[pmwiki-users] PmWiki Magazine proposed Submission/Approval Process

[Ben Wilson]

I have drafted a proposed process for the Magazine.[1] I tried to
create a process that allows the author a measure of freedom to
publish an article while retaining accountability and an opportunity
for some degree of peer review. I'm giving a terse summary of the
process here, but the site has greater detail.

The process is essentially five stage:

1. Proposal
2. Acceptance of Proposal
3. Write the Article
4. (Peer) Review
5. Publication

Proposal summaries comprise a title, categories, and abstract of the
article, and are listed on a proposal page by day. This puts others on
notice so two author's don't write on the same topic in a vacuum.
Peers have a period of time (I thought a week or two) to raise
concerns with a proposed article. Authors and peers resolve the
concern, and if necessary, the Author withdraws the article. Accepted
article summaries are moved to a "coming articles" page.

When an article is accepted, the author writes the article somewhere
(off-wiki, or not in Magazine group). When written, the author submits
the article to some peer review group for comment. Comments are then
integrated and the author repeats the process as desired. Pm is given
a chance to bless, too.

Article is published.

Whenever the author has to wait for comment, there is a time limit so
he does not have to wait too long. Thus, if no comments are made, the
article can proceed smoothly to publication. Silence means nobody
takes issue with the article.

I added a bit for abuse---when an author decides to ignore the process
or if things get too heated. I've rarely met a more amiable group than
the PmWiki Community, so I thought it might sound a bit too heavy.
But, I know I get irate without my coffee, so I thought to err on the
side of caution.

The way it is worded now, the process is a bit milquetoast. There's no
voting, and arbitration is viewed as a last resort (and punted to Pm).
I thought it was a good place to start, and as a need to firm up
specific phases becomes apparent, we can address that need then.

Please read the process and provide input. Perhaps a wiki-way approach
(bullets after a phase, signatures w/ date stamp, etc.) would work
better than email, but I leave it to you to chose your way of
commenting. :-)

Ben Wilson

[1]: http://pmwiki.org/wiki/Magazine/ArticleSubmissionAndApprovalProcess