Two Opinion Editorial (Op-Ed) papers of this year was published online on Advances in Polar Science. The first Op-Ed paper of this year, “Arctic environmental change research and Antarctic studies have mutual benefits” was published by Dr. Outi Meinander from Finnish Meteorological Institute.
The second Op-Ed paper, “The SPLASH Action Group – Towards standardized sampling strategies in permafrost science” was published by Dr. Frédéric Bouchard and the SPLASH team (www.splash.biogeochimie.fr).
Before 2020, five opinion editorials have already been published:
1. Optical remote sensing of snow fraction—status and future prospects (Igor Appel, USA; 2017, Vol. 28, No.4)
2. Polar science needs a foundation: where is the research into polar infrastructure? (Adrian McCallum, Australia; 2018, Vol. 29, No.1)
3. Towards truly integrated modeling and observing of marine ice sheets (David Gwyther, Australia; 2018, Vol. 29, No.4)
4. T-MOSAiC—A new circumpolar collaboration (Diogo Folhas, João Canário, Warwick F. Vincent, Portugal and Canada; 2019, Vol. 30, No.4)
5. The importance of long-term research and monitoring in the Ross Sea (Bod Zuur, New Zealand; 2019, Vol. 30, No.4)
Op-Ed was introduced in 2017 and is attracting the attention of the international polar community. Dr. Senior Honorary Research Fellow, Roger J. Braithwaite from School of Environment, Education and Development, the University of Manchester comments that this is a most welcome initiative.
Op-Ed can be a statement of the opinion of a named author or authors (not necessarily affiliated with the editorial board) with a maximum of 1500 words (a maximum length of 2 printed pages). It provides a forum for comment on the status and/or deficiencies on any aspect of polar science, reflects on recent innovation or progress, promotes internationally collaborative polar science projects, etc. Op-Ed is directly reviewed by EICs with final decision without peer review by expert referrers. Any queries and discussions on these interesting articles are welcome, you can contact directly the corresponding author.
