Message regarding May 1, 2005, deadline for papers to be assessed for the IPCC AR4

April 22, 2005

As you all know, it was stated at the Hawaii workshop in March that for your papers to be assessed in the IPCC AR4, the IPCC WG1 deadline for manuscripts to be submitted to peer-reviewed journals was May 1, 2005.  Recently, a number of you have been asking about that deadline, and pointing out the difficulties, both logistical and scientific, in actually meeting it.

Recall that the May 1 deadline was put in place to ensure that your papers could be adequately discussed and assessed by the lead authors at the upcoming Beijing meeting in early May.  This is still a key consideration.  However, the concern that inadequate, partially completed papers could be submitted before May 1 simply to meet that deadline, or that there could be important relevant work very close but not quite completed before May 1, has made more compelling the argument to seek the maximum flexibility while still conforming to the needs and rules of the Assessment Process.

Therefore, though you are still encouraged to submit papers prior to May 1, papers submitted any time during the month of May are now eligible for assessment.  However, if you cant meet the May 1 deadline with a completed manuscript, you are encouraged to send preliminary drafts of your papers to the appropriate lead authors so that they have something in hand to discuss in Beijing.   Then, on submission of a final manuscript in May, please proceed with the recommendations made in Hawaii (summarized at http://www-pcmdi.llnl.gov/ipcc/info_for_analysts.php) to send copies to the WG1 TSU as well as appropriate Lead Author contacts.

Please be advised that for citation in the AR4, papers need to be in press no later than December 15, 2005.  This is dictated by the need for full clarity as to what papers can actually be included in the AR4 for the official Government review.  Therefore there is a certain trade-off regarding the May deadline in that you have to consider the length of time required to go through the review process.  The longer you wait in May before submitting a paper, the closer you will be cutting the December deadline for your papers to be accepted.

We thank those of you who have already submitted papers, and we look forward to more to come before May 1, and then on through the month of May.

Best regards,

Jerry Meehl (for the WGCM Climate Simulation Panel in consultation with Susan Solomon and Thomas Stocker)