Publication Identifier Syntax for

NIST Technical Series Publications 

Information Services Office

Management Resources

August 2021
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Abstract

This document identifies challenges in uniquely identifying all editions of a NIST Technical Series

publication and proposes a publication identifier (PubID) syntax that can accommodate all variants 

of all series.

Keywords

NIST Technical Series publications; publishing; unique identifiers.

Acknowledgments

The authors – Katelynd Bucher, Jim Foti, and Kathryn Miller – would like to thank our NIST 

colleagues who reviewed earlier drafts of this proposal and provided useful feedback. We also 

thank Ronald Tse of Ribose, Inc., for his interest in NIST publications and suggestions for 

improving NIST’s approach to developing and publishing its Technical Series publications.

Comments on this proposal should be submitted to techpubs@nist.gov (Subject: 

“Publication ID Proposal”) by September 30, 2021.
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Table of Contents

1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 1

1.1 Problem Statement ......................................................................................... 1

1.2 Purpose of this Proposal................................................................................. 1

1.3 Scope.............................................................................................................. 1

1.4 Document Structure........................................................................................ 2

2 Current Challenges................................................................................................ 2

2.1 Negative Impacts of the Current Approach..................................................... 2

2.2 International SDO Publication Identifiers as a Starting Point .......................... 2

2.2.1 Overview of PubIDs for ISO, IEC, and ISO/IEC Publications ............... 2

2.2.2 Differences Between ISO and IEC Publications and NIST Technical 

Series publications .......................................................................................... 4

2.3 Potential Benefits............................................................................................ 4

3 Publication Identifier Syntax Proposal................................................................. 5

3.1 Objectives ....................................................................................................... 5

3.2 Proposed PubID Syntax.................................................................................. 5

3.3 PubID Examples ........................................................................................... 10

4 Next Steps ............................................................................................................ 12

Appendix A— Example NIST Special Publication (Informative).............................. 13

A.1 NIST Special Publication 800-53 .................................................................. 13

A.2 Applying the Proposed PubID Syntax........................................................... 15

Appendix B— Publication Stages.............................................................................. 16

B.1 Stages Defined in NIST PR 1502.01............................................................. 16

B.2 Stages Used by NIST’s Computer Security Division and Applied 

Cybersecurity Division (Informative)...................................................................... 16
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1 Introduction

1.1 Problem Statement

Although many NIST Technical Series publications are sufficiently identified by a sequential 

report number, documents that persist and change over time or have multiple parts and updates 

need unique identifiers to convey additional information. These identifiers must accommodate a 

variety of document stages (e.g., draft, final), editions, parts, updates, and translations. 

Currently, most NIST Technical Series publications lack a structured publication identifier 

(PubID) that can concisely and unambiguously identify each instance of a document. This can 

lead to users referencing the document in ways that are verbose, inconsistent, incomplete, or 

ambiguous. It can also hinder reference automation, which relies on the ability to uniquely 

identify publications.

1.2 Purpose of this Proposal

This document proposes a syntax – like those used by Standards Developing Organizations 

(SDOs) – that will facilitate simple, unique, and unambiguous publication referencing. The 

syntax can accommodate a variety of parameters that currently exist in identifiers across existing 

NIST Technical Series publications and includes a structure that is flexible and can meet the 

future needs of additional series and document development models.

In addition to proposing this syntax, the authors offer some ideas for engaging with stakeholders 

to obtain feedback and support for implementing such a change.

1.3 Scope

This problem has affected NIST Technical Series publications for some time, although it was 

most recently identified during new publication work in the Information Technology 

Laboratory’s (ITL) Computer Security Division (CSD). CSD leads the development of the NIST 

Special Publication 800 series, “Computer Security.” Documents in that series were downloaded 

from NIST servers more than four million times in Fiscal Year (FY) 2019. Currently, it is 

challenging to uniquely and unambiguously refer to SP 800 publications in a consistent manner, 

particularly those that have multiple additions, parts, and updates. Although the immediate focus 

of this proposal is to address issues in the SP 800 series, this PubID syntax can be applied to all

NIST Technical Series publications. 

