Project Submission & Review Rules
Clear, membership-based rules for submitting innovation and research projects to IAF for committee review, with oversight by the International Automotive Quality Council (IAQC) after membership is confirmed.
Purpose and scope of these rules
These rules define how Students & Innovators members submit Innovation & Research Projects for structured review within IAF. They cover eligibility, required documentation, review steps, decision outcomes, and how updates are handled after submission.
IAF is a membership-based federation and does not act as a government regulator. Any recognition or approval is available only after membership and only following committee review with IAQC oversight.
Submission and review requirements
Use the requirements below to prepare a complete submission, reduce back-and-forth, and ensure the project can be evaluated consistently across technical, quality, and integrity dimensions.
Eligibility and submission readiness
Submissions must be made by an active Students & Innovators member (or an authorized project lead) and relate to an innovation or research output with a defined objective, scope, and evidence base. Projects should be stable enough for review (e.g., documented methods, results, and limitations), not only an idea statement.
Required documentation package
Provide a project summary, technical description, test or validation evidence (as applicable), data provenance notes, version history, and a clear statement of claims and boundaries. Include references, contributor roles, and any third-party materials with usage permissions where relevant.
Review criteria and outcomes
Committees assess clarity of scope, methodological soundness, traceability of evidence, risk and limitations, and alignment with quality and integrity expectations. Outcomes may include: request for clarification, conditional acceptance pending revisions, or non-acceptance with documented reasons and resubmission guidance.
Change control, resubmissions, and visibility
After submission, material changes should be tracked through versioning and a change log. Resubmissions should clearly address reviewer comments and identify what changed. If a project is recognized after review, any visibility or listing follows defined IAQC-aligned rules for how outputs are described and updated over time.
Practical steps for a complete submission
Before submitting, confirm membership status, identify the responsible project lead, and ensure all contributors are recorded with their roles. Prepare a concise executive summary, then attach the supporting technical materials and evidence. Where data or results are sensitive, provide a controlled-access summary and explain constraints on sharing.
During review, respond to committee questions with traceable references to your documentation (section numbers, dataset identifiers, test reports, or revision notes). If the committee requests revisions, submit a revised package with a clear response-to-comments table so reviewers can verify changes efficiently.
How review decisions connect to IAF governance
Project reviews are conducted through relevant IAF committees using documented criteria and recorded decision notes. Any recognition or approval is considered only after membership and is subject to committee review with IAQC oversight, supporting consistent application of quality and integrity expectations across Students & Innovators submissions.
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