Cross-review. We have agreed to make reviews available to all reviewers just prior to the editorial decision. Reviewers will have 72 hours in which to offer additional comments, and a decision will proceed regardless of whether comments are made. We hope that this allows for greater transparency and clarity, especially in the cases where reviewers have areas of disagreement.
Some implications
In the context of JAMES, the physical Earth system comprises the atmosphere, ocean, land surface, and cryosphere.
Papers in JAMES should advance the field of Earth system modeling as a whole. The fundamental measure of suitability is whether a paper’s results are generalizable beyond the specific study.
Technical advances such as new or improved algorithms, better methods for coupling model components, or innovations in computational methods for Earth system models are in scope.
Model description/development papers are appropriate if they express why and how the model differs from its predecessors and what improvements or new opportunities are offered by the new model. Such papers would normally show tests against benchmarks and/or observations. Descriptions of new iterations of climate or earth system models are an example of papers in this category. Ideally these papers will make clear how model components and supporting data were integrated, what problems (biases) were being addressed, how well the new model addresses those, etc. – in short, the papers should be useful to others making similar choices.
Manuscripts describing new methods for synthesis or optimization are welcome. Papers describing applications are better suited to topical journals. Applications include the development, tuning or assessment of a forecasting system for a specific use, or use of geophysical data to drive statistical, engineering or similar models.
The practice of modeling is often advanced with idealizations. Papers addressing the development of new idealizations targeted at specific questions or the use of idealized experiments to enhance process understanding are encouraged.
State estimation is fundamentally based on models and JAMES welcomes manuscripts that advance data assimilation for the Earth system, including advances in the forward operators used to map model states to observations.
Research focused on model evaluation or inter-comparison without a development or conceptual component is better suited to journals with greater emphasis on broad understanding (e.g. Journal of Geophysical Research) or on assessment (Earth and Space Science).
Editor in Chief: Stephen Griffies
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ORCIDS will now be required for all corresponding authors and strongly encouraged for coauthors.All AGU journal content published from 1997 to 24 months ago is freely accessible online. Content published in AGU's open access journals, including AGU Advances, Earth's Future, Earth and Space Science, GRL, GeoHealth, G-Cubed, JAMES and Space Weather become fully open immediately upon publication.
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