Weather and Climate Dynamics
Weather and Climate Dynamics
WCD

WCD guidelines for the abstract and concluding section

WCD allows flexibility in the structure of articles. Nevertheless, we ask all authors to consider, and where appropriate adhere to, the following guidelines for the abstract and conclusions of the article. In these sections, all articles must convincingly demonstrate that they advance our understanding of atmospheric dynamics and discuss the implications of the results for weather and climate. Articles that fail to demonstrate this core requirement of WCD papers in the abstract and/or conclusions may be rejected by the handling editor prior to the open discussion phase.

Abstract

Abstracts should have on the order of 200–300 words and provide a concise and accessible summary of the purpose, new results, and implications of the research. WCD expects that abstracts will normally include the following components:

  1. The topic of the article and why it is important;
  2. The status of scientific understanding;
  3. The gap in knowledge being addressed;
  4. The objectives, questions, or hypotheses of the study;
  5. The approach such as modelling, theory, observations, diagnostics, etc.;
  6. The main results with important quantitative information, if appropriate;
  7. The importance and implications of the results.

An example abstract based on this structure is given below (numbers not to be included). Any of the components can be expanded as appropriate while keeping a balance of all components:

1) Observational data and numerical models suggest that, under climate change, elevated land surfaces warm faster than non-elevated ones. 2) Proposed drivers of this "elevation-dependent warming" (EDW) include surface albedo and water vapour feedbacks, the temperature dependence of longwave emission, and aerosols. 3) Yet the relative importance of each proposed mechanism both regionally and at large scales is unclear, highlighting an incomplete physical understanding of EDW. 4) Here we focus on understanding the large-scale EDW signal in the tropics and subtropics (40° S to 40° N). 5) Gridded observations, atmospheric reanalysis, and a range of climate model simulations are used to investigate EDW over the historical period across these regions, applying a forcing–feedback framework based on top-of-atmosphere energy balance. 6) Observations, reanalysis, and fully coupled models exhibit annual mean warming trends (1959–2014), which are larger over elevated surfaces and broadly consistent across datasets. EDW varies by season, with stronger observed signals in local winter and autumn. ... 7) The forcing–feedback framework used in this study reveals two additional contributors to EDW that have received little attention to date. The results suggest that uncertainty in future EDW may be driven primarily by uncertainties in how atmospheric energy transport over land responds to climate change.

Concluding section

Every article must have a final section where the overall advances are concisely summarized and put in context. Although the results section may include some discussion, a synthesis and interpretation must appear in the final section. WCD expects that the concluding section will normally include the following components, although not necessarily in separate paragraphs:

  • Summary: Summarize the main results and relate them to the objectives, questions, or hypotheses of the study. The summary should include the main quantitative results.
  • Synthesis/interpretation: Explain and interpret the results concisely to enable readers to make sense of them as a whole.
  • Comparison and context: Compare the results with previous studies to put them in context. Explain consistencies, inconsistencies, and advances in knowledge. In studies where such a comparison is more involved, it may appear elsewhere in the body of the paper, but some reference to the discussion should appear here.
  • Caveats and limitations: State how these affect confidence in the overall results, and where future work is needed.
  • Implications: Discuss what the results mean for our understanding of atmospheric dynamics, which is the main requirement for publication in WCD. The editor's acceptance/rejection decision will be strongly guided by this component of the concluding section.