Last week Ann M. Brach, Ph.D., P.E., Director of Technical Activities at the Transportation Research Board, told chairs of technical committees about some important changes related to TRB's paper submission and review process for the 2018 TRB Annual Meeting.  

 

If you've ever authored a TRB paper the big news is that for 2018, if you submit a paper you will no longer be able to opt out of including that paper in the AMOnline database, the portal that has come to replace the Compendium of Papers, which was produced as a CD, DVD or thumb drive given to conference attendees from 1998-2016.


Until now, authors were allowed to submit a paper to the Annual Conference and given the choice to decline inclusion of that paper in the AMOnline database. If you're a researcher keen to submit a paper take a close look at TRB's "Requirements for Submitting Papers" documentation, but be advised that by consenting to TRB's new requirement for the paper to be included in the database could disqualify that paper from publication in other journals. 

 

Authors who submit papers for presentation will no longer be able to opt out of including their accepted papers in AM On Line. Approximately 20% of the authors who submit for presentation do not allow us to include their accepted paper in Annual Meeting On Line. We have received a number of complaints from Annual Meeting registrants and from sponsors that they are not finding papers from Annual Meeting sessions in AM OnLine, papers which are promised as part of the benefit they receive from registration and/or sponsorship. — Ann M. Brach, Ph.D., P.E., Director of Technical Activities


Those in the world of libraries and information may be asking how this might affect collections and access? The simple answer is that according to Ann Brach, Director of Technical Activities, the Compendium will no longer be produced, which means no more CDs/DVDs for a library's archival collections. See Dr. Brach's  

Subject: TRB changes related to papers

I want to give you advance notice about a few changes to paper submission and review that will go into effect when the paper submission site opens tomorrow in preparation for the 2018 Annual Meeting:

  • The instructions for Authors, Reviewers, Review Coordinators, and Event Planners has been reviewed and revised to clean up material that has accrued over time, eliminate duplication, clarify policy, include volunteer suggestions, and generally try to tighten up the language and make it more professional.
  • The Compendium of Papers will no longer be produced. As you know, the Compendium is a subset of the material that is contained in Annual Meeting On Line. AM On Line includes papers accepted for presentation as well as powerpoints and poster materials. The Compendium contained only the papers accepted for presentation but in a static downloadable file. This duplication of material costs tens of thousands of dollars. The result of this decision is that Annual Meeting registrants and TRB sponsors will continue to have access to all the content they have previously had access to, only not in the particular format of the Compendium.
  • The review criterion related to the quality of writing has been reworded to emphasize that a paper must be written well enough to be readily understood and that poor English grammar is sufficient grounds for rejection of the paper. This revision is the result of recommendations from the TRR Review Advisory Board and concerns expressed by a number of reviewers about the poor writing quality of many papers. In addition, Neil has been asking us to be stricter about this issue because poorly written papers require an inordinate amount of time from editors, which adds to the cost of the TRR and the time it takes to get papers published.
  • Authors who submit papers for presentation will no longer be able to opt out of including their accepted papers in AM On Line. Approximately 20% of the authors who submit for presentation do not allow us to include their accepted paper in Annual Meeting On Line. We have received a number of complaints from Annual Meeting registrants and from sponsors that they are not finding papers from Annual Meeting sessions in AM OnLine, papers which are promised as part of the benefit they receive from registration and/or sponsorship.

Thanks.

Ann

Ann M. Brach, Ph.D., P.E.
Director, Technical Activities
Transportation Research Board
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

 

If you're a library patron, you don't have to sweat the details. We can always find and deliver any TRB paper you request. Just submit your request using this handy Document Delivery Request Form.

 

Of course, since VDOT is a TRB sponsor all employees have free online access to recent TRB papers through AMOnline.  We've even created this step-by-step guide to help you get started.
 

Will the result of these changes affect the quality or quantity of submissions? Only time will tell.

 

But for now one thing hasn't changed: If you plan to submit a paper for next year's conference you better get started. The 2018 submission deadline is August 1.


As always, the VDOT Research Library is here to help!

Ken Winter
VDOT Research Library
434-962-8979