Lee, et al. 2018. “Librosa/librosa: 0.6.2”. Zenodo. doi:10.5281/zenodo.1342708.

Example using URL: Brian McFee, Matt McVicar, Stefan Balke, Carl Thomé, Vincent Lostanlen, Colin Raffel, Dana Lee, et al. 2018. “Librosa/librosa: 0.6.2”. https://github.com/librosa/librosa/archive/0.6.2.zip (supplement to https://github.com/librosa/librosa/tree/0.6.2)²

Undated (unversioned) reference

General template:

Company or Creator Last Name, Creator First Name. Year published. Title of Software in Title Case. Place of Publication. Accessed full date. URL.

Example using URL: Brian McFee, Matt McVicar, Stefan Balke, Carl Thomé, Vincent Lostanlen, Colin Raffel, Dana Lee, et al. 2018. “Librosa/librosa”. https://github.com/librosa/librosa/archive/master.zip (supplement to https://github.com/librosa/librosa/tree/master)³

12.4 Definitions

12.4.1 Definitions and best practices

For the creation and maintenance of IEEE Standards terms and definitions, see Annex A.

12.4.2 General terminology usage

English words should be used in accordance with their definitions in the latest edition of Merriam-Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary. Electrical and electronics terms not defined in Merriam-Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary should be used in accordance with their definitions in the Dictionary Online. The Dictionary is a continually-updated electronic version of the former IEEE 100, The Authoritative Dictionary of IEEE Standards Terms. Working groups are strongly encouraged to use definitions that already exist instead of creating new definitions or slightly modifying existing definitions. During MEC and during IEEE SA ballot, working groups may be asked to validate the use and presentation of terms. For assistance, IEEE draft developers may also find useful the IEC Multilingual Dictionary of Electricity, Electronics, and Telecommunications and the IEC International Electrotechnical Vocabulary (IEV).

12.4.3 Construction of the definitions clause

A definitions clause is typically Clause 3 (unless the standard does not contain normative references, in which case the definitions clause would be Clause 2). Definitions should appear in alphabetical order, and the term defined should be written out completely and should not be inverted (e.g., “drift rate” rather than “rate, drift”). Each definition should be a brief, self-contained description of the term in question and shall not contain any other information, such as requirements or elaborative text. The term should not be used in its own definition.

All terms defined in IEEE standards are incorporated into the IEEE Standards Dictionary Online. For this reason, it is important that terms and definitions have as general an application as possible. Definitions should not include references to other parts of the standard. An informative note may be provided to refer the user to another part of the standard. Terms defined in other standards may be used in IEEE standards as long as they are properly cited, and the proper permission release form is received. After the definition, the source shall be cited in parentheses. It is the working group chair’s responsibility to obtain the appropriate permissions if a standard uses a term from another source (see 5.2).

The definition should follow the defined term as a sentence preceded by a colon. Subdefinitions of a term should be marked as (A), (B), etc. Cross-references should occur after the definition and may consist of the following classes, in the order shown: Contrast:, Syn:, See:, and See also:. Contrast: refers to a term with an opposite or substantially different meaning. Syn: refers to a synonymous term. See: refers to a term where the desired definition can be found. See also: refers to a related term. The cross-references listed under these headings should be in alphabetical order, in bold type, and separated by semicolons when there are more than one. Abbreviations/acronyms should be spelled out at first use.

See Annex A for Guidelines and best practices for the creation and maintenance of IEEE standards terms and definitions.

Next is an example of a correctly styled definitions clause.

X. Definitions

For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply. The IEEE Standards Dictionary Online should be consulted for terms not defined in this clause.⁴

acceleration-insensitive drift rate: The component of systematic drift rate that has no correlation with acceleration. See also: drift rate; systematic drift rate.

code set: See: coded character set.

coded character set: A set of characters for which coded representation exist. Syn: code set.

drift rate: The slope at a stated time of the smoothed curve of tube voltage drop with time at constant operating conditions. (Adapted from ISO/IEC 9945-1:2003)

input reference axis (IRA): The direction of an axis as defined by the case mounting surfaces, external case markings, or both. Contrast: output reference axis.

NOTE—See 6.7.

output: (A) Data that has been processed. (B) The process of transferring data from an internal storage device to an external storage device.

systematic drift rate: That component of drift rate that is correlated with specific operating conditions.

12.5 Acronyms and abbreviations

Acronyms and abbreviations can be used to save time and space in the document. If the draft makes extensive use of acronyms or abbreviations, a subclause within the definitions clause titled “Acronyms and abbreviations” may be provided. If acronyms and abbreviations are included in the definitions clause, Clause 3 should be titled “Definitions, acronyms, and abbreviations” and 3.1 and 3.2 titled “Definitions” and “Acronyms and abbreviations,” respectively.

Acronyms and abbreviations, followed by the full term only, should be listed in alphanumeric order. For an example of an acronyms and abbreviations subclause, see the example of a draft standard in Annex B.

Within text, the acronym or abbreviation should follow the first use of the full term (the first time in the introduction, then the first time in the body of the document, and then the first time in any annexes in which the acronym appears). The abbreviation or acronym should be placed in parentheses when following the full term.

Exceptions to the convention listed above are approved SI units. SI unit symbols are not abbreviations and shall not be included in a list of abbreviations and acronyms. The treatment of letter symbols for units (e.g., mm for millimeter), letter symbols for quantities (e.g., R for resistance), and mathematical symbols (e.g., log for logarithm) is covered in IEEE Std 260.1 and IEEE Std 280 (see also Clause 15).

12.6 Annexes

12.6.1 Ordering annexes

Normative and informative annexes shall be referred to as such [e.g., Annex A (normative), Annex B (informative)] in their titles and in the table of contents. Annexes should be referenced in the text by the word Annex and its letter only (e.g., “see Annex A”). Annexes should appear in the order in which they are referenced in the body of the standard (e.g., the first annex mentioned should be Annex A, the second Annex B, and so on). This means that normative and informative annexes might be intermixed. An exception to this rule is the bibliography. The bibliography should be either the first or last annex of the standard. If a glossary exists, it should either be the last annex, or it should immediately precede the bibliography (if the bibliography is the last annex).

12.6.2 Normative annexes

Normative annexes required for implementation of the standard and are placed after the body of the standard for reasons of convenience or to create a hierarchical distinction. In many cases, normative annexes are used for optional test procedures, tables, or printed source code. Normative annexes may also be used for context-specific applications of the standard.

12.6.3 Informative annexes

Informative annexes are included in a standard for information only. Standards writers should carefully consider the nature of the material placed in informative annexes. Informative annex material is considered part of the balloted document and copyrighted to IEEE. As such, it shall be submitted to the IEEE SA Standards Board and is not subject to substantive or technical change after approval.

An example of an informative annex is a bibliography. See Clause 19 for information about bibliographic style.

12.7 Indexes

As most standards are now published digitally, the ability to search electronically for terms makes an index largely unnecessary. The IEEE SA content publishing staff cannot guarantee that an index created for a draft standard will be published when the standard is approved; the quality of the index, its usefulness, and whether it can be properly updated or not will be factors in the decision of whether or not to include it. Working groups interested in including an index should contact IEEE SA content publishing staff.