The NIST Information Services Office (“NIST Library”) – the publisher of NIST Technical 

Series publications – has internally defined a syntax for creating digital object identifiers (DOIs). 

However, DOIs serve a different purpose than a PubID. DOIs provide perpetual access, and 

while they are unique, they are not meant to uniquely identify a single instance of a publication. 

For example, DOIs do not differentiate between different “errata updates” of a specific 

publication edition. See Appendix A for an example of how this applies to the SP 800 series.
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1.4 Document Structure

This document is organized as follows:

• Section 2 – Current Challenges

• Section 3 – Publication Identifier Syntax Proposal

• Section 4 – Next Steps

2 Current Challenges

2.1 Negative Impacts of the Current Approach

If NIST does not provide a single PubID for a document, this can lead to:

• Users creating their own syntax for uniquely identifying a publication;

• Ambiguous identification, such that different editions or updates of a publication – whose 

requirements may differ – could be confused with one another;

• Verbose identifiers that take up an inordinate amount of space, are inconvenient to 

reference, and can hinder the adoption of automated citation management;

• Inconsistent identifiers issued over a long period of time for different editions of a 

publication;

• NIST Technical Series publications used across various NIST organizational units (OUs)

with a variety of potentially conflicting identifiers; and

• Stakeholders being presented with a potentially baffling array of unstructured PubIDs –

sometimes even within a specific series – and having an inconsistent experience.

2.2 International SDO Publication Identifiers as a Starting Point

NIST’s current approach to identifying Technical Series publications is not consistent with the 

practice of SDOs. Additionally, NIST’s current approach can make it difficult for those 

standards to precisely reference NIST publications.

2.2.1 Overview of PubIDs for ISO, IEC, and ISO/IEC Publications

The International Organization for Standardization (“ISO”) and International Electrotechnical 

Commission (“IEC”) are SDOs whose PubIDs are similar with some minor differences. They 

also publish standards jointly as “ISO/IEC” publications and use a syntax for identifying a 

publication, its parts (if any), edition (using the publication year), document development stage 

(e.g., ISO uses “CD,” “DIS,” “FDIS”1), and corrections (“Cor”) or amendments (“Amd”). Some 

of this is described in ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. ISO and IEC PubIDs generally take the 

1 ISO stage codes are documented at https://www.iso.org/stage-codes.html. IEC has a different set – and larger number – of stage 

codes at https://www.iec.ch/standardsdev/resources/processes/stage_codes.htm. 
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following form:

{publisher ID}[/][{stage}] {series} {report number}[-{part number}]:{year}

The {series} is omitted for ISO and IEC international standards, but it is used for other 

publications such as Technical Reports (“TR”). ISO and IEC also differ regarding the {part 

number}, which in IEC may also include a subpart (e.g., “IEC 60721-3-1:2018”). Regardless of 

these specific differences, their general formats are useful for creating a PubID syntax for 

NIST’s Technical Series publications.

Some example ISO and IEC PubIDs include:

• ISO/IEC CD 15408–3 (“Committee Draft of ISO/IEC 15408 Part 3”)

• ISO/CD 22382 (“Committee Draft of ISO 22382”)

• ISO/PRF TR 23455 (“Proof of ISO Technical Report 23455”)

• ISO/IEC 14888-2:2008 (“ISO/IEC 14888 Part 2, 2008 edition”)

Minor corrections and technical amendments are issued as separate documents and are not 

incorporated into the original publication. A supplemental document uses the main document’s

PubID and appends information to identify whether it is a Correction or Amendment, a sequence 

number, and its year of issue:

• ISO/IEC {series} {stage} {report number}[-{part number}]:{year}/{“COR”|“AMD”} 

{number}:{year}

IEC uses a slightly different format:

