Editing Request for Comments (section)

===Standards Track===
{{Main article|Internet Standard#Internet Standards}}
Standards track documents are further divided into ''Proposed Standard'' and ''Internet Standard'' documents.<ref name="rfc6410">{{cite IETF |title=Reducing the Standards Track to Two Maturity Levels |rfc=6410 |last1=Housley |first1=Russell |last2=Crocker |first2=Dave |last3=Burger |first3=Eric |date=October 2011 |publisher=[[IETF]] }}</ref>

Only the IETF, represented by the [[Internet Engineering Steering Group]] (IESG), can approve [[standards-track]] RFCs.

If an RFC becomes an Internet Standard (STD), it is assigned an STD number but retains its RFC number. The definitive list of Internet Standards is the Official Internet Protocol Standards. Previously STD 1 used to maintain a snapshot of the list.<ref>{{cite ietf |rfc= 7100 |title=Retirement of the "Internet Official Protocol Standards" Summary Document}}</ref>

When an Internet Standard is updated, its STD number stays the same, now referring to a new RFC or set of RFCs. A given Internet Standard, STD ''n'', may be RFCs ''x'' and ''y'' at a given time, but later the same standard may be updated to be RFC ''z'' instead. For example, in 2007 {{IETF RFC|3700|link=no}} was an Internet Standard—STD 1—and in May 2008 it was replaced with {{IETF RFC|5000|link=no}}, so {{IETF RFC|3700|link=no}} changed to ''Historic'', {{IETF RFC|5000|link=no}} became an Internet Standard, and {{As of|2008|05|lc=on}} STD 1 is {{IETF RFC|5000|link=no}}. {{As of|2013|12|lc=on}} {{IETF RFC|5000|link=no}} is replaced by {{IETF RFC|7100|link=no}}, updating {{IETF RFC|2026|link=no}} to no longer use STD 1.

(Best Current Practices work in a similar fashion; BCP ''n'' refers to a certain RFC or set of RFCs, but which RFC or RFCs may change over time).