The following Request For Comments documents describe the Usenet.
- RFC 822; Standard for the format of ARPA Internet text messages; D. Crocker; 13 Aug 1982.
- RFC 850; Standard for Interchange of USENET Messages; Mark Horton; June 1983.
- RFC 977; Network News Transfer Protocol; B. Kantor, P. Lapsley; 1 Feb 1986.
- RFC 1036; Standard for Interchance of USENET Messages; Mark Horton, R. Adams; December 1987.
- RFC 1123; Requirements for Internet hosts – application and support; R.T. Braden; 1 Oct 1989.
- RFC 1153; Digest message format; F.J. Wancho; 1 Apr 1990.
- RFC 2076; Common Internet Message Headers; J. Palme; February 1997.