• IEC {series}[/{stage}] {report number}[-{part number}]:{year}+AMD{number}:{year}

Some examples include:

• ISO 7220:1996/COR 1:2001 (“First correction—issued in 2001—to ISO 7220, 1996

edition”)

• ISO/IEC 18031:2011/AMD 1:2017 (“First amendment—issued in 2017—to ISO/IEC 

18031, 2011 edition”)

• IEC 62304:2006+AMD1:2015 (“First amendment—issued in 2015—to IEC 62304, 2006 

edition”)

If a publication is formally reviewed after several years and is confirmed without any changes, 

the PubID is not altered, as the document itself has not been altered. The confirmation is 

indicated elsewhere, such as on the ISO website. 
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2.2.2 Differences Between ISO and IEC Publications and NIST Technical Series 

publications

Although ISO and IEC publications differ somewhat from NIST Technical Series publications, 

the syntaxes described in Section 2.2.1 provide a useful starting point. The PubID syntax adopted 

for NIST Technical Series publications will need to account for those differences. Table 1 shows

how NIST Technical Series publications are currently identified and compares them with the 

approach used by ISO, IEC, and ISO/IEC publications.

Table 1: Features of Different Publications

Features NIST Technical Series publications

(Current Approach)

ISO, IEC, ISO/IEC Pubs

Series Consist of 12+ different series that 

must always be expressed in the 

PubID

The {series} is omitted for ISO and IEC 

international standards, but it is used for 

other publications such as Technical 

Reports (“TR”).

Report numbers May consist of only a whole 

number, a series number 

hyphenated with a sequence 

number, or a sequence number 

with an alphabetic suffix to indicate 

a part

Whole numbers only

Parts and subparts May have various types of named 

“parts,” including Part, Volume, 

Section, Supplement, Index, etc.

May have multiple “parts” (and 

“subparts,” for IEC and ISO/IEC) indicated 

by “{report number}-{part number}-

{subpart}”

Edition Typically indicated by Revision, 

Version, or Edition and sequential 

number or letter; occasionally 

indicate the year

Always include the year to indicate the 

edition.

Translations Currently indicated by a 2-letter 

code

Indicated by a 2-letter code

Updates Errata updates issued as complete, 

updated publications, with errata 

date indicated on title page below 

the original publication date

Corrections and Amendments are 

provided as supplemental documents 

instead of incorporating changes into the 

original publication. 

2.3 Potential Benefits

Implementing a defined PubID syntax for NIST Technical Series publications offers a variety of 

potential benefits, including:

• Consistency: A single, well-defined approach that is consistent for various technical 

publications across NIST

• Uniqueness: A way to guarantee that identifiers – including DOIs – are unique for each 

instance of a publication
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• Disambiguation: A clear indication of a publication’s stage, revision, and/or update 

status

• Information richness: Ability to include a significant amount of information about the 

publication in a single identifier

• Facilitate automation: A well-defined, machine-readable syntax that enables the 

automation of publication tracking and reference

• Self-explanatory: A single identifier that conveys information about the publication that 

currently needs to be parsed from multiple elements in the document

• Easy citation: Ability to consistently reference specific NIST publications

• Discoverability: Ability to search on a well-structured identifier

3 Publication Identifier Syntax Proposal

This section identifies objectives for introducing a NIST Technical Series publications PubID 

syntax and proposes a potential syntax for adoption at NIST.

