Subject: [Tsvwg] Fwd: IESG Statement: Normative and Informative References

From: "James M. Polk" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 19 Apr 2006 11:57:57 -0500

TSVWG Authors/Editors

A few words of guidance from the IESG Secretary about references in all IDs 
wanting to become RFCs (in case you missed this on the IETF announce list).

>From: IESG Secretary <[email-masked]>
>Date: Wed, 19 Apr 2006 09:50:00 -0400
>Subject: IESG Statement: Normative and Informative References
>
>Normative and Informative References
>
>Nearly all RFCs contain citations to other documents, and these are
>listed in a References section near the end of the RFC. There are many
>styles for references, and the RFCs have one of their own. Please
>follow the reference style used in recent RFCs. Please note that for
>documents that have been assigned an STD or BCP number, the number must
>be included in the reference.
>
>Within an RFC, references to other documents fall into two general
>categories: "normative" and "informative". Normative references specify
>documents that must be read to understand or implement the technology
>in the new RFC, or whose technology must be present for the technology
>in the new RFC to work. An informative reference is not normative;
>rather, it only provides additional information. For example, an
>informative reference might provide background or historical
>information. Informative references are not required to implement the
>technology in the RFC.
>
>Note 1: Even references that are relevant only for optional features
>must be classified as normative if they meet the above conditions for
>normative references.
>
>Note 2: It is not considered necessary to cite basic specifications
>that may be safely assumed to be known to practitioners (for example,
>RFC 791 need not be cited in every specification that mentions IPv4).
>
>Note 3: The normative/informative distinction is relevant in
>any document that amounts to a technical specification, even
>if its intended status is Experimental or Informational.
>
>Note 4: Normative references in RFCs cannot be to "work in progress"
>documents such as Internet Drafts. Drafts with such references will
>not be published as RFCs until the references are also published.
>
>The distinction between normative and informative references is often
>important. The IETF standards process according to RFC 2026 and RFC 3967,
>and the RFC Editor publication process, both need to know whether a
>reference to a work in progress is normative. An RFC cannot be published
>until all of the documents that it lists as normative references have been
>published. In practice, this often results in the simultaneous publication
>of a group of interrelated RFCs.
>
>For these reasons, the IESG and the RFC Editor have established
>guidelines that will request separate reference lists for normative
>and informative references in Internet Drafts and RFCs. For example,
>if both types are present, there would be two reference subsections,
>numbered s.1 and s.2 for example:
>
>s.1. Normative References
>
>xxx
>...
>xxx
>
>s.2. Informative References
>
>xxx
>...
>xxx
>
>Of course, if there is only one type of reference, only one
>section is needed.
>
>The IESG
>
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