Request for Volunteers – Citation of Standards and Best Practices in HFES Publications

Request for Volunteers – Citation of Standards and Best Practices in HFES Publications:

Use Provided Resources to Find Standards / Best Practices for Two Articles

Paul Green
pagreen@umich.com

University of Michigan

HFES Standards Implementation Task Force Leader

Many times over the years, HFES members have told the HFES Executive Council, both directly and in surveys, that connecting the research in HFES publications with practice is a struggle. There are many ways this translation, a strategic goal, could be accomplished, and one of them is require that HFES publications cite relevant standards, best practices, etc. 

This citation requirement only make sense if relevant standards and best practices can be found.  Therefore:

Given the educational resources to be provided, can candidate authors of HFES publications (and reviewers of them) finds standards /best practices / etc. relevant to an article they are writing (or could write or review)?

Step 1:  Examine the educational resources that are available to help people find standards.

My suggestion is that each volunteer look at the standards 101 report (see the link in category a) and then look at the paper on ISO standards (in category b) to start.  Examine other resources that fit your interests.  Work is in progress to get all of the materials listed on the HFES Learning Resource Center Web Site.

1. General information on getting started report, and PowerPoint slides educators and others could use (https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1xL1p2pPN3HKQdPDOI45Gll_Rtxh1Ecre?usp=sharing)
2. Papers in the HFES Annual Meeting Proceedings about standards

Desaulniers, D. R., & Fleger, S. (2019, November). IEEE Human Factors Standards for Nuclear Facilities: The Development Process, Available Standards, Current Activities, and the Future. In Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, 587-591.

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1071181319631374

Follette Story, M. (2019, November). Medical device human factors standards: finding them and what they contain. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting , 592-596.

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1071181319631375

Green, P. (2019). SAE Automotive Human Factors Standards: Finding Them and What They Contain, Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 582-586.
https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1071181319631373

Green, P. (2020). ISO Human-Computer Interaction Standards: Finding Them and What They Contain, Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 400-404.
https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1071181320641090

Or

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1071181320641090

O’Hara, J., & Fleger, S. (2020, December). Use of HFE Guidance for the Review of Nuclear Power Plants. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, 1-5.

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1071181320641001

3. HFES Page on Standards:
   https://www.hfes.org/publications/technical-standards

4. Tutorial materials on standards (YouTube playlists):
   
   Human Factors & Automotive Standards:
   https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnnZ0I4R4ibN4YZcqdZ4dTd5eiwp8_je_
   
   Core & Newer SAE Vehicle Standards:
   https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnnZ0I4R4ibOPxaNnDyWHJP1Zta8q-wXA
   
   Human Factors / Ergonomics Standards:
   https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnnZ0I4R4ibOOHyL1pxjlyWjM2LJsBfJ7
   
   Selected ISO Human-Computer Interaction:
   https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnnZ0I4R4ibNKAgc7gTPW4DHA-PuPS-eS

Step 2.  Find the standards / best practices / etc. for 2 HFES papers.

To help answer the question presented in bold earlier, volunteers should select 2 articles from an HFES Publication (e.g., the Journal, the Proceedings).  One article should be on a topic that you would consider your focus in human factors (so for me, that would be driving, workload, and other topics) and one should be a topic which you know less about (for me, that would be macro ergonomics). 

For each article, using the resources provided and any knowledge you have, find the standards / best practices / etc.  that are relevant to each of the 2 articles you examined.  If this idea is approved, then these standards/ best practices would be cited in the body of future articles and appear in the reference list.  The references cited are likely to be different for each article. 

To emphasize the point, the term standards is being used broadly here to refer to standards from organizations such as ANSI, ASTM, ISO, and SAE, industry best practices, government regulations and guidelines, and so forth.  Furthermore, they could refer to definitions of terms used in the articles, methods for collecting or assessing data, specifications for how something should be designed, or many other connections.

Step 3.  Complete 1 row in the referenced Excel spreadsheet for each article.

Create your own spreadsheet resembling below.  Broadside is likely to be easier to use.  Adjust the column width as you see fit.  APA format is preferred references, but anything that is complete will be accepted.

Step 4.  Send the spreadsheet to me (PAGreen@umich.edu)

I will paste it into a master spreadsheet.  I thought about a Google doc, but there are editing issues, access limits for some companies, etc.

Closing Comments

Keep in mind that what happens next depends upon the response to this request.  If this idea goes forward, there could be a need for TG-specific resources on standards (e.g., a web site, a standards resource person) and a new subcommittee in the HFES Standards Division to provide backup support.  In addition, critical are concurrence of the affected journal and proceedings editorial boards, the HFES Executive Council, and a thorough discussion of where exceptions are needed.  Furthermore, if implemented, this is could to be done in stages to provide some feedback, for example, for a subset of TGs for papers submitted to the Annual Meeting.  At any stage, the decision could be to discontinue this effort because the benefit is too small, or the level of effort required exceeds benefit, or for some other reason. 

If you have any questions, please email me at pagreen@umich.com.