NWA DIGEST INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTHORS

The National Weather Association's National Weather Digest is a professional publication for association members and others interested in operational meteorology and related activities to share their experiences, procedures, ideas, research, technical studies, news and announcements. The National Weather Digest contains two types of operationally oriented, technical papers. One, called "Articles", will be fully refereed. The other, called "Technical Notes", will be devoted to subjects not fully investigated, verified or perfected, but which hold promise for the future or for more widespread applications. "Technical Note" submissions will go through an editing and short review process to ensure the premise is sound and the text and figures are suitable for publication.

Authors should send completed manuscripts of articles, technical notes and related correspondence to Chief Editor: Gary Ellrod, P.O. Box 240, Granby, CT 06035-0240; e-mail: gary.ellrod@gmail.com. Mr. Ellrod shares editor duties with Michael Vescio, Meteorologist-In-Charge of the NOAA/NWS Forecast Office in Pendleton Oregon.

Advertisements and Information for the News and Announcements Sections should be sent to: NWA Publications, 228 West Millbrook Road, Raleigh, North Carolina 27609-4304; Tel/Fax: 919-845-1546; e-mail: exdir@nwas.org.

Note: Authors interested in submitting papers to the NWA Electronic Journal of Operational Meteorology should refer to instructions contained at web link ( http://www.nwas.org/ej/e-j.php).

All manuscript submissions should include a CD containing the text file, a file of the figures, and the corresponding author’s email and mailing addresses. Also, one hardcopy of the text and figures need to be submitted with the CD. The manuscript should be typed double-spaced and printed on one side of the page only with margins at least one-inch wide. MS-Word is the preferred word processing format and “Times New Roman” (12) is the preferred font type and size unless otherwise noted. Manuscripts for articles and technical notes should consist of: title page, abstract, text, acknowledgments, author(s) page, references, figure captions, figures, tables and if necessary, appendices. Every page of the manuscript should be numbered consecutively beginning with the title page.

The Title page should list: the title of the paper (all CAPITAL letters, 14 font, BOLD); the author(s) (12 font, bold) and professional affiliation(s), including city and state; and the month and year of submission. The corresponding author’s contact information (name, affiliation, mailing and email addresses) should be included as a footnote at the bottom of the page. Only persons who contributed significantly to the research and paper preparation should be listed as authors. Other contributors should be mentioned in the Acknowledgments section.

The Abstract should be a short summary of the important information in the article or technical note such as: purpose, methodology, results and conclusions. The abstract is in italics.

The Text should begin on the next page after the abstract, and should be subdivided into logical sections beginning with the Introduction. Each section should be numbered consecutively and have a section heading, such as:

1.Introduction
2. Data Analysis
a. Surface data available
1) Automated surface observing systems
2) Mesonet data
b. Upper-air data analysis
1) Sources of data
2) NWP models used

Figures must be cited in the text in numerical sequence using the form Fig. #. Figures should be provided in .tif, .eps, .psd or in high resolution .pdf or .jpg format. Figures embedded within Word documents can not be used. All characters, labeling and lines (including map backgrounds) must be dark and detailed enough to promote readability especially when reproduced and possibly reduced in final layout. The final layout will typically have figure sizes that conform to either column width, page width or full-page size (sideways). If necessary, authors can advise of any preferred figure size and/or layout.

Figure Captions must be listed sequentially on a separate page(s) to aid in final printing and layout of article. Authors may also include the captions below figures to aid reviewers. The caption should briefly describe the figure and draw attention to the key features discussed in the text.

Tables must be cited in the text in numerical sequence using the form Table #. Each table must have a title and at least two columns and two rows of data/information. See previous National Weather Digests for examples.

All mathematical equations should be numbered consecutively with the equation number placed in parentheses to the far right of the equation.

Acknowledgments, Author(s), References and Appendices are section headings that are not numbered.

Acknowledgments recognize contributions by colleagues and agencies in the areas of manuscript preparation and review, research assistance, literature searches, sources of data and financial assistance.

