The Ombudsman: The Refereeing Process

Grassmann [Grassmann, W. K. 1986. Is the fact that the emperor wears no clothes a subject worthy of publication? Interfaces16(2, March–April) 43–46.] complains about refereeing in our journals. He asserts that “most referees in operations research are not particularly inclined to accept simple solutions” and that important results often appear simple and are likely to be rejected as trivial. He also proves Joe's Theorem (“nothing useful will ever be published in queueing theory”). I would like to relate two anecdotes supporting Grassmann's conclusions. But I would also like to present the other side of the coin—the dangers inherent in Grassmann's suggestions.