ACM Selected Readings Series

1. Overview


1. Purpose. Volumes in the ACM Selected Readings series contains reprints of articles that have been previously published, together with a descriptive overview and annotation. (The articles are assumed to have been previously published by ACM, although some exceptions may occur, as outlined in the Standards and Policies section.) Each volume is organized around a particular topic. Example topics are: Cloud Computing, Parallel Programming Languages, and Matrix Computation. A volume may be created, for example, to hold readings for a graduate or undergraduate course; to provide an introduction to a new research area; to gather papers from a single research group; or to survey state-of-the art research in a given area. Conceptually a volume has two parts: the "new content" containing introductory, survey, and annotation text, and the "articles" which are reprints of previously published articles.


2. Name. A volume published in the ACM DL will be called Selected Readings: (Topic). Volumes in the series will be numbered.


3. Editor. A person who creates a Selected Readings volume by writing the new content and selecting articles to appear in it, is called an "Editor" in the Digital Library and in citations.


4. Publication. Publication means that the new content provided by the Editor, and the full contents of previously-published articles, will be prepared as a PDF file. The PDF file will be indexed in the DL and will be distributed electronically and through a print-on-demand mechanism.


5. Searching the DL. The search engine should make searchers aware of the availability of Selected Readings volumes, but not in a way that clutters the search results with multiple entries for the same previously-published article. Searches for specific articles in the collection, or by subject, or by editor or title of the collection, should yield a pointer to the volume.


6. Copyright. ACM will claim copyright for volumes in the Selected Readings series, including the previously published articles and the new content added by the Editor.


7. Look and feel. Volumes in the series will have a uniform cover containing ACM logo, title, author, date, edition, and a space for optional cover art to be supplied by the Editor. There will be a standard preface page inside that describes the ACM Selected Readings series.


8. Editorial Board. Publication of Selected Readings will be overseen by an Editorial Board containing three members who are appointed by the Publications Board. The duties of this board are outlined in the next section.



2. Editorial Board


1. Duties. The duties of the Editorial Board are to oversee the selection and production of top-quality volumes in the Selected Readings series. This includes:
   
   
   • Devising and publishing guidelines for editors of Selected Readings volumes. Creating and maintaining style templates.
   • Identifying suitable topics and subject areas for Selected Readings volumes. This may involve asking SIGS to recommend topics and/or volume editors.
   • Soliciting top experts to prepare volumes for publication in Selected Readings.
   • Reviewing unsolicited submissions and deciding whether to accept, reject, or ask for revisions. In some cases an outside expert may be invited to review the submitted material and suggest revisions to the Editorial Board; but the Editorial Board (or a member of the Board chosen to shepherd the submission) is responsible for requesting revisions and making decisions about acceptance. In the case of invited volumes it is expected that no review is needed beyond checking that publication format standards are met (see Section 3).
   • Revising publication policies with the approval of the Publications Board.
   • Overseeing the transition of accepted volumes to publication: assigning series numbers, submitting new volumes for publication in the DL, and so forth.
   • Monitoring the need for new editions of existing volumes, and when appropriate, appointing an editor to undertake a revision. Whenever possible the revision editor should be the same person as the original editor; if that is not possible the revision editor should be selected by the Editorial Board with the approval of the original Editor. Subsequent editions should carry the names of editors of all previous editions. A new edition should appear no sooner than one year after the previous edition.
   • Publicizing and promoting the Selected Readings series.
   • Preparing an annual report, delivered to the Publications Board that describes the volumes published in the previous 12 months and conveys suggestions for improving the series.
     
     
2. Publication Criteria. Volumes accepted for publication in the Selected Readings series are expected to meet the high standards realized by other ACM research publications. Since the previously-published articles have already been reviewed according to those standards, the Editorial Board focuses primarily on the choice of topic, the selection of articles, and the new content provided by the volume Editor:
   
   
   • The topic addressed should be clearly defined, timely, and of interest to an identifiable set of the ACM readership.
   • The new content provided by the Editor, and the selection of articles, should meet standards and policies outlined in the following section.
     