The Author(s) page should provide a brief professional biography of each author, such as: current position, primary responsibilities and interests, experiences, training and education. Educational degrees should include the name of the college or university and year obtained.

References are listed to enable the readers to locate cited papers and learn more about the subject. Authors should peruse current and background literature relating to their studies and cite publications that are pertinent to the current manuscript and provide the reader with necessary background information. References should be listed in alphabetical order of the last name of the primary author. All entries in the reference list should be cited in the text, and all reference citations in the text should have an appropriate entry in the reference list.

Refer to http://www.nwas.org/digest/ref_instructions.php for detailed reference guidelines.

Units of Measure used in operational meteorology in the United States are recommended. For examples: wind speed in knots (kt), meters per second (m s-1) or statute miles per hour (mph); pressure in millibars (mb); surface temperature and dewpoint in degrees Fahrenheit (F); distance in statute miles (mi), nautical miles (n mi) or kilometers (km); precipitation amounts in inches (in.) and upper-air temperatures and dewpoints in degrees Celsius (C). The International System of Units may also be used. For ratios, negative exponents are preferred (e.g., m s-1 rather than m/s). Papers that concern aviation applications may use English units (deg F, inches of mercury, ft) as they are the standard used in that industry, with conversion to International units provided if desired.

Date/Time Groups should be in Universal Coordinated Time (UTC) rather than Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) or Zulu (Z). The use of 24-hour local time (such as 1900 LST) is also acceptable. When denoting a complete date/time group, the hour-day-month-year should be in ascending order with the month spelled out, such as 1200 UTC 25 December 1999.

Abbreviations and Acronyms should always be identified/defined when they are first used, except for commonly used units such as UTC, mb and in. Proper names of people, days of the week, months, cities, counties, provinces, states and countries should always be spelled out fully in the text.

Manuscripts submitted for publication will be reviewed by an editor and at least two associate editors to ensure the article is appropriate for the objectives of the National Weather Association and the Digest. Reviewers will also check that statements made and interpretation of data are correct and supported by analysis and/or references, and written in a style that is understandable to the majority of readers. Authors should strive to present a concise, accurate report with a clear, focused discussion of the importance of the results to operational meteorology or related activities. The authors will receive written reviews to use in finalizing their manuscripts. The final draft layout of the Articles or Technical Notes will be sent to each author for final review and approval prior to publication.

Publication Charges are financial contributions from authors or their sponsoring agencies. They are designed to help cover the costs of editorial, composition and layout to prepare a manuscript for printing. Authors will be assessed $90 US per Digest page. This page charge applies to both black and white and color pages. When an author is sent the final draft layout, an estimate of the final costs is enclosed along with a price list for reprints. Page costs should not prohibit authors from submitting articles. For further information on publication charges or any other questions regarding NWA publications, please contact the NWA Executive Director by telephone or Fax at: (919) 845-1546 or e-mail: exdir@nwas.org.

Indexes: Author indexes are provided in the final issue of each Volume of the National Weather Digest. A complete Author index of Digest Articles and Technical Notes is available on the NWA Web site: http://www.nwas.org/digest/index.php

All NWA publications: A primary objective of the NWA is to provide members with many opportunities to share research studies, analysis and forecasting techniques, literature reviews, product and service improvements, news items, and correspondence with other NWA members and subscribers through a wide variety of media. Submissions are always welcome for the monthly Newsletter, National Weather Digest, the Electronic Journal of Operational Meteorology on the NWA Web site ( http://www.nwas.org/), monographs, presentations at the NWA Annual Meetings or other media as authors may suggest. Each publication has its own editorial review and approval process. Paid advertising is accepted for the National Weather Digest and the Annual Meeting program. The volunteer editors certainly appreciate all submissions.

The Editors and NWA office staff welcome comments from readers expanding on the discussions, results and conclusions of the materials published. They also accept comments regarding the validity of any article or the point of view of every author and can provide a forum for professional counterpoint. Indecorous criticism of authors or organizations for their points of view will not be accepted.

(Current as of February 1, 2008)