3.1 Objectives

Some objectives for implementing a PubID syntax include:

• Accommodating elements in existing publication identifiers, including:

o Parts: “Part,” “Volume,” “Supplement,” “Section,” “Index,” etc.

o Editions: “Revision,” “Version,” “Edition,” etc.

o Updates: “errata updates”

o Sequence numbers

o Translations

• Implementing a flexible approach that can easily accommodate the identification of new 

series and document development stages (e.g., “initial public draft,” “second public 

draft,” etc.);

• Causing no or minimal disruption to existing users of NIST Technical Series publications

o Does not require changes to existing publications

o Can be applied to all NIST Technical Series publications starting at some to-bedetermined date

o Can be applied to existing publication series (e.g., active “final” and “draft” SP 

800 series documents), if desired

o Uses syntax and characters that are consistent with the requirements of the 

CrossRef service that NIST uses to generate and manage DOI suffixes (e.g., in 

addition to alphanumeric characters, CrossRef currently allows “-._,()/” but not 

“#+:&[]”)

3.2 Proposed PubID Syntax

The proposed PubID consists of the data elements in Table 2.
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Table 2: PubID Data Elements

Element Applies to Comment Examples / Representation

{series} All publications “NIST” followed by a space and

the standard abbreviation of the 

series name

Special Publication:

NIST SP

Interagency or Internal 

Report:

NIST IR

Handbook:

NIST HB

Technical Note:

NIST TN

{stage} All publications

that are not 

final

Omit for final 

publications

In many series, documents are 

only released as final 

publications. Some series (e.g., 

SP 800 and SP 1800) may have 

additional levels of document 

development (staging), which 

can combine the iteration (initial 

[I], second [2],..., nth [n], final [F]) 

with the stage (public draft [PD], 

work-in-progress draft [WD], 

preliminary draft [PRD]).

The stage code is enclosed in 

parentheses (separated from 

the series).

Work-in-Progress Draft:

(WD)

Preliminary Draft: 

(PRD)

Initial Public Draft:

(IPD)

Second Public Draft:

(2PD)

Final Public Draft:

(FPD)

NOTE: These are possible

stages – not all documents 

will use every stage. The 

most commonly used stage 

will be (IPD). For 

descriptions of these stages, 

see Appendix B.
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Element Applies to Comment Examples / Representation

{report number} All publications Depending on the series, this 

may consist of a {sequence 

number}, {subseries}-{sequence 

number}, {sequence number}-

{volume}, {sequence number}-

{edition}, {subseries}-{sequence 

number}-{edition}, etc.

{sequence number}

NIST TN 2143

{subseries}-{seq. num.}

NIST SP 1200-28

{seq. num.}-{volume}

NIST IR 8011-4

{seq. num.}-{edition}

NIST HB 135-2020

{subseries}-{seq. num.}-

{edition}

NIST SP 800-73-4

{part}

Consists of 

{part-type} and/or

{part-id}

Publications

with a specified 

part

“Parts” may be identified using a 

{part-type},

2 followed by a {partid} consisting of Arabic numerals 

and/or alphabetic characters (do 

not represent numbers using 

Roman numerals).

In some situations, the {parttype} may not be followed by a 

{part-id} (e.g., a supplement or 

index might simply be identified 

using sup or indx).

{part-type} values

Part: pt

Volume: v

Section: sec

Supplement: sup

Index: indx

Examples:

pt1

v2

A

sec5

supA

indx

2 Optional.
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Element Applies to Comment Examples / Representation

{edition}

Consists of 

{edition-type} and 

{edition-id}

Publications

with a specified 

edition

“Editions” are identified using 

an {edition-type} followed by an 

{edition-id} consisting of Arabic 

numerals and/or alphabetic 

characters (do not represent 

numbers using Roman 

numerals)

{edition-type} values3

Edition: e

Revision: r or -

Version: ver

Examples:

e2019

r5

-4

ver2

{translation} Non-English 

publications

If the document is a translation 

into a language other than 

English, apply a three-letter ISO 

639-2 code4 enclosed in 

parentheses.

Examples:

French: (fre)

Japanese: (jpn)

Portuguese: (por)

Spanish: (spa)

{update} All updated 

publications

If a particular edition is updated, 

the original edition info will be 

followed by “/” and then “Upd” 

to indicate “Update.”5 Updated 

content is incorporated into the 

publication and not as a 

separate file.6

{update} values

Update: /Upd

{update number} All updated 

publications

Update numbers are indicated 

by sequential Arabic numerals, 

starting with “1.”

