Standards Documents Policy

Identification of Need

The need for a Standards Documents to be developed by ISHLT may be brought to the POC by one of the following:

• A member of the Publications Oversight Committee
• The Chair of the Education Oversight Committee
• The Chair of the Research Oversight Committee
• The Chair of an Interdisciplinary Network Steering Committee
• The Chair of the Standards and Guidelines Committee
• The Chair of the Leadership Advisory Forum
• The Chair of the Early Career and Trainee Committee
• An elected representative of one of the Professional Communities

The identification of need for a Standards Documents must include the following information:

• The topic which the Standard will address
• The nature of the Standard (training, competency, nomenclature, etc.)
• A summary of the need for the Standard
• The Professional Communities and/or Interdisciplinary Networks for which the Standards should be developed
• The relevance of the issue from a national or international perspective (national relevance is the minimum expected; international relevance is strongly preferred)
• A list of existing Standards promulgated by other organizations on the same or a closely related topic
• A list of Standards under development by other organizations on the same or a closely related topic
• A summary of why these existing Standards are not sufficient

The Publications Oversight Committee (POC) and the Education Oversight Committee (EOC) will jointly review and assess the identification of need document and, if it is determined that the need is warranted, will make a recommendation to the ISHLT Board (or Executive Committee) for the development of the proposed Standard.

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Writing and Approval

Once approved by the Board (such approval must include details regarding diversity expectations among the content developers), the Education Oversight Committee (EOC) will lead the content development process.

The EOC may develop specific policies regarding the content, structure, and format of Standards Documents. These policies will be attached as Appendices to this document and must be adhered to.

Unless otherwise specified in the specific content policies developed by the EOC, the selection of content developers, the collection of COI disclosures, and the development and approval of the content shall proceed in accordance with the processes in place for S&G document development, modified as follows:

1. The responsibilities of the Interdisciplinary Network (IDN) Steering Committees may be handled by the elected leaders of the Professional Communities or by the EOC, as appropriate
2. The responsibilities of the Standards and Guidelines (S&G) Committee will be handled by the EOC
3. The Peer Review process may be replaced by a more robust Expert Review process, as appropriate
4. The need for disciplinary and geographic diversity among the content developers will be dependent upon the issue at hand, the relevant audience, and the scope of the Standard.

EOC, Publications Oversight Committee (POC), and Board approval of the final Standards are required.

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Publication

Publication options for Standards Documents include publication in the JHLT, on the ISHLT website, and publication/presentation in other forums as appropriate. Details and decisions regarding publication/presentation are to be agreed upon by the Education Oversight Committee (EOC), Publications Oversight Committee (POC), Board of Directors, and JHLT Editor at the time of approval of the final document.

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Assessment of Ongoing Relevance

Staff will engage the Education Oversight Committee (EOC) in a review of the relevance of the Society’s existing Standards Documents no less than every five (5 years). Standards Documents identified as in need up updating will be presented to the Publications Oversight Committee (POC) via the above Identification of Need process. Standards Documents identified by the EOC and POC as no longer relevant or valid will be removed from the ISHLT website.

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