TN: DT-04-12

To: NRC Management Directives Custodians

Subject: Transmittal of Management Directive 3.7, “NUREG-Series

Publications”

Purpose: Directive and Handbook 3.7 are being revised in their

entirety to—

• consolidate content of existing Management Directives

(MDs) 3.7, “Unclassified Staff Publications in the

NUREG Series,” and 3.8, “Unclassified Contractor and

Grantee Publications in the NUREG Series”;

• retitle the revision “NUREG-Series Publications”;

• establish a new, simplified designator system for

NUREG-series publications;

• require that the Office of Public Affairs review and the

Director of Communications authorize publication of

manuscripts directed toward public outreach;

• clearly identify the responsibilities of NRC managers,

staff, and staff project officers and clarify their

responsibilities concerning any legal instrument that

requires, as a deliverable, a manuscript to be published

in the NUREG series with regard to NRC’s acquisition

regulations and technical editing;

• require that the staff have a technical editor edit

manuscripts for public outreach, licensing, and legislative

and congressional NUREG-series publications unless

otherwise stipulated by the Office of the Executive

Director for Operations (OEDO);

U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

DIRECTIVE TRANSMITTAL

OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATION
- 2 -

• require that contractors, grantees, and other holders of a legal

instrument requiring a manuscript for publication in the NUREG

series have a technical editor edit all manuscripts to be published

in the NUREG series unless otherwise stipulated by OEDO;

• add definitions for “book,” “classified information,” “manuscripts

directed toward public outreach,” “NUREG-series publication,”

“peer review,” “Project Officer,” “sensitive unclassified information,”

and “technical editing”;

• add tips for writing in plain language;

• identify Office of the Chief Information Officer services available in

support of the publishing process; and

• consolidate NRC Forms 426 and 426A into a single form for

authorizing publication of a manuscript.

MD 3.7 supersedes MD 3.8, which is rescinded.

No change bars have been used in MD 3.7 because of the extent of

the revision.

Office and 

Division of Origin: Office of the Chief Information Officer

Information and Records Services Division

Contact: Gary Lauffer, 301-415-5638

Date Approved: February 9, 1995 (Revised: August 17, 2004)

Volume: 3 Information Management

Part: 1 Publications, Mail, and Information Disclosure

Directive: 3.7 NUREG-Series Publications

Availability: Rules and Directives Branch

Office of Administration

Michael T. Lesar, 301-415-7163

Christy Moore, 301-415-7086
NUREG-Series

Publications

Directive

3.7
Volume 3, Part 1 - Publications, Mail, and Information Disclosure

NUREG-Series Publications

Directive 3.7

Approved: February 9, 1995 iii

(Revised: August 17, 2004)

Contents

Policy ............................................. 1

Objectives .......................................... 1

Organizational Responsibilities and

Delegations of Authority .......................... 3

Executive Director for Operations (EDO) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Deputy Executive Director for Materials, Research and State

Programs (DEDMRS), the Deputy Executive Director for

Reactor Programs (DEDR), and the Deputy Executive

Director for Homeland Protection and Preparedness (DEDH) ........ 4

Deputy Executive Director for Management Services (DEDM) ........... 4

Director of Communications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Chief Financial Officer (CFO) .................................... 5

General Counsel (GC) .......................................... 5

Director, Office of Public Affairs (OPA) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Chief Information Officer (CIO) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Director, Office of Administration (ADM) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Office Directors and Regional Administrators ........................ 7

Applicability ........................................ 7

Other Publications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

References ......................................... 8
Approved: February 9, 1995 1

(Revised: August 17, 2004)

U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Volume: 3 Information Management

Part: 1 Publications, Mail, and Information

Disclosure OCIO

NUREG-Series Publications

Directive 3.7

Policy

(3.7-01)

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission policy requires that all

manuscripts published in NRC’s formal publication series, the

NUREG series, (1) undergo review by program technical experts

and managers, (2) be authorized for publication by appropriate

officials, (3) bear appropriate designators, and (4) comply with

agency publishing policy and procedures in this directive and

handbook.

Objectives

(3.7-02)

• To ensure the “dissemination to the public of scientific and

technical information relating to atomic energy...to

provide...free interchange of ideas and criticism...essential to

scientific and industrial progress and public understanding and

to enlarge the fund of technical information” as mandated by

Section 141 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended.

(021)

• To ensure that no classified or sensitive unclassified

information is published in the series (see the Glossary). (022)
Volume 3, Part 1 - Publications, Mail, and Information Disclosure

NUREG-Series Publications

Directive 3.7

2 Approved: February 9, 1995

(Revised: August 17, 2004)

Objectives

(3.7-02) (continued)

• To ensure that manuscripts contain only guidance, that is,

neither contain nor imply legally binding regulatory

requirements, which are stated only in laws, NRC regulations,

licenses (including technical specifications), or orders. (023)

• To require that all manuscripts prepared by the staff or by

contractors be consistent with NRC’s Plain Language and

Editorial Guidelines (NUREG-1379) as part of NRC’s

commitment to attaining information quality. (024)

• To ensure compliance of the NUREG-series publications

program with all documents listed in the References section of

this directive. (025)

• To ensure that copyright and patent rights are not

compromised. (026)

• To ensure that rights in interagency and international

agreements and memoranda of understanding that involve a

manuscript to be published in the NUREG series are met.

(027)

• To ensure that an agency publication designator system is

established and appropriately administered to allow easy

identification and retrieval of NUREG-series publications by

librarians, the staff, and the public. (028)

• To ensure that designated managers oversee authors’

manuscripts for technical accuracy and for consistency with

both agency and program policy and goals before authorizing

publication of a manuscript. (029)

• To further the agency’s openness goal, ensure that each

publication is entered in the Agencywide Documents Access

and Management System (ADAMS) and declared an official

agency record and either posted to the external or the internal

Web site. (0210)
Volume 3, Part 1 - Publications, Mail, and Information Disclosure

NUREG-Series Publications

Directive 3.7

Approved: February 9, 1995 3

(Revised: August 17, 2004)

Objectives

(3.7-02) (continued)

• To help achieve the agency goal of ensuring openness, make

each publication public, except for those publications intended

only for staff use, through ADAMS, the U.S. Government

Printing Office (GPO), and the National Technical Information

Service (NTIS), as required by Federal law, interagency

agreements, or NRC policy. (0211)

• To ensure that a manuscript requesting information from

stakeholders outside NRC bears an Office of Management and

Budget (OMB) approval number. (0212)

• To provide uniform publishing standards and procedures for

publications in the NUREG series. (0213)

• To centrally manage publication of all manuscripts in the

NUREG series. (0214)

Organizational Responsibilities and

Delegations of Authority

(3.7-03)

Executive Director for Operations (EDO)

(031)

• Resolves for publications prepared by the staff, requesting

advice from the General Counsel, differences about content

issues or other issues that may arise between a regional

administrator and an author who prepares a manuscript for

publication in the NUREG series. (a)

• Delegates to the Deputy Executive Director for Management

Services (DEDM), the Deputy Executive Director for Materials,

Research and State Programs (DEDMRS), the Deputy

Executive Director for Reactor Programs (DEDR), and

the Deputy Executive Director for Homeland Protection and
Volume 3, Part 1 - Publications, Mail, and Information Disclosure

NUREG-Series Publications

Directive 3.7

4 Approved: February 9, 1995

(Revised: August 17, 2004)

Organizational Responsibilities and

Delegations of Authority

(3.7-03) (continued)

Executive Director for Operations (EDO)

(031) (continued)

Preparedness (DEDH) the authority to resolve for publications

prepared by the staff, requesting advice from the General

Counsel, differences about content issues or other issues that

may arise between an office director under their purview and

an author who prepares a manuscript for publication in the

NUREG series. (b)

Deputy Executive Director for Materials,

Research and State Programs (DEDMRS), the

Deputy Executive Director for Reactor

Programs (DEDR), and the Deputy Executive

Director for Homeland Protection and

Preparedness (DEDH)

(032)

As delegated by the EDO, resolves for publications prepared by

the staff, requesting advice from the General Counsel, differences

about content issues or other issues that may arise between an

office director under their purview and an author who prepares a

manuscript for publication in the NUREG series.

