Proceedings or transactions?

J.R. Pierce, Editor of the Proceedings suggested that certain views regarding publications in the Transactions or Proceedings presented to the membership. It is felt best to present these ideas for comment as prepared i by him in their original form. Questions frequently arise-in Editorial Board discussions and among the reviewers of PROCEEDINGS papers-as to what should be published in the PROCEEDINGS OF THE IRE and what should be published in the various TRANSACTIONS. This statement will not settle the matter, but it does clarify the present situation and speculate about future possibilities. It, is not easy to lay down rules which will cover all papers. There is certainly a place in the PROCEEDINGS for review papers which summarize recent progress in a field, and for tutorial papers which teach new concepts and techniques of analysis. The PROCEEDINGS asks experts to write such papers. A paper may describe an important new invention or device. If this device has considerable present or potential importance, and if it has real novelty, the membership of the IRE should know about it promptly in a paper of length adequate to explain it clearly. Perhaps the author will want to treat at length many important details which are of interest largely to specialists; he should do so in the TRANSACTIONS. In all cases, we should ask, "Should people outside a particular Professional Group be told about the contents of the paper? Why should they be told? How much should they be told to make the telling a real technical communication and not a news note?"