Procedure for the preparation of URSI Position Statements and White Papers

In between the triennial meetings of the URSI General Assembly, at which resolutions and recommendations can be agreed upon by Council, the need can arise for URSI to issue a public statement, sometimes in rather urgent circumstances. The procedure for developing such statements, as described below, guarantees the rapid production of such statements since in practice, timeliness is usually an important factor.

For a specific issue of radio science, a White Paper presents the scientific views and opinions of URSI, and the pros and cons on the issue, in a manner that is understandable by a much wider technical – and, hopefully, even non-technical – audience, outside of URSI. White Papers should be 30 pages of text or less, with a short (no more than three-page) executive summary.

1. An URSI Member Committee, an URSI Commission, an URSI Standing Committee, or the URSI Board of Officers may request the issuance of an URSI Position Statement on a particular issue within the scope of Radio Science as outlined in Article 1 of the URSI Statutes. Any of the same entities, along with individuals, may propose to the Board the development of a White Paper. Such requests must contain all relevant details in accordance with the assessment criteria described below.

2. When urgency is not a particular problem, the URSI Board of Officers will discuss issuing such a statement or developing such a White Paper at their subsequent meeting. If the Board judges the issuance of a statement to be urgent, the Secretariat will seek the opinion of the members of the URSI Board of Officers without waiting for the next meeting.

3. Where the issuance of an URSI Position Statement or the development of a White Paper is agreed to be necessary, the appropriate mechanism for preparing such a statement or White Paper is agreed between the URSI Secretariat and the URSI Board of Officers. This will involve interested URSI Commissions, and the merits of including other partner organizations will also be assessed.

4. Once a draft URSI Position Statement or White Paper has been prepared, the URSI Secretariat will forward this to the members of the Board of Officers and to the URSI Member Committees and Commissions for review.

5. All comments received by the URSI Secretariat will be either incorporated directly into the URSI Position Statement or White Paper if appropriate, or forwarded to the author(s) for consideration. The URSI Secretariat will act as a liaison throughout this process.

6. The final version of the URSI Position Statement or White Paper will be sent to the members of the URSI Board of Officers for approval.

7. The Position Statement or White paper will be dated and issued by the URSI Secretariat, and the following disclaimer will be attached:

“This URSI Position Statement [or White Paper] is the responsibility of the International Union of Radio Science (URSI). However, it does not necessarily reflect all the views of individual URSI Member Committees or Commissions.”

 

Criteria for deciding on whether an URSI Position Statement or White Paper is warranted

These criteria will be used by the URSI Board of Officers to decide whether an URSI Position Statement or White Paper is warranted and how it should be developed. The criteria should therefore be explicitly addressed in any request for URSI to develop a statement or paper.

1. Timeliness. Why is an URSI Position Statement or White Paper required now?

2. What is the target audience for this URSI Position Statement or White Paper, and what impact is it likely to have on this audience?

3. What other URSI Position Statements, URSI White Papers, URSI Recommendations, or URSI Resolutions already exist? Are there other international (and national) scientific consensus statements on this topic? Is it an area of “conflict?” What is the “added value” of this URSI Position Statement or White Paper?

4. Is it appropriate for URSI? Does URSI have the necessary expertise to produce a Position Statement or White Paper on this topic? Do other partners need to be included?

5. What is the proposed dissemination strategy, e.g. publication in the Radio Science Bulletin, posting on the URSI Web site, transmission to ICSU,…?

6. Is an URSI Position Statement or White Paper necessary? Does this topic justify an URSI Position Statement or White Paper?