Deputy Executive Director for

Management Services (DEDM)

(033)

• As delegated by the EDO, resolves for publications prepared

by the staff, requesting advice from the General Counsel,

differences about content issues or other issues that may arise

between an office director under their purview and an author

who prepares a manuscript for publication in the NUREG

series. (a)
Volume 3, Part 1 - Publications, Mail, and Information Disclosure

NUREG-Series Publications

Directive 3.7

Approved: February 9, 1995 5

(Revised: August 17, 2004)

Organizational Responsibilities and

Delegations of Authority

(3.7-03) (continued)

Deputy Executive Director for

Management Services (DEDM)

(033) (continued)

• Ensures that any request for a procurement action presented

to the Office of Administration (ADM) involving a contract,

grant, or other governing legal instrument requiring as a

deliverable a manuscript for publication in the NUREG series

contains the appropriate terms and conditions governing

publications. (b)

Director of Communications

(034)

Authorizes publication of a manuscript directed toward public

outreach.

Chief Financial Officer (CFO)

(035)

Ensures that the Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO) staff

comply with this management directive and handbook when

preparing a manuscript for publication in the NUREG series.

General Counsel (GC)

(036)

Advises the EDO and the DEDOs, if requested, and the Division

of Contracts, ADM, in accordance with the requirements in an

NRC contract, grant, or other governing legal instrument about any

differences between NRC and the holder of the governing legal

instrument requiring as a deliverable a manuscript for publication

in the NUREG series regarding the following issues—

• copyright, (a)
Volume 3, Part 1 - Publications, Mail, and Information Disclosure

NUREG-Series Publications

Directive 3.7

6 Approved: February 9, 1995

(Revised: August 17, 2004)

Organizational Responsibilities and

Delegations of Authority

(3.7-03) (continued)

General Counsel (GC)

(036) (continued)

• proprietary information, (b)

• patent, (c)

• content, or (d)

• other issues that may arise. (e)

Director, Office of Public Affairs (OPA)

(037)

Reviews each manuscript directed toward public outreach to

ensure that the content—

• is appropriate for public outreach; (a)

• is consistent with and not redundant of other agency outreach

publications available to the public; (b)

• presents a balanced perspective of responsibilities among

agency offices and the regions and an appropriate regulatory

tone; and (c)

• is written in plain English. (d)

Chief Information Officer (CIO)

(038)

Delegates, as overseer of the NUREG-Series Publications

Program, the responsibility for managing the publishing program

to the Director of the Information and Records Services Division

(IRSD), Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO).
Volume 3, Part 1 - Publications, Mail, and Information Disclosure

NUREG-Series Publications

Directive 3.7

Approved: February 9, 1995 7

(Revised: August 17, 2004)

Organizational Responsibilities and

Delegations of Authority

(3.7-03) (continued)

Director, Office of Administration (ADM)

(039)

Ensures that any request for a procurement action presented to

the Division of Contracts (DC) that involves a contract, grant, or

other governing legal instrument that requires as a deliverable a

manuscript for publication in the NUREG series includes in the

statement of work for the governing legal instrument the

appropriate terms and conditions governing publications.

Office Directors and

Regional Administrators

(0310)

• Delegate to office or regional managers under their purview the

responsibility to authorize publication of manuscripts originated

by their organization, except those directed toward public

outreach, which are authorized by the DEDM. (a)

• Inform the CIO, in writing, of the levels of the officials in their

organization delegated this authority. (b)

Applicability

(3.7-04)

All NRC employees shall follow the policy and guidance in this

directive and handbook.

Other Publications

(041)

The provisions of this directive and handbook apply to all

manuscripts for publication in the NUREG series.
Volume 3, Part 1 - Publications, Mail, and Information Disclosure

NUREG-Series Publications

Directive 3.7

1

Send an e-mail message to “DISTRIBUTION” to request the latest version of an NRC

management directive or a NUREG-series publication or access the document in the Agencywide

Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS), using the number given after the title.

8 Approved: February 9, 1995

(Revised: August 17, 2004)

References

(3.7-05)

Code of Federal Regulations, Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Acquisition Regulation (48 CFR Chapter 20).

Office of Management and Budget Circular A-130,

“Management of Federal Information Resources,” November 28,

2000.

United States Code

Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. Sec. 552). 

Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (42 U.S.C. Sec. 141).

Copyright Law of the United States of America (17 U.S.C.).

Federal Grant and Cooperative Agreement Act (31 U.S.C.

6301-6308).

Government Printing and Binding Regulations, No. 26,

February 1999 (44 U.S.C. Sec. 103, 501, and 502).

Public Printing and Documents (44 U.S.C. Sec. 101-3701).

United States Government Printing Office (GPO), U.S. GPO

Style Manual, 2000.

United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Management Directives1

2.2, "Capital Planning and Investment Control.”
Volume 3, Part 1 - Publications, Mail, and Information Disclosure

NUREG-Series Publications

Directive 3.7

Approved: February 9, 1995 9

(Revised: August 17, 2004)

References

(3.7-05) (continued)

3.11, "Conferences and Conference Proceedings."

3.13, "Printing."

11.6, “Financial Assistance Program.”

11.7, “NRC Procedures for Placement and Monitoring of

Work With the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).”

12.2, “NRC Classified Information Security Program.”

12.6, “NRC Sensitive Unclassified Information Security

Program.”

Memoranda of Agreement

Between the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations and the

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, as amended,

November 27, 1996.

Between the Department of Energy and the U.S. Nuclear

Regulatory Commission, November 24, 1998.

NUREG-Series Publications

NUREG-0544, Revision 4, “NRC Collection of Abbreviations”

(ML041050544).

NUREG-0650, Revision 2, "Publishing Documents in the

NUREG Series" (ML041050294).

NUREG-1379, “NRC Editorial Style Guide” (ML041050307).

NUREG/BR-0075, Revision 4, "NRC Field Policy Manual,"

March 1999 (ML041170225), and Change Notice 00-01,

March 2000 (ML041050736).
NUREG-Series

Publications

Handbook

3.7
Volume 3, Part 1 - Publications, Mail, and Information Disclosure

NUREG-Series Publications

Handbook 3.7 Parts 1 - 4

Approved: February 9, 1995 iii

(Revised: August 17, 2004)

Contents

Purpose ...................................................... 1

Part 1

Procedural Roles and Responsibilities for NRC Staff .... 2

Office Directors and Regional Administrators ......................... 2

Director, Division of Contracts (DC), Office of Administration (ADM) . . . . . . . 3

Director, Information and Records Services Division (IRSD), Office

of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Office or Regional Publishing Authorizing Officials ..................... 6

