STAR Paper Publication Procedure

Steps of the STAR paper publication procedure, from the paper proposal to the published paper.

Abbreviations: PA - Principal Author, PWG - Physics Working Group, PWGC - PWG Conveners, PAC - Physics Analysis Coordinators, GPC - God-Parent Committee, SP - Spokesperson.

Table of Contents

Overview

flowchart TD
    subgraph PWG["Inside the PWG"]
      direction TB
      S1["1 - Paper proposal<br><i>PAs → PWG</i>"]
      S2["2 - PWGC preview<br><i>PAs → Conveners → PAC</i>"]
      S3["3 - PWG review<br><i>PAs → Conveners</i>"]
      S1 --> S2 --> S3
    end

    subgraph COLL["GPC and collaboration"]
      direction TB
      S4["4 - GPC formation<br><i>Conveners → PAC</i>"]
      S5["5 - Collaboration review<br><i>GPC chair → PAC/SP</i>"]
      S6["6 - Announce to RHIC<br><i>SP</i>"]
      S4 --> S5 --> S6
    end

    subgraph JOUR["Journal"]
      direction TB
      S7["7 - Submit to arXiv/journal<br><i>PAs</i>"]
      S8["8 - Referee comments<br><i>PAs + GPC</i>"]
      S9["9 - Accepted<br><i>PAs, GPC, PAC, SP</i>"]
      S7 --> S8 --> S9
    end

    S10["10 - Published<br><i>PAs</i>"]

    S3 -->|"conveners sign off"| S4
    S6 -->|"≥ 1 week + PAC go-ahead"| S7
    S9 --> S10

    H["HEPData tables<br>prepare → upload → GPC chair approves"]
    S5 -.->|"prepare tables"| H
    H -.->|"must be approved before"| S10

    style S1  fill:#e1f5ff,stroke:#0277bd,stroke-width:2px
    style S2  fill:#e1f5ff,stroke:#0277bd,stroke-width:2px
    style S3  fill:#e1f5ff,stroke:#0277bd,stroke-width:2px
    style S4  fill:#fff3e0,stroke:#e65100,stroke-width:2px
    style S5  fill:#fff3e0,stroke:#e65100,stroke-width:2px
    style S6  fill:#fff3e0,stroke:#e65100,stroke-width:2px
    style S7  fill:#f3e5f5,stroke:#6a1b9a,stroke-width:2px
    style S8  fill:#f3e5f5,stroke:#6a1b9a,stroke-width:2px
    style S9  fill:#f3e5f5,stroke:#6a1b9a,stroke-width:2px
    style S10 fill:#e8f5e9,stroke:#2e7d32,stroke-width:3px
    style H   fill:#fffde7,stroke:#f9a825,stroke-width:2px,stroke-dasharray: 5 5
    style PWG  fill:#ffffff,stroke:#9e9e9e,stroke-width:1px,stroke-dasharray: 5 5
    style COLL fill:#ffffff,stroke:#9e9e9e,stroke-width:1px,stroke-dasharray: 5 5
    style JOUR fill:#ffffff,stroke:#9e9e9e,stroke-width:1px,stroke-dasharray: 5 5

Requirements

StepWhoRequired material
1. Paper proposalPAs → PWGProposal presented in the PWG
2. PWGC previewPAs → Conveners → PACPaper webpage, preview presentation
3. PWG reviewPAs → ConvenersPaper draft, analysis note, analysis code
4. GPC formationConveners → PACAnalysis note, paper webpage, paper draft, analysis code, approved by PWG
5. Collaboration reviewGPC chair → PAC/SPAnalysis note, paper draft, analysis code, approved by GPC. HEPData tables in preparation
6. Announce to RHICSPPoint-by-point responses, updated draft and analysis note, approved by GPC
7. arXiv/journalPAsGo-ahead from PAC
8. Referee commentsPAs + GPCReferee reports, responses, updated material, approved by GPC
9. AcceptedPAs, GPC, PAC, SPFull author list (from PAC), approved HEPData record
10. PublishedPAsFinal arXiv version, up-to-date analysis note and code, STAR front page note

Time frames

Required time frames are set by the procedure. Typical time frames are approximate and depend on the analysis and the journal.

StepRequiredTypical
2. PWGC preview a few weeks after the request
3. PWG review a few weeks to several months
4. GPC formation 1-3 weeks
4-5. GPC review 1-3 months
5. Collaboration review about 2 weeks
6. Announce to RHICat least 1 week for comments1-2 weeks
7. Submissionat least 1 week after step 6 
8. Journal review 2-6 months
9. Author list on starpapers-l3 business days 
9. Proofs a few days
Preview to publication about 1 year

Step 1: Paper proposal to PWG

Who: PAs

Step 2: PWGC preview

Who: PAs → Conveners → PAC

Results and major conclusions are near final, analysis is mature.

