1. Quality Control

NIST reports of work sponsored by other agencies, regardless of the form they take or the media used, are subject to the same quality control requirements as all other technical reports of NIST. These requirements include the procedures for review and approval specified in this subchapter. When urgent deadlines must be met, or in extenuating or exceptional circumstances, special arrangements can be made for review by the Editorial Review Board. The OU Director is responsible for the identification of reports that require legal review by the NIST Counsel; however, the Editorial Review Board may also decide to request legal review. For guidance on the use of trade names in reports to sponsors, see Section 4.09.03 of this subchapter.

2. Types of Reports to Other Agencies

Work reported to external sponsors will generally take one of three forms:

NIST GPO-Printed Publications:

In this form, the report of sponsored work appears in one of the NIST series of publications printed by the Government Printing Office (GPO), such as the Technical Note, Special Publication, Handbook, or Monograph.

NIST publications printed by the GPO receive wide distribution, both within and outside the government. Both NIST and the GPO Superintendent of Documents, who handles public sales, promote these publications and ensure that they are abstracted and indexed by major bibliographic services. The National Technical Information Service (NTIS) cites them in announcement journals and sells them in microfiche, hardcopy, or electronic form. Publication in the NIST Series avoids the added costs that result when material initially published in limited-availability form is subsequently republished for wider distribution. More information about the NIST series publications is available in Appendix J of this subchapter.

NIST Interagency/Internal Report (NISTIR):

This method of reporting results to sponsors should be used only when:

--a more formal form of NIST publication is not acceptable to the sponsor;
--the information reported is preliminary;
--the information is not appropriate for wide distribution; or
--the time constraints make it impractical to prepare and publish the results through the Government Printing Office.

In the last case, if the material is otherwise appropriate for wide distribution, it should be considered for further publication in a different form. When the information will be published in a second form, the NISTIR should indicate, on the title page, that an additional NIST publication is forthcoming.

NIST-Sponsor Communications:

The term "NIST-Sponsor Communication" means a direct letter, a memorandum, or any other form of special communication to a responsible person in the sponsoring agency. Due to the urgency or nature of such communications, a review by the Editorial Review Board is not required. Full accountability and record-keeping responsibility rests with the originating OU, and division chief approval is a requirement even in the case of telephone communication.

NIST-Sponsor Communications have at least one of the following characteristics:

--the urgency of the report is such that only this format can meet the needs of the sponsor;
--the material is of specific interest only to the project monitor and a small number of associates;
--the material contains proprietary or otherwiseadministratively restricted information. Typical examples might be results of product safety tests for the Food and Drug Administration or assigned codes that identify samples of commercial products used in performance tests for the General Services Administration. Regardless of limitations on initial distribution, such communications may be subject to release under the Freedom of Information Act if they contain technical data and other factual information.

Direct communications from NIST to a sponsor may be "Special Communications" within the definition of Section 4.09.03 of this subchapter.

The informal NIST-Sponsor Communications of the kind considered here must not be used to report final results. For this purpose, a formal publication such as a NISTIR or a NIST SP should be used.

Media Other Than Print:

It is anticipated that sponsors of technical work will increase their requirements for reports and other project related communications on media that are compatible with expanding electronic data processing systems. Magnetic storage media (disk and tape) and optical storage media provide obvious possibilities; direct electronic data transfer through interagency networks will also be required as these systems are more fully applied to routine business operations.

The use of a medium other than print to report the results of technical work to sponsors requires quality management procedures that are appropriate to the particular medium. When machine-readable software on magnetic or optical media is involved, the procedures in Appendix I and Appendix K of this subchapter must be followed. If direct electronic data transfer is required, the policy statement given in Section 4.09.03 of this subchapter applies.

3. Restrictive or Superseding Notices

No restrictive or superseding notice of any kind is needed for reports to sponsors except the following:

a. If the report to the sponsor is to be republished in another NIST Series publication, the title page should carry the following statement: "This report is to be superseded by a future publication which will receive general distribution. Please consult the NIST Office of Information Services concerning details."

b. Progress reports or preliminary reports should include an appropriate notice indicating limitations that apply to the information reported. One of the following statements may be used:

(1) "This is a progress report. The work is incomplete and is continuing. Results and conclusions are not necessarily those that will be included in the final report."

(2) "This report presents results of a preliminary study. A number of uncertainties remain that should be considered in more detail. Therefore, the conclusions are not necessarily those that would be reached in a full and complete investigation."

c. Reports containing sensitive matters that may involve NIST in litigation or may raise controversial issues of concern to officials of the Administration, the Congress, or the public should receive special attention and carry a notice of the following type:

"This document has been prepared for the use of [identification of sponsoring agency]. Responsibility for its further use rests with that agency. NIST requests that, if release to the public is contemplated, such action be taken only after consultation with the Office of Information Services of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, or with the Boulder Executive Office of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO."

When notified by a sponsor of intention to release such a report, the Office of Information Services at Gaithersburg or the Executive Office at Boulder will bring the matter to the attention of the originating OU and other NIST officials who may be concerned.

Note: Reports of the kind considered above must be cleared by the NIST Deputy Director before they are submitted to the sponsor. The Chief, Public Affairs Division, must be advised and provided with information that can be used to respond to news media questions.

Reports that provide information concerning commercial products, processes, or organizations require special clearances. See Section 4.09.03 of this subchapter.