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From the “You’ve Got to Be Kidding” Category…

November 11, 2013 by  
Filed under Blog, Featured, Humor, Writing

I wonder if these authors chose this title, just to get the attention. Anyway, here it is.

Help readers find your article online: Search engine optimization

August 10, 2013 by  
Filed under Blog, Featured, Publishing, Writing

The point of writing a scientific article is to get it read. How do you ensure that your article will reach the largest possible audience? Search engine optimization. I found this web page from Wiley about how to optimize your article for search engines. Optimizing your article for search engines will greatly increase its chance […]

The importance of picking good terminology the first time

May 22, 2013 by  
Filed under Blog, Featured, Writing

In an early paper that I lead authored, I used the term cold surge to describe the cold front associated with the Superstorm of March 1993. Schultz, D. M., W. E. Bracken, L. F. Bosart, G. J. Hakim, M. A. Bedrick, M. J. Dickinson, and K. R. Tyle, 1997: The 1993 Superstorm cold surge: Frontal […]

Why do good papers get few citations?

May 12, 2013 by  
Filed under Blog, Featured, Publishing

Have you ever looked at Google Scholar or your ISI Web of Science scores and wondered who was citing your papers and why were they citing them? After thinking a bit more about why certain papers on my CV have received as much or as little attention through citation, I decided it was time to […]

Unintended consequences of choosing coauthors

April 20, 2012 by  
Filed under Blog, Featured, Publishing

I had been trying to track down this paper for several years. Finally, I was able to get my hands on it. Like many papers you get, they turn out to tell you something different than what you were hoping to hear. In this case, it was a pleasant surprise. The principal result is that […]

Will asking a question get your science paper cited more?

October 16, 2011 by  
Filed under Blog, Featured, Writing

My friend Jim Steenburgh over at Wasatch Weather Weenies alerted me to this column in the Guardian newspaper. The column points out something that we scientists may know but forget from time to time: factors other than the quality of the science determine whether and how often our articles get cited by others. Among the […]

A title in need of some help

November 5, 2010 by  
Filed under Blog, Featured, Writing

This paper was published in Nature Geoscience in 2008. “Recent Antarctic ice mass loss from radar interferometry and regional climate modelling” My first reaction was “If radar interferometry and regional climate modelling are causing ice mass loss, then stop it, for the Earth’s sake!” — Photograph by Tim Laman/National Geographic Society

Whether to use colons in titles

March 30, 2010 by  
Filed under Blog, Popular, Presentations, Writing

In Eloquent Science, I discuss my thoughts about colons in titles of scientific articles on pp. 24-25, but only briefly. Dave Mechem (University of Kansas) emailed me to express concern about their overuse in some disciplines like geography, humanities, and some of the social sciences. For an example, take a look at this issue of […]

A great title (Bryan 2005)

I was recently reminded of this paper by my colleague George Bryan. Bryan, G. H., 2005: Spurious convective organization in simulated squall lines owing to moist absolutely unstable layers. Mon. Wea. Rev., 133, 1978–1997. I love this title. This title has all of Lipton’s five characteristics of an effective title. Informative The title has all […]

The shortest title ever written

November 12, 2009 by  
Filed under Blog, Potpourri

I discovered this article while browsing on the Web site of Rutgers University mathematician Doron Zeilberger.  Among his voluminous Web page (we’re talking Doswell-level voluminous), I came across this page. The article came about when Prof. Zeilberger was asked to give a talk to the Research Experience for Undergraduates program at the Rutgers Math Department.  […]

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