     
3. Standards and Policies. Each volume is conceptually divided into "new content" provided by the Editor, and "articles" which have been previously published and are included in the volume as reprints. An outside expert may be invited to review a submission and to convey an evaluation and suggestions to the Editorial Board, especially regarding items 1, 2, and 7 below.
   
   
   1. The new content and the selection of articles should be complete, authoritative, and unbiased. The contents and scope should match the title.
   2. The new content should stand alone and not rely on previous work for important definitions or concepts. The level of discourse should be appropriate to the intended audience. This material should meet high standards for publication-quality English exposition.
   3. The new content should not have been previously copyrighted.
   4. The new content should include, at least, an introduction to the topic and complete bibliographic references for each article published in the volume. These elements may be separate or interleaved with one another.
   5. For completeness of coverage the Editor may need to discuss articles that do not appear as reprints in the volume. It is expected that at least 80 percent of the articles mentioned in the new content will appear as reprints in the volume.
   6. Each bibliographic reference should follow ACM standards and style.
   7. Articles that have been previously published in journals or well-known conferences with rigorous acceptance standards may appear as reprints in the volume. Articles that have not been previously reviewed or published (or that have appeared only in informal workshops) will not appear in the collection of selected articles, without additional justification: the Editorial Board will consider requests from the volume Editor to publish as "reprints" articles that have not previously undergone a standard review process.
   8. Articles for which ACM does not hold the copyright may appear in the volume, provided the volume Editor obtains reprint permissions from the copyright holder. ACM will not pay for reprint permissions.
   9. New editions of volumes previously appearing in Selected Readings should contain updates to the original content provided by the volume Editor, and should include recently published articles that represent new work in the area, as appropriate. Articles that appeared in previous editions of the volume will not normally be dropped from subsequent editions.
      
      

Formats and Workflow

1. Preparing the volume. The volume Editor uses the DL Binder tool to create the list of articles to appear in the volume, with links. The Editor also prepares a PDF file containing the new content, which has the following components. Additional content besides this minimal amount is welcome, including bibliographic annotations, reviews, historical or comparative discussions, examples and illustrations, and problem sets.
   
   
   • A Topic for the work that will appear in the title as Selected Readings: (Topic).
   • An Introduction giving a general overview of the subject and providing key definitions.
   • A Bibliography that lists the articles to appear in the volume, in order of appearance. The bibliography contains full citations to each article in the volume, numbered in order of appearance. The bibliography may also contain references to online resources, and a small number of references to articles not published by ACM (whether or not they appear in the volume)
   • If the Editor wishes to include the text of an article that is not in the DL, he/she should submit a separate PDF file containing the text of this article. (The Editor is responsible for obtaining re-print permission from any copyright holders and for conveying this permission to ACM should the volume be published.)
     
     
2. Submission. The Editor submits a volume by emailing a note to the Editorial Board, enclosing the PDF file with the new content, together with a reference to the DL Binder containing links to the articles to appear in the volume.
   
   
3. Editorial decision. Depending on the content, the Editorial Board may invite an expert in the topic (called the reviewer) to evaluate a submission. The reviewer may suggest the inclusion (or omission) of some references , and may suggest changes to the new content. However the Editorial Board (or a designated member) makes all decisions about revisions and/or acceptance of submitted volumes.
   
   
4. Document preparation. Once a volume is accepted, the volume editor is asked to provide additional material including any necessary copyright permissions; optional cover art, a Preface, a Table of Contents, and a list of Keywords and Search Terms. These materials, the Binder containing links to articles and, the PDF files containing new content and additional articles, are forwarded to (an ACM staff member), who prepares the final document.
   
   
5. Final document. The final document, containing the items listed below, is sent to the Editor for approval before publication:
   
   
   1. A standard cover page with Title, Editor, Publication date, Series Number, Edition (when appropriate), and cover art;
   2. A standard Series Preface page describing the Collected Readings series;
   3. The Preface provided by the Editor;
   4. A Table of Contents, including a list of articles numbered in order of appearance;
   5. The new content provided by the Editor.
   6. The article reprints.