Part 2

General Procedures ........................................ 8

2.1 Information Published in the NUREG Series .................... 8

2.2 Identifying Publications ..................................... 8

2.2.1 Formulating Designators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

2.2.2 Assigning Designators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

2.3 Availability Notices and Disclaimers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

2.4 Dates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

2.5 Publications as Official Agency Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

2.6 Manuscripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

2.6.1 NRC’s Plain Language and Editorial Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

2.6.1.1 Plain Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

2.6.1.2 Technical Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

2.6.2 Book Manuscripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

2.6.2.1 NRC as Publisher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

2.6.2.2 Nonprofit Organization as Publisher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

2.6.2.3 Peer Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

2.6.3 Conference Proceedings Manuscripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

2.6.4 Grants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

2.6.4.1 Publications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

2.6.4.2 Journal Articles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

2.6.5 International Agreement Publication Manuscripts . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Volume 3, Part 1 - Publications, Mail, and Information Disclosure

NUREG-Series Publications

Handbook 3.7 Parts 1 - 4

iv Approved: February 9, 1995

(Revised: August 17, 2004)

Contents (continued)

Part 3

Procedures for Manuscripts Prepared by the Staff . . . . . . . 15

Part 4

Procedures for Manuscripts Prepared by a Contractor,

a Grantee, or Other Holder of a Legal Instrument

Governing Manuscripts for Publication in the

NUREG Series . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

4.1 Project Officer Responsibilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

4.2 Responsibilities of Contractor, Grantee, or Other Holder of a

Legal Instrument Governing Manuscripts for Publication in the

NUREG Series . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

4.2.1 General Responsibilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

4.2.2 Preparing the Manuscript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Volume 3, Part 1 - Publications, Mail, and Information Disclosure

NUREG-Series Publications

Handbook 3.7

Approved: February 9, 1995 1

(Revised: August 17, 2004)

Purpose

This handbook presents roles and responsibilities and specifies procedures for

preparing manuscripts to be published in the NUREG series. Part 1 presents

procedural roles and responsibilities for NRC staff other than those specified in

Directive 3.7. Part 2 presents general procedures common to manuscripts either

prepared by the NRC staff or NRC contractors, grantees, or other holders of a legal

instrument that requires as a deliverable a manuscript for publication in the NUREG

series. Part 3 presents procedures applicable only to manuscripts prepared by the

staff. Part 4 presents procedures applicable only to manuscripts prepared by holders

of a legal instrument requiring a manuscript. Although financial assistance instruments

(grants and cooperative agreements) do not usually anticipate the development of

manuscripts for publication in the NUREG series, they may include such development.

See also Management Directive 11.6, “Financial Assistance Program,” for additional

information affecting grantees and cooperative agreement recipients.
Volume 3, Part 1 - Publications, Mail, and Information Disclosure

NUREG-Series Publications

Handbook 3.7 Part 1

2 Approved: February 9, 1995

(Revised: August 17, 2004)

Part 1

Procedural Roles and

Responsibilities for NRC Staff

The procedural roles and responsibilities in this part are related to responsibilities that

office directors (ODs) and regional administrators (RAs) oversee and exercise, which

are generally addressed in Directive 3.7.

Office Directors and Regional Administrators

ODs and RAs perform the following functions:

• Ensure that those staff who write the following manuscripts for publication in the

NUREG series see that they receive technical editing unless otherwise directed by

the Office of the Executive Director for Operations (OEDO):

– Overviews of information directed toward public outreach (e.g., “Regulating

Nuclear Fuel,” “Public Involvement in the Nuclear Regulatory Process,” and

“Nuclear Research Programs To Ensure Public Health and Safety”) 

– Standard review plans

– Safety evaluation reports

– Environmental impact statements

– Regulatory analyses

– Legislative and congressional reports (e.g., “Abnormal Occurrence Report”)

• Ensure that Project Officers under their purview responsible for a contract, grant,

or other governing legal instrument that requires as a deliverable a manuscript to

be published in the NUREG series works with the Division of Contracts, Office of

Administration, to include in the statement of work for the governing legal instrument

the appropriate terms and conditions governing publications.
Volume 3, Part 1 - Publications, Mail, and Information Disclosure

NUREG-Series Publications

Handbook 3.7 Part 1

Approved: February 9, 1995 3

(Revised: August 17, 2004)

Director, Division of Contracts (DC),

Office of Administration (ADM)

Ensures that any request for a procurement action presented to DC that involves a

contract, grant, or other governing legal instrument that requires as a deliverable a

manuscript for publication in the NUREG series includes the following in the statement

of work:

• The appropriate terms and conditions governing publications, including the technical

editing of each manuscript submitted to NRC for publication, and

• A requirement to comply with this directive and handbook and the following

documents to be found in the Agencywide Documents Access and Management

System (ADAMS) or furnished by the NRC Project Officer overseeing the governing

legal instrument;

– Management Directive (MD) 3.11, “Conference Proceedings”;

– MD 3.13, “Printing”;

– NUREG–1379, “NRC Editorial Style Guide”; and

– NUREG–0650, “Publishing Documents in the NUREG Series.”

Director, Information and Records

Services Division (IRSD), Office of the

Chief Information Officer (OCIO)

Manages the NUREG-Series Publications Program and does the following:

• Centrally manages publication of all manuscripts in the NUREG series, consulting

with the CIO, OEDO, RAs, ODs, and division directors.

• Produces all publications consistent with the agency’s mission and the Government

Printing and Binding Regulations issued by the Joint Committee on Printing of the

Congress of the United States (see also MD 3.13, “Printing”).
Volume 3, Part 1 - Publications, Mail, and Information Disclosure

NUREG-Series Publications

Handbook 3.7 Part 1

4 Approved: February 9, 1995

(Revised: August 17, 2004)

• Establishes and appropriately administers an agency publication designator system,

placing on each manuscript a registered agency designator in the NUREG series

when preparing the cover, title page, and spine.

• Responds to questions about the publication process from office and regional staff

and Project Officers responsible for writing a manuscript or for overseeing a

manuscript prepared by a contractor, a grantee, or other nonprofit organization or

another agency, DOE national laboratory, or foreign country.

• Ensures that IRSD staff identify any manuscript requesting information from a

stakeholder outside NRC and that it bears an appropriate OMB approval number.

• Provides technical editing services that are begun in an intake interview with the

author to jointly determine the extent of the technical edit and are followed by

collaboration with the author to improve the quality, clarity, and consistency of

manuscripts by applying any or all of the following techniques:

– Organizing the message into a coherent and logical flow of ideas;

– Correcting syntax, grammar, spelling, and punctuation;

– Ensuring consistent use of terms, acronyms, abbreviations, and symbols;

– Simplifying overly complex sentences (sentences that contain too many ideas);

– Correcting disagreement of the subject and verb and faulty parallelisms;

– Eliminating ambiguities, redundancy (wordiness), and overuse of the passive

voice;

– Verifying the consistency of equations;

– Verifying the consistency and clarity of tables and figures and redesigning them

(as required) to improve their visual effectiveness; and

– Verifying the accuracy of references and cross-references and the consistency

of text, figure, and table headings with the table of contents.

• Performs a quality assurance review of the final copy of a manuscript to ensure

that—
Volume 3, Part 1 - Publications, Mail, and Information Disclosure

NUREG-Series Publications

Handbook 3.7 Part 1

Approved: February 9, 1995 5

(Revised: August 17, 2004)

– It contains no classified or sensitive unclassified information and is consistent

with COMSECY-02-0015, “Withholding Sensitive Homeland Security Information

From the Public,” dated April 2, 2002.

– It contains no information that would violate copyright or patent rights.

– It complies with the publishing guidance in the latest revision of NUREG–0650.

– It lists only references available to the public.

– The requested distribution for the publication includes—

• up to 50 copies for a contractor, a grantee, or other nonprofit organization

that prepared a manuscript;

• the number of copies specified in the agreement for an organization (such

as the Government Printing Office (GPO), the National Technical Information

Service (NTIS), the DOE, or a foreign state or organization with which NRC

has an interagency or international agreement or a memorandum of

understanding) and other recipients as appropriate.

