Editing symbols

• coll - colloquial
• jarg - jargon
• sp - spelling
• coh - coherence
• wc - word choice

How to read a scientific paper in meteorology -

How to read a scientific paper

• Scientific papers are designed so that other scientists can check and reproduce the results; they go into too much detail to read entirely unless you are going to reproduce the results in your own research. 
• Start by reading Abstract; this summarizes the main findings of the paper.
• Read the Introduction; this introduces the subject, explains its significance, and cites earlier work that is often relevant to the topic. 
• The Summary/Conclusion/Discussion usually contains the main results of the paper and discusses their implication for future research.
• Examine some Figures, Tables  in the main body of the text, and  read a section of the paper that describes what it is they depict; choose a section that looks interesting and that you think is easy to understand.

Finding more information

• Check the references of the journal; this leads to articles cited by the article you are reading
• Check the more recent articles that cited this paper at the bottom of the article; the more citations you find here, the more likely that the paper 

How to research a topic

How to find information on a topic

Do a Google search for:

• Websites, blogs, even wikipedia are a good place to start but usually cannot be cited in your paper;
• Research (UCAR,NOAA,NWS) and university websites are more reliable than Wikipedia and popular sites and can in most circumstances be included as references.
• Refereed papers from scientific journals are the most reliable source as they have been scrutinized by at least three reviewers (called referees); research websites often provide references from the refereed literature.

Specialized information sites

• Archive of LSC Senior thesis: These provide relevant sources for your paper and can give you a concrete idea of what a good thesis or paper looks like; remember to reference it in your list of references if you use it.
• Weather forecasting
• COMET modules are educational modules on various topics developed by weather forecasters
• National Weather Service websites (NOAA, BTV, ALB, BOS) offer regional and  forecast-related research that is not necessarily published in journals
• Broadcast meteorologists
• Earthguage is a website designed for broadcast meteorologists for the Station Scientist program. Broadcast meteorlogists are often the only scientists at the station and are called on  to report on topics in science, environmental issues, and natural disasters. 
• Weather topics
• Climate topics
• Environmental topics
• Climate science and other topics
• Real Climate: Climate scientist blog site. 
• University Corporation for Climate Research (UCAR)
• Risk Management Research (private)

Refereed scientific paper

• Go to the AMS journals site where you can do a search as well 
• For more recent papers, go to the AMS journals site through LSC proxy server or Academic Search Premier on the LSC Portal.
• The Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (BAMS) is a good place to start your search. It provides review articles that provides meteorologists with a review of important topics by the top scientists in the field. 
• Nature and Science represent the top grade journals for all subjects in science, including meteorology and climate science.

Introduction

As an undergraduate institution, the Lyndon State College Atmospheric Sciences (aka Meteorology) Department prepares students for the knowledge economy with a basic understanding of the atmosphere. As a graduate, you will be expected to be scientific literate and show good judgement not only  in accessing scientific information, but also in communicating it to the public, peers, clients and employers in both the public and private sector. Research skills allow students to build on their scientific knowledge independently through the use of published scientific literature. Written communication skills ensure that students can convey this information effectively through technical reports and research papers. They are also the most dependent on sustained student effort and independent initiative. It's no accident that they are some of the most valued skills in  the labor market.

Writing a summary for a source

The first step in writing a research paper is taking notes on your readings and sources. The objective of the source summary is to note the most important points of a paper for reference later on. It will also serve as practice in writing concise, crisp paragraphs that focus on the main point you are trying to convey. Most people reading your work are doing research themselves. That means they wish to be able to get to the necessary information as quickly as possible. For that reason, it's important to keep your writing as compact and concise as possible and to write in a standard format.


Start simple


Start by going to sources that explain your topic in simple terms. Many research and education websites present complex research in language that undergraduate students can understand. If the websites are legitimate research sites and in keeping with the knowledge level of the course, they are legitimate sources that can be referenced in your paper. This is especially the case of they provide links or references to the refereed literature (i.e. papers from journals). The introductions of refereed journal articles are also good places to look for simple introductions to a topic. They will also lead you to key  articles in the topic you are researching.

In dynamics, it us usually best to start by defining your subject in descriptive terms before advancing to more complex analysis of the dynamics of a given phenomenon. For example, ENSO involves complex wave dynamics associated with Rossby and Kelvin waves. However,in a research paper involving ENSO, you would describe basics about the variation in sea-surface temperature and sea-level pressure before going into more detail.

Use your own words

The objective of a research paper is to communicate to your reader (your professor or peers) the knowledge you've gained through your  readings or your own data analysis. This means that you need to summarize the content of your sources in your own words.

• Avoid quotes; they make it appear that you are unable to understand and interpret what you read. Quotes may be used in other fields, but they are very rare in the atmospheric science literature. 
• Avoid using terminology that you cannot define or interpret. Particularly in dynamics, there are many advanced mathematical terms that appear in papers that are beyond the undergraduate level. If you do do not see yourself defining them, using them in calculations, or interpreting them in plots  in your final paper, you should avoid reporting the results that involve these terms. Focus on material that you can understand.

American Meteorological Society Citation style

Everything in you  paper that is not your own research needs to cited in the text with the source appearing in a list of  references. All cited sources should appear in the list, and all sources in your list should be cited in your text.

All papers at LSC-ATM are to be cited in your text using AMS citation style.  You should read the AMS Author Reference/Citation Guide to ensure that you are using a correct format. Note that there are special instructions for citing web pages, powerpoints, CD's, etc in the guide.

Citations in the text consist of the last name only of the authors or the publishing organization followed by the year of publication as outlined in the excerpt below. Online papers at the AMS journal site provide citations in AMS format at the end of the papers. You may cut and paste these into your list of references, or you may use citation management software like Zotero to keep track of your references alphabetically as you do your research.

Excerpt from AMS Author Reference/Citation Guide

Use depersonalized scientific tone


Scientific writing style is highly depersonalized. When you cite a reference, you are citing a paper, not the authors; you should therefore take care to cite papers in correct citation style. In a paragraph, cite the article once, then report the remainder of the contents as facts. Do not say "the author's showed  that it rained " after already citing the paper; say "It rained".

• Never use first names or initials in the text;
• Never refer to authors' name without citing the year of publication;
• Never refer to "the author's", "the studies",  "the paper"; 
• Never write in the first person; never use "I", "me", "mine";
• When writing in third person, do not use "he", "she", "they" unless the people in question are the subject of the study.

Avoid colloquialism, jargon and slang


A colloquialism is  an expression or word that is appropriate in conversational communication but that is awkward in  formal writing. Slang refers to informal colloquialisms that aren't really acceptable in professional conversation. Jargon refers to terms in a specialized  field that will likely not be understood by your target audience. None of these is appropriate in a research paper.