Examples:

1

2

{year} All updated 

publications

The update number is followed 

by “-” and the year of that 

update (yyyy).

Examples:

2020

2021

3 Historically, different edition types were indicated by either a dash (‘-’) or alphabetic character (e.g., ‘e’, ‘r’, or ‘ver’). Annual 

revisions of publications whose numbers utilized a '-' continue this practice to maintain numbering consistency. 4 See http://www.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/php/code_list.php. 5 Since a NIST Technical Series publication (“{update}”) is incorporated into the publication, the authors recommend identifying 

it using “Upd” instead of “Cor” or “Amd” to avoid confusion with how corrections and amendments are implemented by ISO/IEC. 6 Additional update types could be added in the future, if necessary.
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The proposed PubID syntax takes the following two forms:

As shown in Table 1, the {part} element consists of {part-type} and/or {part-id}. Similarly, 

{edition} consists of {edition-type} and {edition-id}.

Typical document:

{series}({stage}) {report number}{part}{edition}({translation})

Updated document:

{series}({stage}) {report number}{part}{edition}({translation})/{update}{update number}-{update year}
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3.3 PubID Examples 

Table 3 shows examples of how this PubID syntax could be applied to some existing publications.

Table 3: Example Implementations of the Proposed NIST Technical Series publications PubID Syntax

{series} {stage}

representation

{report 

number}

{part}

rep.

{edition}

rep.

{translation}

rep.

{update}

rep.

{update 

number}

{update 

year}

PubID

(with link to document details)

NIST SP Final 800-40 - Revision 3

r3

- - - - NIST SP 800-40r3

Details

NIST SP Final 800-45 - Version 2

ver2

- - - - NIST SP 800-45ver2

Details

NIST SP Second Public 

Draft

2PD

800-188 - - - - - - NIST SP(2PD) 800-188

Details

NIST SP Initial Public 

Draft

IPD

800-53 - Revision 5

r5

- - - - NIST SP(IPD) 800-53r5

Details

NIST SP Final 800-53 - Revision 4

r4

- Update

Upd

3 2015 NIST SP 800-53r4/Upd3-20157

Details

NIST SP Final 800-53 Volume A

A

Revision 4

r4

- Update

Upd

1 2014 NIST SP 800-53Ar4/Upd1-20148

Details

NIST SP Final 800-60 Volume 1

v1

Revision 1

r1

- - - - NIST SP 800-60v1r1

Details

NIST SP Final 800-57 Part 1

pt1

Revision 4

r4

- - - - NIST SP 800-57pt1r4

Details

NIST SP Final 800-73 Revision 4

-4

- Update

Upd

1 2016 NIST SP 800-73-4/Upd1-20169

Details

NIST SP Initial Public 800-85 Volume B Revision 4 - - - - NIST SP(IPD) 800-85B-4

7 See Appendix A for a discussion of this example in greater detail. 8 This report number incorporates a part (“A”). 9 This report number incorporates an edition number (“4”).
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{series} {stage}

representation

{report 

number}

{part}

rep.

{edition}

rep.

{translation}

rep.

{update}

rep.

{update 

number}

{update 

year}

PubID

(with link to document details)

Draft

IPD

B -4

NIST SP Second Public 

Draft

2PD

1800-13 Volume B

B

- - - - - NIST SP(2PD) 1800-13B

Details

NIST SP Preliminary 

Draft

PRD

1800-19 Volume B

B

- - - - - NIST SP(PRD) 1800-19B

Details

NIST IR Final 8011 Volume 3

v3

- - - - - NIST IR 8011v3

Details

NIST IR Final 8204 - - - Update

Upd

1 2019 NIST IR 8204/Upd1-2019

Details

NIST IR Final 8115 - - Spanish

(spa)