– The form authorizing publication of a manuscript (NRC Form 426; available on

NRC’s internal and external Web sites) is complete and bears the signatures

of—

• a member of the Records and FOIA/Privacy Services Branch (RF/PSB),

IRSD, OCIO, to ensure that any manuscript requesting information from a

stakeholder outside NRC has received review and approval by the Office of

Management and Budget (OMB) (Line 5.1);

• the NRC patent counsel, if applicable (Line 5.2);

• a contractor, a grantee, or other nonprofit organization, if applicable (Line

5.3);

• the Project Officer (Line 5.4);

• a member of the Office of Public Affairs (OPA) if the manuscript is directed

toward public outreach (Line 5.5); and
Volume 3, Part 1 - Publications, Mail, and Information Disclosure

NUREG-Series Publications

Handbook 3.7 Part 1

6 Approved: February 9, 1995

(Revised: August 17, 2004)

• the appropriate official authorizing publication (Line 5.6).

– The form containing bibliographic information (NRC Form 335; available on

NRC’s internal and external Web sites) is complete and complies with

instructions for completion.

– Manuscripts for books receive peer review (defined in the Glossary) before their

publication.

• Submits each publication to the OCIO’s Document Processing Center for entry as

an official agency record in the Agencywide Documents Access and Management

System (ADAMS).

• Ensures that each publication, except those publications intended only for staff use,

is made public through ADAMS, the external or internal Web site, GPO, and NTIS,

as required by Federal law, interagency agreements, memoranda of understanding,

international agreements, or NRC policy.

• Ensures that no classified or sensitive unclassified information is published.

• Ensures that manuscripts contain only guidance, that is, neither contain nor imply,

legally binding regulatory requirements, which are stated only in laws, NRC

regulations, licenses (including technical specifications), or orders.

Office or Regional Publishing

Authorizing Officials

Office or regional publishing authorizing officials conduct the following activities before

authorizing a manuscript to be published:

• Assess the need for any proposed publication with other offices and regions that

may have an interest or a program responsibility for any activity or topic discussed

in the draft to avoid duplication of any existing material.

• Ensure that any manuscript containing content specified herein under Part 1,

“Procedural Roles and Responsibilities for NRC Staff,” “Office Directors and

Regional Administrators,” received technical editing as specified herein and

complies with NUREG–1379 (see also Section 2.6.1 of Part 2 of this handbook).
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• Ensure that the manuscript contains no classified or sensitive unclassified

information and is consistent with COMSECY-02-0015, “Withholding Sensitive

Homeland Security Information From the Public,” dated April 2, 2002.

• Ensure that the manuscript contains only guidance, that is, neither contains nor

implies, legally binding regulatory requirements, which are stated only in laws, NRC

regulations, licenses (including technical specifications), or orders.

• Ensure that each manuscript is technically accurate and contains current

organizational policy, positions, and information.

• Ensure that the manuscript is consistent with both agency and program policy and

goals.

• Ensure that the manuscript violates no copyright or patent rights, consulting first with

the IRSD staff, and then with OGC, if necessary.

• Ensure that the manuscript does not compromise any rights in an interagency or

international agreement or memorandum of understanding.

• Ensure that the manuscript complies with NRC’s Plain Language and Editorial

Guidelines specified in Section 2.6.1 of Part 2.

• Ensure that the manuscript complies with all applicable documents in the reference

section of this MD.

• Ensure that a manuscript requesting information from stakeholders outside the NRC

bears an OMB approval number.

• Ensure that if their office originates a manuscript directed toward public outreach,

the staff has the OPA review the manuscript before submitting it to the Director of

Communications for authorization to publish. 

• Evaluate merits of book proposals from NRC staff to ensure that the proposed book

has a unique technical purpose, serves an industry-wide need, and that its contents

will be broadly valid and applicable for at least 5 years after publication.

• Ensure that the Project Officer completed the requisite forms (NRC Forms 426 and

335) before submitting the manuscript to the IRSD staff for publication.
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Part 2

General Procedures

2.1 Information Published in the NUREG Series

No classified or sensitive unclassified information is published in the series, and the

information published in the series is not legally binding. The NRC staff may suggest

a course of action in a publication, but the regulated community may use other

approaches to satisfy a regulatory requirement. No regulatory requirements may be

stated or implied in a NUREG-series publication. Requirements are stated only in laws,

NRC regulations, licenses (including technical specifications), or orders.

Appropriate content for a publication in the NUREG series includes—

• Public outreach information

• Support for regulatory and licensing decisions

• Results of technical analyses and research

• Action plans and guidance for meeting NRC requirements

• Resolution of generic technical issues

• A team report on a specific topic

• Proceedings of a conference or a workshop

• Managerial, budgetary, and administrative plans and analyses

• General programmatic information

• Guidance and instructions for employees

2.2 Identifying Publications

2.2.1 Formulating Designators

NRC uses a system consistent with American National Standards Institute/National

Information Standards Organization (ANSI/NISO) Z39.23-1997, “Standard Technical

Report Number Format and Creation,” that governs formation of designators for

technical reports. The standard recommends two essential elements:

1. The Report Code designates the issuing organization or corporate entity.

2. The Sequential Group in a designator may contain three parts:

• The four digits of the year of publication
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• A sequential Arabic number

• Uppercase alphabetic characters and Arabic numbers pertaining to volumes,

supplements, revision, drafts, and so on.

The central authority that coordinates and monitors the alpha part of the alphanumeric

designator for use on an organization’s technical reports is currently the National

Technical Information Service. Because the obvious “NRC” was used by another

organization, NRC registered “NUREG,” stemming from NUclear REGulatory.

NRC now designates its formal publications using the format NUREG–x–year, where

x is a sequential Arabic number. For example, a designator for the first NRC

publication issued in 2005 would be NUREG–1–2005, while a designator for the twelfth

publication issued in the same year would be NUREG–12–2005. 

NUREG plus its sequential number are the permanent parts of the designator, giving

it a permanence that would not change. Using this system, reports issued annually

would retain their original sequential number, while only the year would change. For

example, an annual report once assigned NUREG–1, would retain that designator for

each subsequent year it was issued, making a volume number unnecessary. 

Volumes would now refer to a single publication issued in two or more parts and would

be identified, for example, as NUREG–15–2005, Vol. 1 or Vol. 2.

The Information and Records Services Division (IRSD), Office of the Chief Information

Officer (OCIO), assigns the designators at the end of the preparation process (see

Section 2.2.2 of this part).

2.2.2 Assigning Designators

NRC assigns a unique designator to a manuscript when it is ready for printing, that is,

at the end of the preparation process. When OCIO’s IRSD staff receives a manuscript

authorized for publication, the staff performs a quality assurance review to ensure that

it meets NRC’s minimum publishing standards (see the latest version of NUREG–0650

and MDs 3.11 and 3.13). After completing this review, the IRSD staff assigns it a

NUREG-series designator, placing it on the cover, title page, and spine, as the staff

prepares the document for printing.
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At this point, the IRSD staff sends the preparer the designator for the publication. While

a manuscript is being developed, simply refer to the manuscript by its draft title when

referencing it in other documents.

2.3 Availability Notices and Disclaimers

The IRSD Publishing and Distribution Services Branch (PDSB) staff inserts and

publishes on the inside front cover of its publications an availability notice containing

information about obtaining publications in the NUREG series. The staff also inserts

and publishes on the inside front cover an appropriate disclaimer approved by the

Office of the General Counsel for any publication that is prepared by a holder of a legal

instrument requiring as a deliverable a manuscript for publication in the NUREG series

or in accordance with an international agreement.

