The JACoW Collaboration Charter v2.0 (20150507)

Introduction

JACoW, The Joint Accelerator Conferences Website, is a website for the publication of proceedings of conferences in the field of accelerator science and technology.

JACoW is also an international Collaboration dedicated to the electronic publication of the proceedings of conference series, members of the Collaboration, which pledge to adhere to JACoW policies and requirements for publication.

Proceedings and all related documentation are published at JACoW.org.

The JACoW Collaboration

The JACoW community is composed of Stakeholders, who are

1. members of the accelerator community at large, and in particular representatives of laboratories and institutes working in the field of accelerator science and technology, invited or volunteering to participate in JACoW business, with no restriction as to number or mandate;
2. representatives of the JACoW Collaboration conferences:
   1. ) Conference Editors, past, current and future, in each of the conference series, nominated by each Conference Chair, with a changeover once the “current” conference has taken place;
   2. ) the Scientific Programme Committee Chairs, past, current and future, in each series, members of the Collaboration, again with a changeover once the “current” conference has taken place.
3. Individuals, who may be former editors, or other persons with competences required for the ultimate goal of prompt and professional electronic publication.

JACoW Organisation

JACoW Team

The JACoW Team is composed of JACoW editors and other experts, as defined in The JACoW Collaboration above (IIa) and III). Experts, as defined under III are invited by the Board of Directors. Members of the Board of Directors are automatically members of the Team.

Board of Directors

A Board of Directors is elected from among the Team. The Board of Directors is composed of a Chair, a Deputy Chair, a Coordinator and two further Directors (see under Elections and Voting). All Board members have a vote and decisions are reached by simple majority of the votes cast.

The Board may appoint a further three people, not necessarily Team Members, to the Board.

The three regions (Americas, Asia-Pacific and EMEA) must be represented on the Board.

JACoW Officers

JACoW Officers are persons carrying out a recognized role. The list of JACoW Officers is defined by the Team and must include a Chair, a Deputy Chair and a Coordinator. Further roles are for example Repository Manager, Website Manager, JACoW.org Webmaster, SPMS Support and Development Manager, etc. The Team decides the roles needed for the business of the Collaboration. The list of all official roles is published at the JACoW.org site.

Membership of the Collaboration

Applications to join the JACoW Collaboration are submitted to, and decided by, the Board of Directors. All Collaborating Conferences pledge to publish the proceedings of at least three consecutive conferences, and to respect JACoW policies and requirements for publishing on JACoW (see the JACoW.org site). They pledge in particular to send each Conference Editor in the series, or a Designated Representative, to the annual JACoW Team Meetings which provide training in electronic publication techniques and in the use of JACoW tools.

Any changes to the basic requirements are communicated to the representatives of the conference series, i.e. the past, current and future SPC Chairs.

Elections and Voting

The current JACoW Chair nominates an Election Coordinator.

The JACoW Team elects the Chair, Deputy Chair, Coordinator and two further Directors by a simple majority of votes cast in a secret ballot, usually during JACoW annual Team Meetings. An electronic vote, when approved by the Board, may be organized in exceptional circumstances. Board member mandates are for up to three years, for a maximum of two consecutive mandates (6 years consecutive, but they may serve for a further period of up to 6 consecutive years following a one year break). To guarantee continuity, members of the Board of Directors are elected in rotation through the years, not all at once.

Team members nominate candidates for election. The Election Coordinator confirms that the nominees are able and willing to serve in the position for which they have been nominated.

Each Team Member or Designated Conference Representative, may cast one vote only, regardless of the role and of the number of conferences he or she represents. Each conference thus has the right to express one vote only, through its Editor (Team Member) or Designated Representative. Team Members and Officers who are not Editors or Designated Representatives can also express one vote each.

Modus Operandi

It is the responsibility of the Editor or Editorial Board of each conference, or a person designated by Scientific Programme Committee Chair of each conference, to prepare a set of proceedings which complies with JACoW requirements, and to deliver them to the JACoW Webmaster.

The existence of the JACoW site does not detract from the rights of individual conference organisers to publish their proceedings on other web sites, storage media or hard copies of their choice.

The Board of Directors is the decision making body and it manages the collaboration. The Board of Directors reviews the aims and objectives of the Collaboration at least once per year. The role of the Directors is to participate in the decision making and management of the JACoW Collaboration and they bring expertise and issues to the Board.

The Team meets at least once per year to review technical matters and to discuss administrative and operational aspects of the Collaboration. All conference representatives are invited to Team Meetings, including all those in charge of strategic roles such as, but not limited to, IT management, exhibition or registration management, etc. Technical issues may be discussed in separate/break out meetings.

Reporting

The collaboration will report annually to the Stakeholders at an open meeting. The Chair presents a report on the Collaboration’s activities during the year and the Stakeholders can raise issues if they wish. Institutes are invited to nominate their JACoW representatives, and this person receives information and an invitation to the annual Stakeholders meeting.

Sanctions

In cases of non-respect of JACoW policies and requirements, the Board of Directors may decide to withdraw from publication or prevent publication of the proceedings of a conference series if a conference fails to meet its obligations.