- - - NIST IR 8115(spa)

Details

NIST HB Final 130 - 2019 ed.

e2019

- - - - NIST HB 130e2019

Details

NIST SP Final 1041 - Revision 1

r1

- Update

Upd

1 2013 NIST SP 1041r1/Upd1-2013

Details

NIST NCSTAR Final 1-1C Volume 1

v1

- - - - - NIST NCSTAR 1-1Cv1

Details
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4 Next Steps

1. [Completed] Circulate among Computer Security Division and Applied Cybersecurity 

Division (CSD/ACD) Management, NIST Library Management, CSD/ACD

representatives to ISO and Internet Engineering Task Force (“ IETF”), NIST Standards 

Coordination Office representative, and NIST ERB Chair.

2. [Completed] Update based on feedback.

3. [Completed] Review by NIST Leadership Board (NLB).

4. Solicit public comments from stakeholders.

5. Update based on public feedback.

6. Implementation:

o Advertise and implement for all new NIST Technical Series publications; start 

use of PubID on title page and metadata.

o Note: CSD and ACD will apply to title pages and metadata for all existing SP 800 

publications and cybersecurity NISTIRs.
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Appendix A—Example NIST Special Publication (Informative)

A.1 NIST Special Publication 800-53

One of the most downloaded of NIST Special Publications is SP 800-53, Security and Privacy 

Controls for Federal Information Systems and Organizations. A recent edition was Revision 4, 

which had three errata updates – including the latest from January 22, 2015. Figure 1 shows the 

title page, which includes the series (“NIST SP”), report number (“800-53”), edition (“Revision 

4”), edition date (“April 2013”), and update statement/date (“includes updates as of 01-22-

2015”).

To uniquely identify this publication, the following elements must be combined:

• Series

• Report Number

• Edition OR Edition Date

• Update statement OR Update date

Either “Revision 4” or “April 2013” could be used to identify the edition, but simply using the 

edition year, “2013,” might not be helpful since it is possible for different editions of an SP 800 

to be issued in the same calendar year. However, for decades, users and stakeholders of SP 800 

publications have typically identified different editions using “Revision” or “Rev” instead of the 

edition date.

Another uncertainty is whether the complete update statement “includes updates as of 01-22-

2015” should be used or simply the update date, “01-22-2015” or “January 22, 2015.”

A final observation about Figure 1 is that information must be pulled from three separate lines to 

uniquely identify this publication.

An author of a different information source who attempts to uniquely reference this document 

(800-53) could theoretically use various combinations of data from the title page, such as:

• NIST SP 800-53, Revision 4, includes updates as of 01-22-2015

• NIST SP 800-53 (April 2013), updated January 22, 2015

• NIST SP 800-53, Rev. 4, updated 01-22-2015

Alternatively, they could potentially not notice (or ignore) the update date and insufficiently refer 

to the document as “SP 800-53” or “SP 800-53, Revision 4.”
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Figure 1: SP 800-53 Title Page
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A.2 Applying the Proposed PubID Syntax

If the proposed syntax described in Section 3 was applied to this situation, it would result in the

following simple, unambiguous identifier:

NIST SP 800-53r4/Upd3-2015

This PubID could easily be included at the top of the page – possibly enclosed in a border to 

improve visual separation from the other text – while keeping other existing fields. Figure 2

shows what the top of the new page would look like:

Figure 2: SP 800-53 Title Page with PubID and Corresponding DOI

Additionally, the PubID could be added to the header or footer of all pages that follow.
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Appendix B—Publication Stages

B.1 Stages Defined in NIST PR 1502.01 

NIST Technical Series publications are non-periodical publications published by or for NIST and

intended for internal and public distribution. Descriptions of the Technical Series are provided on 

the Library’s webpage. A single NIST Technical Series publication may have multiple stages of 

publication, which may include:

1. Draft posted for public comment – A non-final version that is made available to the 

public for their input

2. Final publication – The final version that is made available to the public

3. Errata update – A new copy of the final publication with corrections made

(corrections made in an errata update may not alter existing requirements or introduce 

new technical requirements but rather are intended to remove ambiguity and improve 

interpretation of the work)

4. New revision/edition – A new version of the final publication with significant changes or 

updates (examples include updating data to change results, revising guidelines based on 

new information, citing new studies, revising content based on reader feedback, etc.)