See also Section 2.6.2.2 herein concerning nonprofit organizations as publishers of

books funded by the NRC. 

2.4 Dates

On each publication, the IRSD staff places the month and year a manuscript is

published on the spine and the following two dates on the title page:

1. The month and year the manuscript is completed and

2. The month and year it is published.

2.5 Publications as Official Agency Records

When a publication has been released for distribution, the IRSD staff submits a printed

copy of the publication to the OCIO’s Document Processing Center for entry as an

official agency record in the Agencywide Documents Access and Management System

(ADAMS). All publications are made publicly available in ADAMS except those intended

only for staff use, such as “Renting Smart: Car Rental Facts for the NRC Traveler.”

However, all NUREG-series publications are available to the public if requested by the

public.

2.6 Manuscripts

The staff follows the procedures specified in Part 1 of this handbook, if applicable, and

in Parts 2 and 3, while a contractor, a grantee, or other holder of a legal instrument
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requiring as a deliverable a manuscript for publication in the series follows the

procedures in Part 4. All manuscripts must meet the NRC’s Plain Language and

Editorial Guidelines specified in Section 2.6.1. The information in Sections 2.6.2

through 2.6.5 applies to manuscripts for books, conference proceedings, international

agreement reports, and manuscripts prepared under a grant.

2.6.1 NRC’S Plain Language and Editorial Guidelines

2.6.1.1 Plain Language

Numerous sources of information for complying with Federal Guidelines for Plain

Language are available at http://www.plainlanguage.gov/. See especially the Security

and Exchange Commission’s (SEC’s) "A Plain English Handbook: How to Create Clear

SEC Disclosure Documents" in the Reference Library at the SEC’s Web site. (See also

NRC’s Plain Language Plan at http://www.internal.nrc.gov/NRC/PLAIN/.) The following

tips may prove useful for attaining plain language in a manuscript.

To achieve consistency with NRC’s Plain Language Guidelines for NUREG-series

manuscripts—

• Present complex information clearly in lay terms.

• Eliminate jargon.

• Limit use of defined technical terms.

• Use as few acronyms as possible.

• Plan the scope of the publication, presenting only information needed for the stated

purpose.

• Use words economically to achieve conciseness.

• Eliminate any redundancy.

• Present general information before specific information.

• Use the active voice whenever possible (e.g., “NRC conducts inspections” rather

than “Inspections are conducted by the NRC”).

• Use verbs rather than hiding verbs in nouns (e.g., “The staff will implement the

directive by August 30” rather than “The staff is to complete implementation of the

directive by August 30.”).

To make each page more appealing and easier to understand, a part of Plain

Language, do the following—

• Intersperse dense text with headings.

• Use lots of white space on a page.
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2.6.1.2 Technical Editing

Make your publication manuscripts consistent with the guidelines in the latest version

of the “NRC Editorial Style Guide” (NUREG–1379). Ensure that those manuscripts

edited receive the type of technical editing specified in Part 1. The editorial

requirements for a holder of a legal instrument requiring as a deliverable a manuscript

for publication are specified under the responsibilities of the DC, ADM, in Part 1 and in

Part 4 of this handbook. Those for the NRC staff are specified under Part 1,

“Procedural Roles and Responsibilities for NRC Staff,” “Office Directors and Regional

Administrators,” and Part 3, “Procedures for Manuscripts Prepared by the Staff,” of this

handbook.

2.6.2 Book Manuscripts

Books are usually published in a 6- by 9-inch format of more durable materials than

other publications in the NUREG series (i.e., case-bound or a hardback) but may also

be issued in paperback. Consult the IRSD staff before beginning a book (defined in the

Glossary).

A nonprofit organization or NRC may publish a book. All books funded by NRC undergo

stringent peer review.

2.6.2.1 NRC as Publisher

If NRC both prepares and publishes a book, it bears a NUREG-series designator. The

staff must not only follow all the guidelines given for other publications in preparing the

manuscript but must also arrange for peer review. (See Section 2.6.2.3 of this part.)

2.6.2.2 Nonprofit Organization as Publisher

NRC may arrange to have a book manuscript published by a nonprofit organization

even though NRC funds the time to write and edit the book manuscript. However, the

Joint Committee on Printing has to authorize such an arrangement. 

If a nonprofit organization publishes the NRC-funded book, it may not bear an NRC

NUREG-series designator. The publisher assumes all costs for publishing, marketing,

and distributing the book. Any royalties for the book are returned to the Treasury of the

United States through NRC. As with other NRC publications, copies are sent to the

GPO for optional selection by the Depository Library Program.
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2.6.2.3 Peer Review

A reviewer is an expert in the subject matter covered by a book manuscript but

independent of the work leading to the manuscript. Reviewers critically evaluate the

technical content of a manuscript to judge whether the author successfully

accomplished the intended purpose and the facts are accurate to the best of the

reviewer’s knowledge. Reviewers may be from within or outside NRC. They may come

from academia, national laboratories, professional societies, corporations, or other

Federal agencies. The NRC office sponsoring the book selects the reviewers and may

select only one reviewer per organization.

When selecting reviewers, screen them for demonstrated competence and

achievement in a specific discipline, such as the quality of research accomplished,

published articles in journals, and honors received. Select reviewers having no

appearance of or real conflict of interest, that is, those who could not profit financially

by influencing whether the information is published. In the case of NRC, selecting a

licensee, a licensee consultant, or an expert from an intervener group as a peer

reviewer would not be appropriate.

2.6.3 Conference Proceedings Manuscripts

For information about preparing a proceedings for a conference or workshop, refer to

the latest version of MD 3.11, “Conferences and Conference Proceedings.”

2.6.4 Grants

NRC sometimes funds grants for educational and nonprofit institutions, State, and local

governments, and professional societies for the expansion, exchange, and transfer of

knowledge and ideas. The U.S. Congress characterizes the relationship between a

Federal agency and a grant recipient as one in which “the recipient can expect to run

the project without agency collaboration, participation, or intervention as long as it is run

in accordance with the terms of the grant.”

2.6.4.1 Publications

NRC or the grantee may publish the results of the award. Each grant specifies any

publication requirements of the award.
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If the grantee publishes the results, the grantee grants to the Government a royaltyfree, nonexclusive, irrevocable license to reproduce, translate, publish, and use the

published results. The grantee also must dispose of all material for which a copyright

could be obtained that the grantee produced or composed under the grant.

2.6.4.2 Journal Articles

If the grantee prepares an article to be published in a journal under the grant, the

grantee follows the procedures in MD 3.9, “NRC Staff and Contractor Speeches,

Papers, and Journal Articles on Regulatory and Technical Subjects.”

2.6.5 International Agreement Publication Manuscripts

NRC has cooperative nuclear safety research programs governed by agreements with

foreign governments and organizations. These agreements include monetary

contributions, exchange of information, and comments on program plans and results.

The agreements allow for transmitting technical information that is not classified or

sensitive unclassified from foreign participants to NRC for publication in the NUREG

series. The interests of all international program participants are best served by formal

dissemination of information acquired or developed in these programs as publications.

Prepare these reports consistent with the general procedures for other manuscripts

indicated in Parts 2 and 3 of this handbook.
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Part 3

Procedures for Manuscripts Prepared by the Staff

The organization and components of NRC publications will vary, depending on their

purpose and scope. Before beginning a manuscript, the author needs to answer the

following questions (see also Section 3, “Planning Your Document,” and Section 4,

“General Format and Content,” of NUREG-0650 and Part 2, “General Procedures,” of

this handbook):

• Who is my primary audience?

• What is the purpose of the manuscript?

• What is its scope?

