Stage 3 review process: Responsibilities of proposal owner and reviewers

Review of Stage 3 Proposals 

    Two or more individuals who regularly attend the weekly meetings of
    the DITA TC must review each Stage 3 proposal before it is submitted
    to the TC for discussion and vote. 

    

    This purpose of this phase in the process is to ensure that stage 3
    proposals have undergone QA and a level of review before being
    considered by the TC. It also ensures that the required versions of
    the proposal (DITA, HTML, and PDF) are ready for submission to the
    TC. 

    

    Proposal owner tasks

    
      
Upload the proposal to Kavi in DITA, HTML, and PDF format.

      
Notify the TC co-chairs that reviewers are needed

      

      
(After reviewers are assigned) E-mail the assigned reviewers
        directly. The e-mail should have a clear subject title (for
        example, "Stage 3 review: Proposal X is ready for your
        consideration") and provide links to the proposal to be
        reviewed.

      
Incorporate changes into the proposal and spec topics. 

    
    

    Reviewer  tasks 

    Reviewers need a minimum of one week to conduct their reviews.
    Reviewers are requested to complete their reviews within a maximum
    of two weeks.

    

    Reviewers should consider the following content areas and points: 

    
Completeness

    
      
Determine whether the proper template has been used

      
Determine whether the proposal is complete (stage
          3 template) 

      

      
Determine whether the proposal is available in the following
        forms:

      
        
ZIP of DITA source

        
HTML (Must contain all proposal content, including new and
          modified spec topics, in a single HTML file)

        
PDF (Must contain all proposal content, including new and
          modified spec topics, in a single PDF file)

      
      
Determine whether the ZIP of DITA files includes any
        extraneous files

      

    
    (The reason for the single HTML and single PDF file is to make it as
    easy as possible for TC members to link on a link in the TC agenda
    and open the proposal during TC meetings.)

    
Proposal content

    
      
Read the proposal carefully and critically.

      
Determine whether questions or points that arose during
        previous TC discussion of the proposal have been satisfactorily
        addressed. Review the minutes at which the proposal was
        discussed at the stage 2 level so that you are aware of any
        questions or points. (The stage-3 proposal should contain a link
        to these minutes.)

    
    
Spec topics

    
      
Read new or modified spec topics carefully and critically.
        Consider the following points:

      
        
Is the correct terminology used?

        
Are the topics free of typos and grammatical errors?

        
Are the terms "should," "should not," "must," "must not,"
          and "may" used correctly?

        
Is the content clear and easy to read?

        
If you were reading this content directly out of the
          specification, would you consider it a complete description of
          the new feature or element?

      
      
If possible, test all new or modified code examples. At a
        minimum, test to ensure the code examples are well-formed.

      
Assess the quality of the examples. Ideally, they should be
        both informative and non-trivial.

    
    
-- 

      Best,

      Kris

      

      Kristen James Eberlein

      Principal consultant, Eberlein Consulting

      Co-chair, OASIS DITA Technical Committee

      Charter member, OASIS DITA Adoption Committee

      www.eberleinconsulting.com

      +1 919 682-2290; kriseberlein (skype)