Requirements - a webpage with:

  • Title
  • PA list
  • Target journal
  • Abstract
  • Figures with major, if not all, uncertainties
  • Tables, if any
  • Physics conclusions

Links:

Step 3: PWG review

Who: PAs → Conveners

  • PAs address PWGC comments, finish the analysis, present final results in PWG meetings and address the comments.
  • Requirements: paper draft, analysis note.
  • A collaboration member should be able to reproduce the results using the analysis note and analysis code.
  • When all PWG comments are addressed, conveners sign off and request GPC formation.

Step 4: GPC formation

Who: Conveners → PAC

  • Requirements: analysis note, paper webpage, paper draft, analysis code, approved by PWG.
  • A dedicated mailing list (star-gpc-XXX-l) is created for each GPC. It is used for all GPC communication.
  • Only GPC members and PAs are subscribed. Collaborators can request subscription during collaboration review.
  • List of GPCs and their members: gpc-committees.xml
  • Responsibilities for GPC members, also on the Publication process page

Step 5: Collaboration review

Who: GPC chair → PAC/SP

  • GPC chair writes to PAC/SP when the paper is ready for collaboration review.
  • Requirements: analysis note, paper draft, analysis code, approved by GPC.
  • PAC prepares the acknowledgements and sends them to PAs. The author at this stage is “The STAR Collaboration”. The full author list is added after the paper is accepted.
  • Management selects at least 5 institutes as institutional readers.
  • PAs prepare HEPData tables at this stage:

Step 6: Announce the paper to RHIC

Who: SP

  • Requirements: point-by-point responses to collaboration review comments, updated paper draft and analysis note, approved by GPC. PAs send responses and updated drafts to starpapers-l.
  • The collaboration has at least one week for further comments. PAs address new comments. Exceptions are approved by SP.

Step 7: Submit to arXiv and journal

Who: PAs

  • Requirements: at least 1 week after the announcement to RHIC, and go-ahead from PAC.
    • arXiv license: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 (see arXiv license options)
    • Supplemental material, if any, is included in the arXiv version
    • Confirmation email from the journal is sent to starpapers-l
  • A HEPData entry is created after submission. PA is the uploader, GPC chair is the reviewer.

Step 8: Address referee comments

Who: PAs and GPC

flowchart TD
    R["Referee report"] --> D["PAs draft responses<br>and update the paper"]
    D --> G{"GPC approves?"}
    G -->|no| D
    G -->|yes| SP["Send report, responses and<br>updated material to starpapers-l"]
    SP --> J["Resubmit to journal"]
    J -.->|"next round"| R

    style R  fill:#f3e5f5,stroke:#6a1b9a,stroke-width:2px
    style D  fill:#e1f5ff,stroke:#0277bd,stroke-width:2px
    style G  fill:#fff3e0,stroke:#e65100,stroke-width:2px
    style SP fill:#e8f5e9,stroke:#2e7d32,stroke-width:2px
    style J  fill:#f3e5f5,stroke:#6a1b9a,stroke-width:2px

Referee reports, responses and updated material (after GPC approval) are sent to starpapers-l (archive).

Step 9: Paper accepted for publication

Who: PAs, GPC, PAC, SP

  • PAC provides the full author list following the STAR author list policy.
  • SP circulates the paper draft with the author list to starpapers-l for 3 business days before it is sent to the journal.
  • PAs forward the proofs to PAC and SP. PAC checks the author list and acknowledgements.

PAs reply to the journal about the proofs only after approval from PAC.

Step 10: Paper published

Who: PAs

  • Upload the final version to arXiv.
  • Make sure the analysis note on Drupal and the analysis code in the papers repository are up to date.
  • Prepare a short note for the STAR front page, written for non-experts, with 1-2 key results and preferably one figure.
  • PAs are encouraged to advertise the paper.
  • Anyone can ask DOE to consider the paper as a DOE highlight. Let management know if you want their support.

HEPData process

Final HEPData upload (by PA) and approval (by GPC chair) must be done before the paper is published. It is required for releasing the author list and approving the proofs.

flowchart TD
    A["Step 5<br>Collaboration review"] -->|"PAs prepare<br>YAML tables"| B["Step 7<br>Submission"]
    B -->|"HEPData entry created<br>PA = uploader<br>GPC chair = reviewer"| C["Step 8<br>Journal review"]
    C -->|"initial upload<br>and review"| D["Step 9<br>Accepted"]
    D -->|"final upload approved<br>→ author list and proofs released"| E["Step 10<br>Published"]

    style A fill:#fff3e0,stroke:#e65100,stroke-width:2px
    style B fill:#f3e5f5,stroke:#6a1b9a,stroke-width:2px
    style C fill:#f3e5f5,stroke:#6a1b9a,stroke-width:2px
    style D fill:#f3e5f5,stroke:#6a1b9a,stroke-width:2px
    style E fill:#e8f5e9,stroke:#2e7d32,stroke-width:3px