• Will it become a draft publication issued for public comment?

• Are all the references available to the public?

• Will it include information that is copyrighted or patented?

• Has it been reviewed to ensure that it contains no classified or sensitive unclassified

information?

• Has a Records and FOIA/Privacy Services Branch Reviewer reviewed the

manuscript for Information Collections from stakeholders outside NRC (in

accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act) and signed Block 5.1 on NRC Form

426 (available on NRC’s internal and external Web sites) attesting to the completed

review?

• Will it contain a glossary?

• Does my manuscript comply with NRC’s Plain Language and Editorial Guidelines

specified in Section 2.6.1 of this handbook?

• Will it contain measurement and weight values?

• Will it require the services of the Information and Records Services Division (IRSD),

such as editing or graphics support?

• Will it require or be enhanced by the use of color photographs or figures?

• Will it require a specially designed cover rather than the standard NRC cover?

• Will this publication be one in a series of publications?

• In what media will my publication be distributed? Paper? Compact disk?

• How long will printing and distribution take?

• Does publication of my manuscript require completed forms?

• Is my schedule for producing and publishing the manuscript realistic?

• How can I disseminate sensitive unclassified information?

• What are the criteria for posting a publication to the external or internal Web site?
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Who is my primary audience? What is the purpose of the manuscript? What is its

scope?

Consider whether your publication will have to be understood by a technical expert, a

technician, a nontechnical audience, or a combination of these. The way in which you

present your topic depends on whether you are presenting analyses and results of

research, general information, instructions, and so forth. Decide what measure of

available information should be included (the scope of your manuscript). One good way

to accomplish this goal is to begin with an outline of all possible ideas you may want to

include and then refine the outline.

Will it become a draft publication issued for public comment?

NRC frequently issues draft publications for comment. Some types of draft publications

include licensing documents, such as standard review plans, environmental impact

statements, safety evaluation reports, technical evaluation reports, and standard

technical specifications. After the staff considers the comments received, they usually

revise the draft, as deemed appropriate, and publish a final version. See Public

Involvement, Documents for Comment, on NRC’s external Web site.

Are all the references available to the public?

The public must be able to access all references listed in a publication. Do not discuss

in the text or include in the list of references an Institute of Nuclear Power Operations

(INPO) document without prior approval from INPO. Attach any such INPO approval

to NRC Form 426, the authorization to publish a manuscript. Authors may create a

separate list of references for proprietary versions of a document if the public can

obtain a nonproprietary version (see Section 4.2.4 of NUREG–0650). Proprietary

versions may contain trade secrets or confidential research; or development,

commercial, or financial information.

Will it include information that is copyrighted or patented?

The staff preparing a manuscript determines whether it contains information that may

be copyrighted or patented. Contact the Office of the General Counsel if you have a

copyright or patent question. Obtain permission from the copyright holder before using

copyrighted material in a manuscript and attach such permission to NRC Form 426

(see also Section 3.8 of NUREG-0650).
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Has it been reviewed to ensure that it contains no classified or sensitive

unclassified information?

The staff preparing a manuscript ensures by signing NRC Form 426 that it contains no

classified or sensitive unclassified information and, if uncertain about the sensitivity of

any content, contacts the Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response. The staff

also ensures by its signature on this form that the manuscript is consistent with

COMSECY–02–0015, “Withholding Sensitive Homeland Security Information From the

Public,” dated April 2, 2002, available at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/

commission/comm-secy/2002/.

Will it contain a glossary?

Glossary terms in a publication must be consistent with those in the glossary on NRC’s

external Web site. If you create a glossary for the manuscript, use the definitions in

NRC’s external Web site Glossary unless you disagree with them. Send any conflicting

definition for a term to the Web Staff Editor to resolve with the Glossary Team. The

editor will include you in the resolution process. In addition, send any terms in your

glossary not found in the Web Glossary to the Web Staff Editor to add to the Web

Glossary.

Does my manuscript comply with NRC’s Plain Language and Editorial Guidelines

specified in Section 2.6.1?

Review your manuscript to ensure that it is consistent with the guidelines in Section

2.6.1 of this handbook. See also Part 1, “Procedural Roles and Responsibilities for

NRC Staff,” “Office Directors and Regional Administrators,” of this handbook to ensure

that the publication manuscripts listed received technical editing as specified in Part 1.

Will it contain measurement and weight values?

If "Yes," according to NRC's Policy Statement "Conversion to the Metric System"

(57 FR 46202, 10/07/92), ensure that measurement and weight values are converted

to the International System of Units, followed by the English units in brackets except

that “documents specific to a licensee...will be in the system of units employed by the

licensee."
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Will it require IRSD services such as editing or graphics support?

Contact the Chief of the Publishing and Distribution Services Branch (PDSB), IRSD, for

complete information about publishing services and service levels (i.e., what support

the staff can offer in a given amount of time). See service levels, available at

http://www.internal.nrc.gov/OCIO/PSB/SERVICE/editorial.pdf. After preliminary reviews

within the author’s office are complete, the author initiates an intake interview with an

editor if the manuscript is the type of manuscript listed in the first bullet under “Office

Directors and Regional Administrators” of Part 1. Work with the editor to decide on the

figures you will be using and request graphics support. Sometimes the graphics staff

can produce figures while the document is being edited. If the graphics staff will be

laying out the entire manuscript, have any editing completed before they begin in order

to expedite overall publication production. See also Part 1, “Procedural Roles and

Responsibilities for NRC Staff,” “Office Directors and Regional Administrators,” Section

2.6.1.2 of this handbook, and the response to “Is my schedule for producing and

publishing this manuscript realistic?” in this part.

Will it require or be enhanced by the use of color photographs or figures? Will it

require a specially designed cover rather than the standard NRC cover?

Although printing in color is sometimes necessary (e.g., to show rust or degradation of

a reactor component) or desirable (e.g., to promote the agency goal of ensuring

openness in our regulatory mission), printing in color is considerably more expensive

than printing in black and white. Printing in color is often appropriate for public outreach

publications. Publishing color documents on compact disks is less expensive than

printing paper documents in color. Request permission to use color in the planning

stage from the Chief of PDSB, IRSD, to see if funds are available or if another option

could serve the same purpose. (See also Management Directive (MD) 3.13, “Printing,”

for more specific information.)

Has a Records and FOIA/Privacy Services Branch Reviewer reviewed the

manuscript for Information Collections from stakeholders outside NRC (in

accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act) and signed Block 5.1 on NRC

Form 426 attesting to the completed review?

Submit a copy of your manuscript to the Records and FOIA/Privacy Services Branch

for review and approval before submitting the final manuscript to IRSD for publishing.

This review and approval ensures that either NRC has obtained Office of Management

and Budget (OMB) approval to request information from stakeholders outside NRC or
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that the manuscript contains no information collections. Ask the reviewer to sign Block

5.1 on NRC Form 426 attesting to the results of the completed review.

Will this publication be one in a series of publications?

If the manuscript is one in a series of ongoing publications, prepare a list of all previous

publications in the series, including each publication’s designator and issuance date.

The list can span more than a single page and would be placed after the title page (see

Table 4.1 in NUREG–0650). An example of such a series is the NUREG-1556 series

concerning materials licensees (see on the external Web site the Electronic Reading

Room, Collections of Documents by Type, then NUREG-Series Publications).

In what media will my publication be distributed? Paper? Compact disk?

Discuss printing and distribution of your publication with the Chief of PDSB before you

begin. After a manuscript is printed in paper, compact disk, or a combination of these

media, NRC enters each NUREG-series publication in the Agencywide Documents

Access and Management System (ADAMS) and declares it an official record. All

publications are made publicly available in ADAMS, except those intended only for staff

use. However, all NUREG-series publications are available to the public and are posted

to either the internal or the external Web site.

