Interfaces Editor’s Statement

I am thrilled to be named the Editor-in-Chief (EiC) of Interfaces. My longstanding appreciation of Interfaces is demonstrated through my seven years of service and many publications in the journal. My first publication in 1997 was in Interfaces, and it is, by far, my most common and preferred journal of publication.

For almost half a century, Interfaces has demonstrated the value of operations research and management science (OR/MS) by highlighting the application of our discipline to the business, military, healthcare, nonprofit, and public sector communities, and others that shape our world. From the world-class examples that the INFORMS Edelman and Wagner competitions bring to us to short practice summaries that highlight the experiences of researchers, Interfaces is the journal that promotes the real-world value and impact of OR/MS and advanced analytics to researchers, practitioners, and students alike.

I am honored to follow a long line of successful EiCs who have made Interfaces the premier journal in the practice of OR/MS. Most recently, it has benefited from the stewardship of its first nonacademic, industrial researcher and practitioner, Srinivas Bollapragada of General Electric. Under the leadership of Srinivas and his excellent editorial board, Interfaces is stronger than ever. As I take over the role of EiC, I am glad to see that Interfaces has an excellent pipeline of papers. Srinivas has offered to continue to serve on the board as a contributing editor, and will assist me throughout 2017 as we manage the transition between EiCs with minimal changes to the Interfaces board.

As EiC, I plan to continue to further the great efforts of my predecessors, with a focus on continuing to increase the reputation, readership, and impact of Interfaces. For example, I plan to continue Srinivas’ desire for more practitioner submissions (through the Practice Summary outlet), and to encourage more international (non-U.S.) submissions. I also plan to continue the great practice of offering one special issue in Interfaces each year. In recent years, Srinivas has had special issues in Mining, Freight Transportation, and Energy, among others. I am excited to note that Srinivas has a special issue planned on Big Data, under the direction of Deepak Turaga, slated for 2017. I am considering a special issue on Nontraditional Analytics for 2018; this issue could include unusual or novel applications, or non-OR approaches, that might lead to improved analytics-based solutions. It is important that I mention that I am open to proposals on other topics for a special issue; please feel free to provide your thoughts to me.

I have other ideas that I would like to pursue that might support the objective of raising the impact of Interfaces. Here, I list some of my ideas that I hope will have long-term positive effects on the journal. My desire, in short, is to expand the awareness and application of Interfaces to increase its impact on our discipline and on society. Of course, I welcome input from my editorial board, Interfaces readers, or any INFORMS members who have thoughts on my plans, or any creative suggestions that might further the reputation of this fine journal.

An Openness to Broader Topical Coverage in Analytics

Though Interfaces will remain firmly rooted in OR/MS, the exciting and burgeoning field of analytics presents great opportunities to expand the journal’s reach and awareness. Whether you believe analytics is the same as, bigger than, or a subset of OR/MS (Liberatore and Luo 2011), analytics is clearly growing and represents an opportunity for the OR/MS discipline (Liberatore and Luo 2011) and for how it is taught (Gorman and Klimberg 2014). I would like to welcome a broader array of top-notch analytical projects that have been less traditionally covered in Interfaces. To that end, I hope to leverage the growing Analytics Society of INFORMS and its Innovative Applications of Analytics Award (IAAA) as possible sources for novel and impactful projects. There are already some examples of that award bringing top applications of analytics to Interfaces and its membership; examples include Rudin et al. (2014) and Reich et al. (2015). I would like to build on and strengthen that connection, perhaps to the point we can offer a special issue based on the submissions to IAAA. I hope this connection with analytics will reach a greater number of researchers and practitioners, and receive more exposure in the classroom.

An Interest in Humanitarian OR/MS Applications

Interfaces has established itself as a great outlet for applications that save time and money or increase quality and the number of markets. Of course, I believe this will continue to be a strength of Interfaces. I would also like to see Interfaces highlight applications in other areas that have started to take hold in the INFORMS community. We have seen initiatives that highlight the use of OR in ways that enable us to reach out into the world and change it for the better, not just increase profitability or efficiency. Examples include “Doing Good with Good OR,” “Statistics without borders,” and “Pro Bono Analytics.” Because of his active involvement in such initiatives, I have asked Jim Cochran to take on a special role as “Humanitarian OR” editor. He will be actively looking for applications that highlight OR/MS in these nontraditional avenues, either as full-length research papers or as one of our shorter and more concise Practice Summaries. Feel free to contact Jim Cochran ([email protected]) with ideas you might have or projects you might have conducted.

Extending the Promotion of Interfaces

Despite being widely subscribed to by INFORMS members and libraries, I find that Interfaces is still not well known in many circles where it could add value. I plan to work with the INFORMS staff to heavily promote Interfaces to both researchers and the general public to raise awareness of its viability as an outlet and the great researchers and projects highlighted in the articles. There are many practitioners doing analytical work who do not realize the value that Interfaces can bring to them by introducing novel approaches to problem solving. Similarly, there are many researchers doing very good applied work who are not considering Interfaces as an outlet for their work. I hope to close those gaps and get that valuable applied research into the hands of those who can benefit from it. Finally, I would like to continue to encourage increased international participation of authors. To that end, I hope to fill the position of Deputy Editor of Interfaces with someone with a passion for applied analytics who wants to help me promote the importance of Interfaces to researchers and practitioners. I am also open to nominations for Associate Editors from Europe, Africa, South America, and Asia to expand the international presence of Interfaces. Feel free to contact me with nominations, or if interested in the position.

Modifications to the Editorial Board

I am happy to announce there is only one departure from the Interfaces editorial board. I am glad to keep the excellent board intact. However, I would like to thank Stefan Karisch from Boeing as he ends the term of his service. I welcome new members from practice: Pooja Dewan of BNSF Railway and Erick Wikum of Wikalytics. I also welcome academics Pelin Pekgun of University of South Carolina and Burcu Keskin of the University of Alabama. Ronald Fricker of Virginia Tech has been reassigned from Contributing Editor to Associate Editor with an area specialty of statistically based analytical methods.

Final Comments

Interfaces is one of the most important and valuable INFORMS journals. As one of the most readable INFORMS journals, it is critical to presenting the valuable research taking place in OR/MS to the general public, practitioners, researchers, and students (Camm et al. 2014). It is the home of some of INFORMS’ most prestigious awards, the Wagner Prize and the Edelman Award, which quantify the incredible financial and nonfinancial benefits of better analytical methods to the world around us.

I look forward to leading Interfaces through this exciting time with the help of my editorial board, Interfaces readership, and INFORMS membership. Thank you for this honor.