Why and How to Write a High‐Impact Review Paper: Lessons From Eight Years of Editorial Board Service to Reviews of Geophysics

Abstract

High‐impact review papers describe and synthesize the current state of the art, the open questions and controversies, and provide ideas for future investigations. They are written not only for a specific scientific discipline but also for the broader Earth and space science community. They not only summarize the literature, but they also create a framework from which to understand the progress, problems, and connections between different communities, observations, models, and approaches. Here we describe how to write a high‐impact review paper, and why you should consider writing one for Reviews of Geophysics.Plain Language SummaryWe describe how to write a high‐impact review paper, and why you should consider writing one for Reviews of Geophysics.Key PointsReview papers play a major role in scientific communication and education and moving a research field forwardReviews of Geophysics is the top rated journal in Geophysics and GeochemistryHigh‐impact review papers describe and synthesize the current state of the art, the open questions and controversies, and are forward looking