How long will printing and distribution take?

After a manuscript has undergone a quality assurance review by the IRSD staff, printing

and distribution of an average size (i.e., 150 to 200 pages) and black-and-white or twocolor (e.g., blue and white) manuscript typically takes 10 to 12 workdays. Printing of

color manuscripts varies. Consult the Chief of PDSB for more specific information and

see the PDSB printing staff service levels.

Does publication of my manuscript require completed forms?

Yes. NRC requires two completed forms to publish a manuscript: NRC Form 426,

“Authorization To Publish a Manuscript in the NUREG Series,” and NRC Form 335,

“Bibliographic Data Sheet.” Both forms are available on NRC’s internal and external

Web sites.
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• NRC Form 426. Answer the questions and obtain the signatures required to

authorize publication of your manuscript. Instructions for completing the form are

on page 2 of the form.

• NRC Form 335. Place an abstract of 200 or fewer words in Block 11 of the form

and complete all other blocks except 13 through 16 (see NUREG–0650). Concisely

summarize the contents of your manuscript in the abstract so that a reader can

determine whether to read the entire report. Omit details and numerical references

in the abstract to the extent possible. 

Is my schedule for producing and publishing the manuscript realistic?

The author should factor into the schedule for publishing a manuscript the time needed

to—

• write and revise;

• resolve and incorporate comments from reviewers;

• obtain any IRSD services;

• complete forms; and

• obtain review and signatures authorizing publication.

IRSD, OCIO, offers services to help in preparing a manuscript:

• Professional technical editing

• Graphics services

• Quality assurance review of manuscripts

• Reproduction and distribution

• Publishing: printing and posting on the Intranet or Internet

• Declaring the publication an official agency record in ADAMS

For each service offered, OCIO has service levels to help you plan the production and

publication of your manuscript. These levels are available on the internal Web site at

http://www. internal.nrc.gov/OCIO/PSB/SERVICE/index.html.

How can I disseminate sensitive unclassified information?

IRSD can design appropriate first pages for or reproduce for the staff appropriately

marked sensitive unclassified information for dissemination to those with a “need to

know” but does not publish such information in the NUREG series. To disseminate such
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material to those with a “need to know,” contact the Office of Nuclear Security and

Incident Response, and consult MDs 12.2 and 12.6.

Contact the Chief of PDSB to obtain one or more of these services or to be directed to

the Web staff for Intranet or Internet publishing. If the originator is preparing the

manuscript without using IRSD editing, composition, or graphics services, simply submit

the manuscript with a signed authorization to print (NRC Form 426) and bibliographic

data sheet (NRC Form 335) to the Chief of PDSB for review and publication.

What are the criteria for posting a publication to the external or the internal Web

site?

After each publication is entered into ADAMS, IRSD posts it to either the internal or the

external Web site. Generally, a publication is posted to the internal Web site if it serves

a staff need. All others are posted to the external Web site (see also MD 3.14, “U.S.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission External Web Site,” concerning the external Web site).

However, all NUREG-series publications are available to the public upon request.
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Part 4

Procedures for Manuscripts Prepared by a Contractor,

A Grantee, or Other Holder of a Legal Instrument Governing

Manuscripts for Publication in the NUREG Series

A contractor, a grantee, or other holder of a governing legal instrument requiring as a

deliverable a manuscript for publication in the NUREG series must meet the conditions

and terms of the legal instrument and work with the NRC Project Officer to deliver the

manuscript in accordance with the policy and procedures in this directive and

handbook.

4.1 Project Officer Responsibilities

The NRC Project Officer overseeing a publication manuscript prepared by a contractor,

a grantee, or other holder of a legal instrument performs the following tasks:

• Works with the Contracting Officer, Division of Contracts, ADM, to specify applicable

publication requirements in the proposed statement of work for the governing legal

instrument consistent with Section (3.7-038);

• Acts as liaison between the contractor, grantee or other holder of a legal instrument

and the staff of the Publishing and Distribution Services Branch (PDSB),

Information and Records Services Division (IRSD), OCIO;

• Submits any manuscript for publication in the NUREG series prepared by the holder

of a legal instrument that requires a manuscript as a deliverable to the NRC

Records and FOIA/Privacy Services Branch for review to ensure either that NRC

has obtained an Office of Management and Budget (OMB) number authorizing NRC

to request information from a stakeholder outside NRC or that the manuscript

contains no such request and requests that the reviewer sign Block 5.1 on NRC

Form 426 (available on NRC’s internal and external Web sites) attesting to the

results of the completed review.

• Responds to any questions from the organization preparing the publication,

consulting with the Chief of PDSB or the PDSB staff as necessary;

• Assists the preparing organization in identifying who should receive copies of the

publication;
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• Ensures that the contractor, grantee, or nonprofit organization receives 50 free

copies of each publication produced in accordance with the Joint Committee on

Printing’s regulations, unless the preparer requests fewer copies;

• Approves the final manuscript before instructing the contractor, grantee, or other

holder of a legal instrument to send the final manuscript to the PDSB staff for review

and publication; and

• Works with the PDSB staff to have the manuscript published (i.e., reviewed; revised,

as necessary; printed; and distributed).

4.2 Responsibilities of Contractor, Grantee, or Other Holder of a Legal

Instrument Governing Manuscripts for Publication in the NUREG Series

4.2.1 General Responsibilities

When the procurement requires that a deliverable be developed as a manuscript for

publication in the NUREG series, the contractor, grantee, or other holder of a legal

instrument performs the following tasks:

• As specified in the governing legal instrument, prepares by the due date the number

of manuscripts required as deliverables until the NRC deems a manuscript

publishable;

• Revises each manuscript as necessary until NRC deems it publishable by the date

due;

• Ensures that the final manuscript receives technical editing as specified in the

statement of work in the governing legal instrument;

• Prepares manuscripts in accordance with the policy and guidance in this directive

and handbook;

• Sends only a manuscript approved by the Project Officer to the PDSB staff for

review and publishing;

• Refers all questions to the Project Officer, who may, in turn, contact the PDSB staff

for information;
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• Prepares stick-on address labels for individuals designated to receive a copy of a

publication who does not appear on one of NRC’s automated distribution mailing

lists;

• As discussed with the Project Officer, considers the guidance of Section 4.2.2 of

this part when preparing a manuscript.

4.2.2 Preparing the Manuscript

The organization and components of NRC publications will vary, depending on their

purpose and scope. Before beginning a manuscript, the author should answer the

following questions (see also Section 3, “Planning Your Document,” and Section 4,

“General Format and Content,” of NUREG–0650).

• Who is my primary audience?

• What is the purpose of the manuscript?

• What is its scope?

• Will it become a draft publication issued for public comment?

• Are all the references available to the public?

• Will it include information that is copyrighted or patented?

• Has it been reviewed to ensure that it contains no classified or sensitive unclassified

information?

• Will it contain measurement and weight values?

• Will it contain a glossary?

• Does my manuscript comply with NRC’s Plain Language and Editorial Guidelines

specified in Section 2.6.1 of this handbook?

• Will it require or be enhanced by the use of color photographs or figures?

• Will it require a specially designed cover rather than the standard NRC cover?

• Will this publication be one in a series of publications?

• Is it consistent with all applicable NRC guidance furnished?

• Does publication of my manuscript require completed forms?

Who is my primary audience? What is the purpose of the manuscript? What is its

scope?

