About ASCE Standards

Standards provide technical guidelines for promoting safety, reliability, productivity, and efficiency across all areas of civil engineering. Standards are written by experts with knowledge and expertise in a particular civil engineering field. With the most rigorous process for review and approval, standards are a highly valued and deeply respected cornerstone of the ASCE books program. More detailed information about editorial development of standards is available in the ASCE Standards Writing Manual.

Review and Approvals
ASCE standards are developed by a consensus process that is managed by the Codes and Standards Committee (CSC) and approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). The consensus process includes balloting by a balanced standards committee as described in the ASCE Standards Writing Manual, followed by a public comment period. The current rules governing the organization and operation of ASCE’s standards committee went into effect on June 1, 2016. These rules are published in ASCE’s Official Register and are available online along with information on ASCE’s Codes and Standards program. Committee members developing or revising standards should be thoroughly conversant with these rules.

ASCE’s Codes and Standards staff assist standards committees in managing the balloting and review process, as well as submitting the final manuscript with accompanying documents to the ASCE Publications standards acquisitions editor for book production and publication.

Corresponding Editor for an ASCE Standard
Standards do not have editors who are credited for their work. For purposes of preparing a standard for publication, however, the chair of the standards committee (or a designee) fills the role of corresponding editor. The corresponding editor is responsible for organizing the standard, obtaining permissions for figures and tables (when applicable), transmitting the manuscript as Word files to the CSC, clarifying special instructions or requirements, and managing the review of copyediting and page proofs with the ASCE production manager.

Publication Path for an ASCE Standard
Manuscripts for standards are copyedited prior to public comment. This enables ASCE to ensure editorial consistency across all ASCE standards. When the final manuscript with permissions is passed to the CSC, it is sent internally to the standards acquisitions editor. It is then copyedited by a professional copyeditor.

The copyedit involves marking typos and gross grammatical errors, identifying unclear wording and querying potentially ambiguous phrasing, and ensuring conformity to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary online (https://www.merriam-webster.com/) and the current edition of the Chicago Manual of Style (as well as ASCE’s in-house style). Heavy copyediting is not appropriate for ASCE standards.

Once this is completed, the manuscript is returned to the corresponding editor for review. He or she answers all queries and provides anything that is missing. The reviewed copyedited manuscript returns to the ASCE production manager to ensure it is ready for public comment. When ready, it is sent to the CSC and enters the public comment period. Once this period has concluded, the CSC staff member, who then has the manuscript back from the corresponding editor, sends it to the standards acquisitions editor.

When the final manuscript is delivered to ASCE Publications, the standards acquisitions editor checks that the manuscript is complete, all required approvals have been obtained, and all permissions have been secured and documented. The standards acquisitions editor is also responsible for finalizing information about the title, standard number, and bibliographic data that will be distributed for the book.

When these tasks are complete, the standards acquisitions editor turns over the copyedited-and-reviewed manuscript and its associated documentation to a production manager. The production manager sends the manuscript to a compositor for page creation. Page proofs are sent to the corresponding editor to review; at the same time, the page proofs go to a professional proofreader and professional indexer. Because of this, only minor changes are acceptable during page proof review. Other changes that may affect the flow of page content from one page to another affects the index and incurs costs. The corresponding editor returns only the pages with changes to the ASCE production manager. The final, corrected files are reviewed by ASCE then sent for book printing and uploaded to the ASCE Library as a PDF.

Submission of Final DRAFT Manuscript
Standards committees should be guided by the CSC’s Standards Writing Manual for ASCE Standards Committees in developing their manuscript.

Submission Checklist for Standards

▪ Complete manuscript, including text, commentary, illustrations, figures, and supplemental materials

▪ Front matter template, including table of contents, preface, and acknowledgments

▪ Abstract describing the standard’s contents

▪ Permissions Inventory Form

▪ Permissions documents

When the final draft manuscript of a standard is submitted to ASCE Publications, the submission must include the complete manuscript, as well as various approval documents and forms. A clean manuscript with all approvals and permissions will be able to pass quickly and efficiently through the production and publishing processes.

Copyright Transfer
Standards are considered as work done “for hire”; as such, ASCE owns the copyright for standards developed by ASCE committees. It is not necessary for the editor to sign an ASCE Authorship Originality and Copyright Transfer Agreement.

Permissions
The corresponding editor of a standard is responsible for identifying the sources of and securing permission for any materials such as figures, illustrations, or tables that are not original work created by the standards committee. Information on what needs permission and how to obtain it can be found in Permission Basics. Manuscripts should be accompanied by a Permissions Inventory Form identifying which figures, illustrations, and tables are original, which need permission, and whether permission has been obtained. All correspondence granting permission must be submitted along with the draft manuscript.

Manuscript Formatting
The manuscripts for standards should be prepared with a minimal amount of formatting: it’s enough if levels of subheads can be distinguished; it’s too much if the manuscript looks like a published standard.

Front Matter Template
Front matter consists of content that appears before the text of a standard. For standards, the front matter always includes the title page, copyright and notices page, the page about ASCE Standards, table of contents, preface, acknowledgments, and disclaimers/legal notices.

The Standards Front Matter Template should be downloaded and used to develop manuscripts and submit them to ASCE Publications.

Abstract
A brief abstract (about 150 words) of the standard should describe what is covered (or not) by the standard, how the standard should be used, and who should use it. If the manuscript is a new version of an existing standard, the abstract should also describe changes or differences between the versions. The acquisitions editor and the marketing manager will use the abstract to develop appropriate marketing copy for the back cover, catalogs, Web pages, and so on.

Cover
ASCE Publications will prepare a color cover based on the series design developed for ASCE Standards.

Marketing Questionnaire
When the acquisitions editor turns over a manuscript to production, the corresponding editor will be asked to complete an ASCE Author Marketing Questionnaire. The marketing manager uses information from the questionnaire to develop a marketing plan and promote the new book.

After Publication
Complimentary Copies
ASCE Customer Service coordinates the distribution of complimentary copies in conjunction with the CSC staff contact. Corresponding editors are encouraged to submit a list of names and shipping addresses to the CSC staff contact no later than a month before scheduled publication.

ASCE Policies on Artificial Intelligence and Automated Tools

Artificial Intelligence and Authorship

ASCE is a member of COPE, the Committee on Publication Ethics. As such, ASCE follows COPE Guidelines on artificial intelligence and authorship. Our policy is that AI software cannot be listed as an author on a paper.

ChatGPT and similar software is not human, and for this reason cannot independently design studies, create and critique methodologies, interpret data, or be held responsible for the outcomes and implications of the study in question. For this reason, ChatGPT and similar software should be treated as a tool, not an author. For more information on COPE’s guidance on AI and authorship, please visit the COPE website.

Artificial Intelligence and Automated Tools

ASCE policies on the use of AI and automated tools are the following:

  • ASCE will not review or accept manuscripts written by nonhuman authors. Large Language Models (LLMs) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools should not be listed in a byline for any reason.
  • Authors are required to disclose whether artificial intelligence (AI) tools were used in the creation and preparation of their manuscripts. ASCE reserves the right to ask for and receive detailed information on how LLMs and AI were used in the creation of a manuscript.
  • Reviewers shall not use LLMs or AI tools when reviewing manuscripts or preparing comments to authors.
  • Future developments: ASCE will continue to monitor the ethical implications of using AI tools and automation as they evolve and change.

More information about COPE’s guidelines and recommendations regarding AI tools and automation can be found here.