Committee on Publications Charge

General Description

• Committee is standing.
  
• Number of members is approximately thirteen.
  
• The members shall consist of three Council members (chosen from the Vice Presidents and Members at Large), a member of the Editorial Boards Committee, a member of the Board of Trustees, the President, the Secretary, the Executive Director, the Publisher, and 4-6 at-large members. The Executive Director is a non-voting member.
  
• Term is three years.

Principal Activities

The primary responsibility of the Committee on Publications (CPub) is to keep itself informed on matters of scholarly publishing and the AMS publishing program, including books, research journals, and member publications (Bulletin, Notices, and Abstracts). The main focus should be on matters of policy. When appropriate, the committee should recommend to Council changes in policy or other actions that might support and improve the AMS publication program and scholarly publishing more generally. Since policy recommendations formulated by CPub may require commitments of staff and other resources, CPub shall also recommend priorities for actions to the Council and the Board of Trustees.

CPub also has the responsibility for high-level oversight of the Society's publications and will review all aspects of the publication program on a continuing basis, reporting its findings to the Council along with possible recommendations. The committee will conduct detailed periodic reviews of certain activities in a four year cycle, as follows:

• [Year 1:] Primary journals (JAMS, PAMS, TAMS, Math of Comp)
• [Year 2:] All other journals
• [Year 3:] AMS book program
• [Year 4:] Member Journals (Bulletin, Notices, Abstracts)

The primary responsibility for Mathematical Reviews (MR) remains with the MR Editorial Committee. In the course of its work, however, CPub may occasionally find it expedient to consider matters that involve MR in a secondary way. In particular, the Committee should keep itself informed about the interplay of Mathematical Reviews and the rest of the Society's publications.

CPub should keep its attention fixed on long term policy questions, and the committee as a whole should not allow itself to be diverted from this goal by getting involved with day to day operational details of the Society's publication program.

Other Activities

Miscellaneous Information

The Committee does its work by mail, electronic mail, telephone and usually one face-to-face meeting a year.

Members are reimbursed for travel and incidental expenses that are not covered from some other source for attending these meetings. Normal expenses such as telephone and postage are also reimbursed by the Society.

An explanation of travel expense reimbursement of volunteers for this committee is attached. This committee has been designated at LEVEL B.

Note to the Chair

Committee chairs should be informed, at the beginning of each fiscal period, the budget of their committees and cautioned to remain within the budget. Such items as travel reimbursement to, accommodations for, and meals for guests of any kind fall within these budgets.

Work done by committees on recurring problems may have value as precedent or work done may have historical interest. Because of this, the Council has requested that a central file system be maintained for the Society by the Secretary. Committees are reminded that a copy of every sheet of paper should be deposited (say once a year) in this central file. Confidential material should be noted, so that it can be handled in a confidential manner.

Authorization

Created by the 12 January 1993 Council
Revised by the 09 April 1994 Council
Revised by the 07 January 1997 Council
Revised by the 11 January 2006 Council