Supporting and Promoting Excellence in
Operational Meteorology and Related Activities since 1975
Broadcast Seal Info.
2008 Editor: Dr. Matthew Bunkers, NWS, Rapid City, SD (matthew.bunkers@noaa.gov)
2008 Assistant Editor: Jeffrey Medlin, NWS, Mobile, AL ( jeff.medlin@noaa.gov)
2009 Editor: Jeffrey Medlin, NWS, Mobile, AL (jeff.medlin@noaa.gov)
2009 Assistant Editor: Dr. Pablo Santos, NWS, Miami, FL ( pablo.santos@noaa.gov)
2010 Editor: Dr. Pablo Santos, NWS, Miami, FL ( pablo.santos@noaa.gov)
2010 Assistant Editor: To be determined at a later date
The National Weather Association (NWA) is pleased to continue providing the NWA Electronic Journal of Operational Meteorology (EJOM), which was inaugurated in 2000 by the Weather Analysis and Forecasting Committee. The NWA EJOM is a professional publication for association members and guests to share their experiences, procedures, research, and technical studies on topics related to operational forecasting.
The purpose of the EJOM is to provide a web-based venue for the quick publication of operational meteorological studies with the following attributes: 1) contains new or preliminary results; 2) are relatively short and limited in scope; and 3) contains high-resolution color images and/or animations of meteorological data that are especially suited for electronic publication. Please note the EJOM is intended to complement the National Weather Digest, not replace it.
Authors should present a concise, accurate report with a clear, focused discussion of the importance of the results to operational meteorology. All papers submitted to the EJOM are required to meet the attributes described above.
If you desire to publish a paper in the EJOM, please send your document to the Editor (see Instructions for Authors below). The preferred type of submission is a Microsoft Word document in either 2003 or 2007 format. Any other format needs pre-approval by the Editor. Papers should be double-spaced and no longer than 10 pages including the title page, abstract, and body; references, figures, and tables are excluded from the 10-page limit. If the file size of the paper is less than 5 MB, the file can be emailed directly to the Editor. If the file size is greater than 5 MB, contact the Editor for information about ftp transfer.
Papers that are accepted will be posted on the NWA web site in HTML and PDF formats after technical editing is complete. NWA members will not be assessed a publication fee; non-NWA members will be assessed a $50 publication fee.
A template for authors to use as guidance when creating their papers can be found here.
The Editor and Assistant Editor will screen all papers to ensure they meet the guidelines of the EJOM, comply with format guidelines contained in the author instructions, and are grammatically and meteorologically sound. If the initial screening process reveals the submission does not satisfy these requirements, the paper will be sent back to the author prior to formal review. If either Editor believes the paper is more suitable for publication in the National Weather Digest, they will notify the author(s) and the Digest Editors. If the EJOM Editors approve the paper, they will begin the formal review process and one of them will assume full responsibility of the paper henceforth (e.g., securing reviewers, performing technical edits, etc.).
Two to three reviewers will be sought to review the paper, and the reviewers will have one month in which to complete their review. Reviewers will check that statements made and interpretation of data are correct and supported by analysis/references, and written in a style that flows well and is easily understandable to the majority of readers. The reviewers should supply the Editor with one of three recommendations: (1) accept as is; (2) accept with minor-to-moderate revisions; or (3) reject with suggestions for improvement. The reviewer is required to supply a short overview of his/her thoughts on the paper, and then list the specific changes or revisions needed to the paper. Authors will forfeit their anonymity when the review process begins; reviewers may choose to retain or release their anonymity.
The Editor will forward the reviews of the paper to the author(s). The author(s) will then have one month to make the necessary revisions. Upon request, more time will be granted on a case-by-case basis. If the revisions are made to the satisfaction of the Editor - sometimes after consultation with the reviewers - the Editor will perform final technical edits so the paper conforms to the EJOM guidelines. The paper will be published on the EJOM web site shortly thereafter.
Papers should be in 12-point Times New Roman font and double-spaced with one-inch margins. Use two spaces between sentences. Main elements of the paper are: title, abstract, main body, acknowledgments, references, figures, figure captions, tables, and appendices (as needed). Separate pages are not necessary for each section. The total length of the main body shall be 10 pages or less, including the title page and abstract (references, figures, and tables are excluded from the 10-page limit). The author needs to provide individual JPG images of each figure for the HTML version of the final paper.
The title page should be centered with the following information: the title of the paper; the author(s) and professional affiliation(s), including city and state; the month and year of submission; and the corresponding author address. 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 (centered) should be a short summary of the important information in the article such as: purpose, methodology, results, and conclusions. References are not allowed in the abstract, and all but the most common acronyms should be defined. The abstract can begin on the same page as the title page. The text should begin after the abstract and be subdivided into logical sections beginning with the introduction. Use tabs at the start of each paragraph, and also justify the paragraphs. 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
Each figure or table must be cited at the appropriate parts of the text, using the forms: Fig. # or Table #. Figures and tables should be numbered separately and be in consecutive order throughout the text. All mathematical equations should be numbered consecutively with the equation number placed in parentheses to the right of the equation.
Acknowledgments, 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.
References are listed to enable the readers to locate cited papers and learn more about the subject. References should be listed in alphabetical order of the last name of the primary author. Multiple papers from the same author for different years should be listed in chronological order in the reference section. Each reference in the list should be accurate and complete, and contain information in the following order: author(s), year of publication, title of article, abbreviated title of journal, volume number, and inclusive pages. For books and conference preprints or proceedings, the publisher and location (city) of the publisher should also be included. If a reference has been accepted for publication, but is not yet in print, the words "in press" should replace the volume and page numbers.
All entries in the reference list should be cited in the text or the table and figure captions, and all reference citations in the text should have an appropriate entry in the reference list. References should be cited in the text by the last name of the author and year of publication, such as "(Smith 1989)" or "reported by Smith (1989)". Two authors should be cited as "Smith and Jones (1989)" and three or more authors should be cited as "Smith et al. (1989)". Cite references that have no individual authors by using the sponsoring agency, such as "National Weather Service (1989)". When the same author has published multiple papers in the same year, they should be cited as "Smith (1989a)", "Smith (1989b)", etc. The EJOM follows the reference style used in the National Weather Digest. Please refer to the instructions for authors there for specific assistance in addition to the general guidelines for references here.
Figures should be cited in the text in numerical sequence. Figure captions should describe the figure and draw attention to the key features discussed in the text. Do not restate the caption in the main text - this wastes valuable space. If movie loops are required, authors must submit an .avi file or equivalent. Do not include the animations in the Microsoft Word document; rather, include a representative image from the animation and make note of this in the caption. Tables should be cited in the text in numerical sequence. Each table must have a title and at least two columns and two rows of data/information.
The International System of Units is strongly recommended. For ratios, negative exponents are preferred (e.g., m s-1 rather than m/s). Units of measure used in operational meteorology in the United States may be included in parentheses. For example, "The 300-hPa jet streak reached a maximum of 45 m s-1 (87 kt)."
Date/time groups should be identified as Coordinated Universal 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. After the first reference to time, notation should be made to indicate that all subsequent times are in reference to the same time zone. For example: "The rotation signature was first observed at 1245 (all times in UTC)." 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 1995.
A primary objective of the NWA is to provide members with an opportunity 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, 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