For more details, see NIST Procedure PR 1502.01, Publishing Multiple Versions of NIST 

Technical Series Publications.

B.2 Stages Used by NIST’s Computer Security Division and Applied Cybersecurity 

Division (Informative)

NIST’s Computer Security Division and Applied Cybersecurity Division use the following 

stages in their publication development process. Not every publication goes through every stage. 

Some are published only as “final” publications, but the vast majority are first issued as an Initial 

Public Draft (typically just referred to as a “Public Draft”) and then a Final publication.

The National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence has been experimenting with a new agile 

publication development process for some of their multi-volume SP 1800 series documents, and 

they created the “Work-in-Progress” and “Preliminary Draft” stages to support this effort. These 

are more informal draft stages during early development that precede the release of any full, 

traditional public draft (IPD) for public comment. These stages are not prescriptive and may or 

may not be used by other divisions and OUs at NIST.

Work-in-Progress Draft (WD)

A work-in-progress draft indicates that the document is currently under development. This draft 

is not yet complete, and organizations should not attempt to implement it. The content is in an 

early stage of development – rough, incomplete, and experimental. It has not been extensively 

edited or vetted. This provides an insider view of the development of the content and gives NIST 

an opportunity to share early thoughts, ideas, and approaches with the community. NIST 

welcomes early informal feedback and comments, which will be adjudicated after the specified 
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public comment period. 

There will be one or more versions of the content before it is graduated to a preliminary draft 

status. The content will be hosted on csrc.nist.gov or nccoe.nist.gov, and it will be labeled as 

“work-in-progress draft” with a unique version number.

Preliminary Draft (PRD)

After the comments of a work-in-progress draft have been collected and adjudicated, a 

preliminary draft is produced. It is more cohesive and composed of a complete, logical grouping 

of sections or a volume. The content is considered to be stable, but changes are expected to 

occur. There are gaps in the content, and the overall document is still incomplete. NIST 

welcomes early informal feedback and comments, which will be adjudicated after the specified 

public comment period. Organizations may consider experimenting with guidelines with the 

understanding that they will identify gaps and challenges. 

There will be one more version of the content before it is graduated to a draft status. The content 

will be hosted on csrc.nist.gov or nccoe.nist.gov, and it will be labeled as “preliminary draft” 

with a unique version number.

Initial Public Draft (IPD)

The IPD is commonly referred to as “Public Draft.” In order to solicit public feedback on a 

document, an IPD is posted on a NIST website for a specific comment period, and reviewers 

may submit comments (e.g., technical and editorial) to NIST via email. For NISTIRs and SP 

800s, the comment period is typically 30, 45, or 60 days; FIPS comment periods are typically 90 

days or longer. Authors review all comments received, make appropriate changes to the 

document, and determine whether the next publication stage should be a 2nd Public Draft (2PD) 

or – more commonly – a Final publication.

2nd [3rd, etc.] Public Draft (2PD)

If NIST feels that changes to an IPD warrant additional review and comment, a subsequent 

comment period may occur, which is typically shorter than the IPD comment period.

Final Public Draft (FPD)

Certain publications may – by default – have an IPD, an FPD, and zero, one, or more public 

drafts in-between. The FPD provides one last public comment period and may be especially 

important for publications that significantly impact stakeholders. An FPD stage is typically 

planned from the beginning of the publication development process. The comment period is 

typically shorter than any other comment period.

Final Publication

A Final publication has been reviewed and approved by ERB and is published by the NIST 

Library.