This paper summarizes the quality-control methods that the author has used or seen used at five IBM locations that publish various documents. The methods are editing, lead-writer review, peer review, self-review, technical-owner review, reviews by people with special skills, testing, walkthroughs, design review, checklists, mechanical reviews, and user feedback. The author gives his opinions about the advantages and limitations of each method.

The copyright reform bill should become law in January, 1978. Among its major revisions are the extension of protection for life plus fifty years and the mitigation of penalties for either omission of notice or “innocent infringement.” For the first time the law specifically identifies “fair use” and certain other copying practices as user rights. The issues of integrity of text and the use of protected text within computer systems have not been treated. The law's text itself remains general in the hope that it will prove to be a flexible vehicle for the future. An era of informal agreements and litigation between publishers and users can be anticipated. Scientific and technical publishing must be recognized as a special area within the publishing community on the verge of change.

Although you write the proposal before, and the report after, you do the research, both require the application of principles that will demonstrate to the reader two skills needed by every investigator: clear thinking to produce worthwhile research, and clear writing to communicate the results of that research. Sharp delineation of the problem to be addressed, thoughtful preliminary preparation, careful outlining, and concentration on orderly sequence of ideas in the first draft will help produce a unified, coherent proposal. Critical revision, with emphasis on simple, direct, forceful language will enhance the persuasiveness of the proposal.