Consider whether your publication will have to be understood by a technical expert, a

technician, a nontechnical audience, or a combination of these. The way in which you

present your topic depends on whether you are presenting analyses and results of

research, general information, instructions, and so forth. Decide what measure of
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available information should be included (the scope of your manuscript). One good way

to accomplish this goal is to begin with an outline of all possible ideas you may want to

include and then refine the outline with your Project Officer.

Will it become a draft publication issued for public comment?

NRC frequently issues draft publications for comment. Some types of draft publications

include licensing documents, such as environmental impact statements, or technical

evaluation reports. After the preparer considers the comments received, and revises

the draft, as deemed appropriate, NRC publishes a final version. See Public

Involvement, Documents for Comment, on NRC’s external Web site.

Are all the references available to the public? 

The public must be able to access all references listed in a publication. Do not discuss

in the text or include in the list of references an Institute of Nuclear Power Operations

(INPO) document without prior approval from INPO. Attach any such INPO approval

to NRC Form 426, the authorization to publish a manuscript. Authors may create a

separate list of references for proprietary versions of a document if the public can

obtain a nonproprietary version (see Section 4.2.4 of NUREG–0650). Proprietary

versions may contain trade secrets or confidential research; or development,

commercial, or financial information.

Will it include information that is copyrighted or patented?

If the preparer is uncertain whether the manuscript contains information that may be

copyrighted or patented, consult the NRC Project Officer who may, in turn, contact

NRC’s Office of the General Counsel about copyright or patent questions. Obtain

permission from the copyright holder before using copyrighted material in a manuscript

and attach such permission to NRC Form 426 (see also Section 3.8 of NUREG-0650).

Has it been reviewed to ensure that it contains no classified or sensitive

unclassified information?

The NRC Project Officer attests by signing NRC Form 426 that it contains no classified

or sensitive unclassified information and, if uncertain about the sensitivity of any

content, contacts the Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response. The staff also

ensures by its signature on this form that the manuscript is consistent with

COMSECY–02–0015, “Withholding Sensitive Homeland Security Information From the
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Public,” dated April 2, 2002, at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/

commission/comm-secy/2002/.

Will it contain a glossary?

Glossary terms in a publication must be consistent with those in the glossary on NRC’s

external Web site. If you create a glossary for the manuscript, use the definitions in

NRC’s external Web site Glossary unless you disagree with them. Send any conflicting

definition for a term to the Project Officer who, in turn, will send the conflicting terms to

the Web Staff Editor to resolve with the Glossary Team. The editor will include the

Project Officer in the resolution process. In addition, send any terms in your glossary

not found in the Web Glossary to the Project Officer, who, in turn, will send them to the

Web Staff Editor to add to the Web Glossary.

Does my manuscript comply with NRC’s Plain Language and Editorial Guidelines

specified in Section 2.6.1?

Review your document to ensure that it is consistent with the guidelines in Section 2.6.1

of this handbook. Ensure that your manuscript received technical editing as specified

in Part 1 of this handbook under responsibilities of the Director of DC, ADM.

Will it require or be enhanced by the use of color photographs or figures? Will it

require a specially designed cover rather than the standard NRC cover?

Although printing in color is sometimes necessary (e.g., to show rust or degradation of

a reactor component) or desirable (e.g., to promote the agency goal of ensuring

openness about our regulatory mission), printing in color is considerably more

expensive than printing in black and white. Publishing color documents electronically

or on compact disks is less expensive than printing paper documents in color. Request

permission to use color through your Project Officer in the planning stage to see if

funds are available or if another option could serve the same purpose (see also

Management Directive (MD) 3.13, “Printing”).

Will it contain measurement and weight values?

If "Yes," according to NRC's Policy Statement "Conversion to the Metric System"

(57 FR 46202, 10/07/92), ensure that measurement and weight values are converted

to the International System of Units, followed by the English units in brackets except
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that “documents specific to a licensee...will be in the system of units employed by the

licensee."

Will this publication be one in a series of publications?

If the manuscript is one in a series of ongoing publications, prepare a list of all previous

publications in the series, including each publication’s designator and issuance date.

The list can span more than a single page and would be placed after the title page (see

Table 4.1 in NUREG–0650). An example of such a series is the NUREG-1556 series

concerning materials licensees (see on the external Web site the Electronic Reading

Room, Collections of Documents by Type, then NUREG-Series Publications).

Is it consistent with all applicable NRC guidance furnished?

Before submitting your final manuscript to the Project Officer, ensure that it complies

with this directive and handbook; NUREG–1379, “NRC Editorial Style Guide”;

NUREG-0650, “Publishing Documents in the NUREG Series”; and, if applicable, MD

3.11, “Conferences and Conference Proceedings.”

Does publication of my manuscript require completed forms?

Yes. NRC requires two completed forms to publish a manuscript, both available on

NRC’s internal and external Web sites: NRC Form 426, “Authorization To Publish a

Manuscript in the NUREG Series,” and NRC Form 335, “Bibliographic Data Sheet.”

Consult your NRC Project Officer about using these forms.

• NRC Form 426. Answer the questions, have your authorizing official sign, and send

the completed form to your Project Officer to obtain the signatures required to

authorize publication of your manuscript.

• NRC Form 335. Place an abstract of 200 or fewer words in Block 11 of the form

and complete all other blocks except 13 through 16 (see NUREG–0650). Concisely

summarize the contents of your manuscript in the abstract so that a reader can

determine whether to read the entire report. Omit details and numerical references

to the extent possible.
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Glossary

Book. A publication intended as a permanent reference (a

textbook) or as a major critical review of a technical or

regulatory topic. Its content should be applicable for at least 5

years after publication and may meet an industry-wide need.

Classified information. At NRC, material that meets the

requirements for designation as Confidential, Secret, or Top

Secret in accordance with an Executive Order (currently E.O.

12958, “Classified National Security Information,” as amended,

or the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended.(See MD 12.2,

“NRC Classified Information Security Program,” for more

information.)

Manuscripts directed toward public outreach. Manuscripts

that contain general regulatory information about NRC or

general technical information about a specific topic, which are

often prepared by the Office of Public Affairs (e.g., “NRC:

Regulator of Nuclear Safety” (NUREG/BR–0164), the “Public

Petition Process” (NUREG/BR–0200), the “Citizen's Guide to

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Information”

(NUREG/BR–0010), and “Regulating Nuclear Fuel”

(NUREG/BR–0280).

NUREG–series publication. Nonsensitive information related to

NRC’s mission that does not contain regulatory requirements

and is published in a formal agency series to ensure the

“dissemination to the public of scientific and technical

information relating to atomic energy....” as mandated by the

Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended. Each publication

bears an agency designator (NUREG–number–year).

Peer review. Critical evaluation of the technical content of a book

manuscript by independent experts to judge whether the

author successfully accomplished the intended purpose. The

independent experts must not be able to profit financially by

influencing whether the information is published and could

have no appearance of conflict of interest, such as, in the case

of NRC, a licensee.
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Glossary (continued)

Project Officer. The member of the NRC staff responsible for

overseeing the legal instrument that requires as a deliverable

a manuscript to be published in the NUREG series.

Sensitive unclassified information. This information includes

unclassified Safeguards Information (SGI), Official Use Only

information, and Proprietary information. It also includes

unclassified information from other Government agencies and

sources outside of NRC and its contractors and licensees that

requires special protective measures. Markings used by these

agencies and sources include, for example, For Official Use

Only, Company Confidential, and Private. (See MD 12.4,

“NRC Telecommunications Systems Security Program,” and

Volume 12, “Glossary,” for a complete definition of “sensitive

unclassified information.”)

Technical editing. Collaboration between a technical editor and

an author to improve the quality, clarity, and consistency of a

manuscript.